Eau Claire's ADRC Has Become A Champion For Collaboration
The regional Aging and Disability Resource Center dedicates its programming to support people living with dementia and their families
Throughout life and in our daily routines, collaboration can become an essential tool for success and well-being.
The Aging and Disability Resource Center of Eau Claire County (ADRC) embodies these beliefs both in their mission and vision, as they rely on partnerships to support community members experiencing symptoms of dementia.
Lisa Wells, a community advocate and ADRC’s dementia care specialist, has more than three decades of experience caring for others and has been witness to the strength in numbers when caring for residents with this diagnosis.
“There’s a real common interest and passion for helping people living with dementia and their families — that’s what I really love about the Chippewa Valley,” Wells said.
For individuals and residents of the Chippewa Valley who are affected by dementia, there often is a belief they are alone in finding solutions to continue engaging and participating in life on their own terms, Wells shared.
There is still life after a diagnosis. That’s the beauty of bringing people together with all of the programs we do. -Lisa Wells, dementia specialist with the ADRC
With these perspectives in mind, the ADRC functions as an unbiased agency — welcoming people from varied backgrounds, families and caregivers with resources to match their lifestyles. Through versatile and accessible programs, the center encourages community members to step out of their comfort zones and challenge these misconceptions.
“There is still life after a diagnosis,” Wells said. “That’s the beauty of bringing people together with all of the programs we do. Maybe we’re exercising, maybe we’re singing, but we’re just coming together, living life, and the people (there) just happen to have dementia.”
The ADRC, since its inception, prides itself on offering unique programming to match the interests of patients and foster meaningful interactions between others living with dementia.
Rooted in those values, the center collaborated with Trinity Equestrian Center to create the “Reminiscing on the Ranch” program, a cost-free, equine-assisted experience as well as founding the Stand in the Light Memory Choir for those living with dementia and their caregivers.
The “Brain & Body Group Fitness Program” — another collaboration between the ADRC and Eau Claire’s Downtown YMCA — offers space to move, share conversation and social connections.
In attending many of these recurring sessions, Wells attests to the improved physical moods and abilities for those who take the leap and participate.
“All the programs that we do are either evidence-based or evidence-informed,” Wells said. “They have been proven effective to reduce agitation, increase better moods, better sleep, less agitation, less irritation. Not only for the person with dementia, but also for the caregiver.”
Collaboration extends beyond these two programs and — through her specialist role — Wells continues to seek innovative ways to expand the ADRC’s reach.
You can journey with (patients) together and make each day a little easier than it would have been if they were alone. -Dr. Joan Hamblin, family medicine physician, geriatrician
From the Creative Connections Art Program to a Memory Café and nature art programs at the Glass Orchard, there will always be a space for every type of person living with this diagnosis.
Many of these partnerships would also not be possible without the support of regional practitioners and geriatricians in the Chippewa Valley, Wells said.
Dr. Joan Hamblin, a family medicine physician and geriatrician with NorthLakes Community Clinic in Eau Claire, has fostered a strong relationship with the ADRC — to ensure greater public awareness for those living with and around dementia.
Dr. Hamblin stresses the importance of public advocacy regarding dementia to ensure the continued success of memory care resources, assisted living facilities, and partnerships with caregivers and families.
As diagnoses often begin in her office, her awareness of available programs for patients and families allows them to better plan for their futures, and live beyond the diagnosis.
“It’s a gift if (patients) open up with their concerns, their struggles, and that you can be of assistance to them,” Dr. Hamblin said. “You can journey with them together and make each day a little easier than it would have been if they were alone.”
Open dialogues between practitioners, patients, and the ADRC continue to prove a pathway toward proactive education and support for programming; reducing those fears of isolation amidst living with dementia.
“There is a program out there for each different person and their interests,” Wells said. “Not only can they show up and access services that aid their physical well-being, but also aid and inspire the interests they had even before a diagnosis.”
For more information on programs and services in collaboration with the Aging Disability and Resource Center’s dementia care, visit their webpage online or call 715-839-4735.
The Aging and Disability Resource Center of Eau Claire County (ADRC)
Phone: 715-839-4735
Address: 721 Oxford Ave. #1130, Eau Claire
Email: adrc@eauclairecounty.gov
Website: www.eauclaireadrc.org
