Sean McGarvey, library director of the Pasco County Library System, snaps open the small, clear plastic tote containing one of the Land O' Lakes library's memory kits.
McGarvey said they're designed to help jog the memories of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
“I'm holding different kinds of flash cards and things with images and descriptions that allow a person suffering from Alzheimer's to have that moment kind of come back to them,” McGarvey said.
More than half a million Floridians are living with Alzheimer's, according to the Florida Alzheimer's Association’s latest numbers.
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The kits are designed to help initiate conversations with patients, which can sometimes become difficult.
“This is just one of those things that allows caregivers and people suffering from this disease to connect, and it's really, really, really important. It's one of the main missions of the library,” McGarvey said.
The kits contain flash cards and DVDs to encourage mental and emotional stimulation and jog memories. They range in theme. Some are specific to a time period — like the 1950s — while others center around subjects — like animals.
You can check out a memory kit at any of Pasco County's libraries for free as long as you have an active card.
Funding from the Pasco Aging Network (PAN) and its 2024 PAN Grant Program made the memory kits possible.
