Under a blue sky on a warm Encinitas day, members of the Friday Club shuffle outside to replace birdfeeders with new ones they made out of baked grapefruit shells the week before. But by the time they get to the second tree, many have forgotten what they were doing.

Friday Club is an activity-based group for people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. 

Many of the club members may not be able to tell their families what they did that day. But what they remember is not as important as having fun while doing it, according to the group’s leader, Paula Richardson. Richardson is a family ambassador at Silverado Senior Living Center, a residential facility in Encinitas for people with memory disorders.         

The whole process of the bird feeders, from construction to hanging, was a multi-sensory activity. The smell of the grapefruit, the feel of the birdseed, the search for the old feeders and the hanging of the new ones provided needed stimulation, Richardson said.

“For our members we just want them to have a positive experience of being around other people who are more on the early-diagnosed side of Alzheimer’s,” she said.

The Friday Club is just one example of a structured activity program in San Diego for people with early-stage memory loss. To take part, members must be able to walk and carry on a simple conversation. The goal is to keep the disease from progressing as rapidly as it otherwise might. Many are not even residents of Silverado -- yet.

“People who are providing these programs are keeping them engaged,” said Lisa Snyder, a social worker with UCSD’s Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Their program, called Out and About, also stresses the importance of stimulation through activities, field trips and interaction with animals and music.

At Silverado, Richardson likes to include a word puzzle, physical exercise and some sort of community service project into the Friday Club’s agenda.

The activity on this February day is for members to think of things someone would enjoy on Valentine’s Day. Love and chocolate make it on the list, as well as lingerie and credit cards.

From there the club moves onto exercise where they stretch and rotate their joints. A plastic pipe is used as a prop and a weight while they pretend to paddle a kayak.

UCSD’s Out and About also incorporates various types of stimulation in each eight-week session. Members are taken on field trips – to gardens, museums or historical landmarks.

They most likely will forget where they’ve been and what they’ve seen, but they can hold on to the feeling from that experience, according to Snyder. She calls this affective or feeling-based memory.

For example, participants may not retain memories of the paintings at an art museum, but they might recollect the docent.

“They have a recall that they engaged in something fun. With a little prompting they can remember what they did,” Snyder said.

Interaction with animals and exposure to music are also beneficial for those coping with Alzheimer’s because each can awaken their senses.

“There have been studies that go along with how effective music is for people who have Alzheimer’s,” said musician Phil Gates.

Gates, a former caregiver, now plays keyboards and sings in Alzheimer’s homes in San Diego County. He appreciates even the smallest reactions from his audience.

“They respond by staying awake. A lot of them have a tendency to fall asleep,” Gates said. “Some of them would dance suddenly on their own … There’s one that will direct with his hands.”

While these structured programs are undoubtedly helpful for patients, they come with a price. Out and About asks for a $350 donation for each eight-week session, around $45 per trip.

Out and About and the Friday Club are the “Cadillac” of care programs, says Cassie Davis, a master’s student in social work at San Diego State, who has worked with both groups.

“There is definitely a need for people with low income or fixed income,” she said.

Although some financial aid is available in the form of scholarships, UCSD’s Snyder agrees that affording specialty programs is most difficult for people in the “grey zone.” She said that Medi-Cal generally covers the cost of programs, but some people are not eligible for Medi-Cal and still cannot afford the programs.

For those who don’t qualify, Richardson advises family caregivers to look for simple ways to keep people with Alzheimer’s active.

“If you have someone at home that has Alzheimer’s you could let them be involved in maybe kneading dough or stirring some simple pudding, keeping them involved in day-to-day living,” Richardson said. “If they’re still living at home, what I hear over and over again from spouses, is they do like to help at home. They want to feel a purpose.”

Even patients with more advanced cases of Alzheimer’s will benefit by doing these types of tasks, Richardson said, adding that keeping patients happy in the moment through tactile functions will lead to a higher quality of life.

“It doesn’t matter that you ask them to rake the same yard over and over again,” she said. “It’s about in the moment.”

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