Mike Wolanin | The Republic Cathy McMillan Hall, with Love on a Leash, answers a question about her organization during a Memory Cafe session for people with dementia and their caregivers at Fairlawn Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ind., Friday, July 11, 2025. Fairlawn Presbyterian Church has partnered with Thrive Alliance, the Bartholomew Public Library, Love on a Leash, Griswold Home Care and other organizations to offer these sessions as a way of give people with dementia and their caregivers a chance to interact with others in similar circumstances.
A local group is working to help the estimated 10 percent of adults older than age 65 in Bartholomew County who are living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers.
Family Services of Bartholomew County Executive Director Sue Lamborn saw this statistic, noting how many people within our communities live with dementia, but do not live in a facility.
The Alzheimer’s Association says in the United States, more than 7 million people are living with dementia. The average age of onset is around 84 years, according to the association. Cognitive testing by a physician may lead to a diagnosis, and further medical tests are often used to confirm that diagnosis.
Some common symptoms for those diagnosed with dementia include memory loss, personality changes, problems with reasoning or problem-solving and losing track of locations or where objects have been placed.
Seeing a lack of support for these individuals and their care partners, she and several other members of the community decided to come together to form Dementia Friendly Bartholomew County (DFBC) to create a safer and more inclusive community for those living with memory issues.
The DFBC Advisory Council Chair, Lamborn said its mission is to increase dementia awareness, reduce stigma and provide resources and support to create a community where people living with dementia, as well as their care partners, can live, engage and thrive. In 2023, Columbus and the county earned recognition by Dementia Friendly America as a Dementia Friendly Community, according to Thrive Alliance.
The initiative consists of several committee members from across the community, who each bring their perspective to assist in this mission. Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, Fairlawn Presbyterian Church pastor, was brought on board to represent the clergy aspect of the mission.
Her father, the late Rev. Cliff Kirkpatrick, also served on the committee for a couple of years. Lamborn said he brought a unique perspective to the table as he had dementia.
“He was always pushing this committee, ‘well, what other advocacy work are you doing?’ He was very much in that part,” Kirkpatrick said. “But what I was trying to explain to him in the various times is, ‘dad, you were giving voice… because you were able to show from a perspective of one with dementia, how, what we can do,’ that he played a vital role on the committee that he didn’t fully see, because he’s like, ‘I just sit in a meeting or Sue takes me around town.’”
Others at the table include but are not limited to Sandi’s Closet founder and president Jill Tasker, who recently brought a dementia inclusive choir to the community with Sandi’s Closet Singers, and Sandy Allman, Community Outreach Librarian with the Bartholomew County Public Library. Allman said she works to make the library an inclusive space for those with dementia, and the library also offers Memory Kits through the Library of Things service.
“… each kit, it’s themed, and it has several activities around that theme,” Allman said. “So there’s usually something to watch, something to listen to, a game to play… and then there’s always some kind of a book for the caregiver.”
The initiative works to spread awareness of dementia and what is out there, in addition to making spaces across the county more dementia friendly. According to Dementia Friendly Indiana, dementia friendly businesses create a welcoming and comfortable environment by training staff and adapting their spaces to be easier to navigate for those with changing cognitive abilities.
“… any place that you and I go, a person living with dementia probably goes, and how can you make them feel more comfortable?,” Lamborn said. “And how can that particular business or agency or church become more inclusive with that?”
Lamborn said spaces can be made more dementia friendly by providing lots of natural sunlight and ensuring floors do not have a glare, as that could make an individual living with dementia afraid that they might fall. Because someone with dementia may have limited sight, signage is also placed at eye level in these spaces, she said.
“And then I think probably Dementia Friendly Bartholomew County is recognizing that a person is living with dementia and communicating with them at eye level,” Lamborn said. “Slow down when you talk to them, because it takes up to 20 to 40 seconds for them to process what’s coming in. And to make sure that you have spaces that are quiet and decreases the sensory overload that can happen with somebody living with dementia.”
Kirkpatrick said that members of the Dementia Friendly Bartholomew County task force work alongside each other to publicize, support and be there for each others’ efforts such as Sandi’s Closet Singers. Lamborn said they support all grassroots efforts and they always ask what others may need from them or what the committee can do for them.
Dementia Friendly Bartholomew County recently started a new initiative this summer with Memory Cafes. These hour-long sessions allow for individuals with memory challenges and their care partners to socialize, enjoy activities and connect with others. The first session was held in June, where they offered flower pot decorating and planting, Kirkpatrick said.
“It fosters community, hopefully, the goal is to foster community,” Kirkpatrick said. “For the person with dementia, it’s also something they can look forward to.”
Last Friday, Dementia Friendly Bartholomew County held their second Memory Cafe session, which included Pet Therapy from Love on a Leash’s South Central Indiana chapter. According to chapter leader Cathy McMillan Hall, who brought a Schnauzer named Molly to Friday’s cafe, Love on a Leash brings dogs to provide comfort to those struggling with mental issues or health issues. They also make plenty of visits to memory care units throughout the community.
“And it just cheers them up. It just brings them a lot of joy,” McMillan Hall said. “Dogs are great medicine. They lower your blood pressure. They’re very perceptive.”
From these cafes and other programs as part of Dementia Friendly Bartholomew County, Kirkpatrick said they want to show people living with dementia and their care partners that they are not alone and they care for them. Lamborn hopes from these programs that deep connections are established or re-established, and that they can prevent isolation among those living with dementia as well as their care partners.
According to Lamborn, care partners might find themselves not wanting to take their loved one out because of a fear of embarrassment or lack of resources, and as a result, she said care partners may isolate and neglect their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs. She hopes that from these cafes and Dementia Friendly Bartholomew County’s initiatives, people see that they are supported.
“It’s as much about the person living with dementia as it is about the person caring, care partnering with that person,” Lamborn said.
