Laurie Gunter Mantz tried hosting memory cafes over Zoom for months. But it just wasn’t working.
Memory cafes are gatherings meant to provide those living with dementia and their caretakers with an opportunity for more social interaction. Gunter Mantz launched them in Rhode Island in 2018 when they were held in community spaces such as libraries, churches and senior centers.
Then when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Gunter Mantz decided to continue them virtually via Zoom.
Several participants stopped attending, as they didn’t have the technology they needed, while others struggled to use Zoom and some simply weren’t connecting with others as well in a virtual environment.
“The biggest thing is the connection with other people, and the Zoom platform just didn’t cut it,” Gunter Mantz said.
Memory cafes are usually an hour and a half long with anywhere from five to 10 participants. They begin with a light snack or meal and some simple conversation to get to know each other. From there, the group moves into an activity, which can be anything from a game, an art project or even an entertainer.
When memory cafes were in person, Gunter Mantz had a lot more options for activities, but when conducting the memory cafes via Zoom, she was limited to only things people could do with items in their homes.
Some activities were successful, like one in which participants were tasked with recreating famous artworks by dressing up and taking pictures in their home. But others failed, like when Gunter Mantz attempted to do music trivia but getting the songs to play over Zoom proved challenging.
“It was really hard to keep it activity-based over Zoom and it ended up turning into more like a support group for the care partners,” Gunter Mantz said. “That’s not the purpose of the memory cafes – memory cafes are designed to improve social interaction and reduce isolation.”
At the same time, Gunter Mantz had to shut down RI Memory Cafes – the nonprofit she founded that operates the memory cafes, which meant there could be no fundraising to keep the program going.
Dementia is an isolating condition for both the patient and caretaker. This was only exacerbated by COVID-19 lockdowns, meaning many who usually relied on memory cafes for connection lost touch during the pandemic.
Gunter Mantz was able to start the memory cafes again when she reestablished the nonprofit this past October. But this time she did it differently.
Now memory cafes are held in assisted living facilities throughout the state. A decision that was primarily financial, but it has paid off so far.
Before the pandemic, Gunter Mantz said she was financing memory cafes herself, aside from sponsors who would supply food. Even with the reinstated nonprofit status, Gunter Mantz still needed money upfront to make the cafes work, so she asked assisted living communities if they would host them.
“They jumped on board like there was no tomorrow,” Gunter Mantz said. “The response was incredible.”
One of the facilities is Wingate Living, a family-run senior care organization with two Providence locations.
Wingate had been successfully hosting memory cafes starting in 2018 and the organization was eager to start them again, said Lauren Yany, director of digital marketing. The cafes help not only those with dementia but also their caretakers.
“It’s a break for them that doesn’t feel like a break,” said Yany, who is also on the board of directors for RI Memory Cafes. “The person with dementia loves it because they’re the interaction they want. There’s something to look forward to [that] they get to come and either do an acting class or get to tell a story.”
Memory cafes began in the Netherlands in the 1990s before spreading to England and the U.S. in the early 2000s. They are largely run through independent organizations.
Similar to Rhode Island, memory cafes across the country went remote during the pandemic and have been steadily returning to in-person operations since 2022. Right now, memory cafes are hosted in eight facilities in Rhode Island and Gunter Mantz hopes to double that by the end of 2025.
Gunter Mantz was first introduced to memory cafes when she was living in New Hampshire 12 years ago. Then, she was working in assisted living and running her business, Dementia Training for Life LLC. A friend who started memory cafes in New Hampshire asked if she wanted to participate and Gunter Mantz jumped on board.
A year later, she relocated to Rhode Island for another job in assisted living but later quit because she wanted to focus on Dementia Training for Life, which is now located in Cranston, and help expand resources for those with dementia. Memory cafes were a natural extension of that work.
“I knew it was something that I wanted to do here,” said Gunter Mantz, founder and CEO of Dementia Training for Life. “As I grew my personal business, I saw more and more how much it was needed.”
