OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — With spiked shoe inserts, headphones, over sized gloves, and an eight minute simulation, you can experience what it's like to live through dementia.
- The Winnebago County Aging and Disability Resource Council hosts a dementia simulation every second Tuesday of the month.
- The simulation plays with your senses to showcase what living with dementia feels like.
- The experience is meant to encourage understanding and compassion for people with dementia.
April McNamara and Abby Giffin work with Care Patrol, which specializes in senior caregiving.
On Tuesday, March 3, the two caregivers geared up for a virtual dementia tour at Park View Health Center in Oshkosh.
“As I'm working more with individuals who are navigating that journey through dementia, I think it’s important to know more about it,” McNamara says.
The tour, hosted by the Winnebago County Aging and Disability Resource Center, is meant to simulate what it’s like to live with dementia.
“It's kind of a program where you can walk in someone’s shoes,” Alisa Richetti, ADRC dementia care specialist, said.
The ADRC offers a wide range of dementia resources and support, from social events for those living with dementia, to respite for caregivers, to tips for prevention and a healthy brain.
Watch the broadcast story here:
To prepare for the simulation, McNamara and Giffin slide spiked inserts into their shoes, put on special glasses that restrict their vision, put over sized gloves on and listen to a barrage of noises and voices with noise-canceling headphones.
“It was so overwhelming while you’re in there,” McNamara says.
Then, the two are ushered into a small, dark room, where they have to complete a series of basic tasks in less than eight minutes.
“It was very overwhelming, I kept thinking, are we done yet?” Giffin says. “I would have never guessed that that is what a dementia patient feels like.”
After the eight minutes, the caregivers are led out of the room to debrief about their experience.
McNamara says the experience opened her eyes and will impact the way she interacts with her clients moving forward.
“It really puts things into perspective and I think I will approach things a little differently now,” she says. “Be a better advocate on peoples’ behalf.”
The County has been hosting the virtual dementia tour for four years, available to anyone the second Tuesday of every month.
Richetti says their goal is to spread awareness and increase compassion for those living with dementia.
“I think dementia is a pretty confusing disease,” Richetti says. “I think most people think it’s just memory loss, but they really don’t understand the full range of changes that people will go through.”
Richetti says there are nearly 4,000 people over the age of 65 with dementia in Winnebago County.
“And that’s just going to increase because people are aging longer, we’re treating chronic conditions more often, and so people living much longer and age is the biggest risk factor for people getting dementia,” Richetti says.
You can sign up for the monthly simulation here.
