Santa Fe memory care advocate Jytte Lokvig brings creativity to Alzheimer’s patients | 10who

At 83 years old, Jytte Lokvig is dynamic. But age is just a number for them.

“You are the same person. You learn a lot more, but your essence remains the same, ”said the Danish-born artist and lawyer.

Lokvig has focused on improving the rich inner workings of seniors – especially those with dementia and other types of cognitive impairment from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. She has made waves in Santa Fe and the United States with her advocacy, direct engagement with patients, and caring for caregivers.

In 2008 she founded an Alzheimer’s cafe in Santa Fe, the first such initiative in the United States. The informal meetings offer Alzheimer’s patients and their carers a place where they can socialize and take part in brain-stimulating activities such as handicrafts, music and games.

Before the coronavirus pandemic began, there were nearly 1,000 Alzheimer’s cafes in the United States, largely thanks to Lokvig’s volunteer work.

Their efforts have earned Lokvig recognition as one of The New Mexican’s 10 Who Made a Difference for 2021.

Since the late 1990s, she has authored numerous books on care and living with dementia – including The Alzheimer’s Creativity Project. It encourages people to turn to artistic endeavors in the face of memory loss.

Lokvig studied illustration in Los Angeles in the 1970s, then moved to Santa Fe to escape the hustle and bustle of the LA lifestyle – “a whole crazy scene,” she said.

She was called here to visit a friend’s mother in a “high-end” assisted living facility and she said she didn’t like what she saw: people with dementia stared blankly or stared at a television, completely disinterested.

“It was very disturbing,” she said. “I made the wrong assumption that you would be better off if you paid a lot of money [care]. “

Lokvig began visiting the facility regularly, where she led art projects such as collages with residents.

She then received her PhD in Alzheimer’s Nursing and Management from California Pacific University and began a career in nursing.

As she mentored other people who were working on starting Alzheimer’s cafes in the U.S., Lokvig said the hardest part was convincing people to forego grant funding applications and a structured program.

Informal, she said, was best.

“When you live with dementia, when you are a carer for someone with dementia, your life is full of structured things,” she said. “And what people need more than anything is just a place where they can be themselves.”

Susan Balkman, 71, said she was delighted to see people with dementia express themselves and communicate – verbally and non-verbally – while enjoying snacks and art projects at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum during a session at Alzheimer’s Cafe.

Balkman, a retired therapist, was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s a few years ago. Before she met Lokvig, she said, she would drive around town in circles for hours and not be sure of her surroundings. She felt discouraged when a local doctor told her to “get her papers in order”.

Lokvig showed Balkman how to use a GPS to find her way around and encouraged her to devote herself to pottery, which boosted her confidence.

Today she is an outspoken advocate.

“If I hadn’t met Jytte, I don’t know what would have happened,” said Balkman. She said that she may not have spoken because she suffered from aphasia, a condition in which a person loses the ability to understand language and to express their thoughts in language or writing. “There was no one here.”

Lokvig changed other lives too.

“It’s very much alive; it’s very important and exciting, ”said Susan Robinson of Santa Fe of the memory care community that Lokvig started.

Robinson brought her friend Ann Anthony to Alzheimer’s Cafe a few years ago. Now Anthony lives in a memory care facility. Before the pandemic, Robinson and her therapy bird, the lively Cochiti, would continue to visit the café.

“I think Jytte just did something that no one else has done before,” she said. “When you go there, you get something wonderful about the level playing field. … It’s just a real acceptance. “

The pandemic has brought the Santa Fe Alzheimer’s Cafe to a temporary standstill. Lokvig hopes the sessions can resume when more seniors receive their booster vaccinations in the coming weeks.

She is now organizing a conference for September that will focus on how memory loss is perceived in the United States. Lokvig said she believes the nation needs to see big changes in memory maintenance, starting with facilities where people with dementia normally live.

She also sees a need for change in the medical world. Practitioners often need little knowledge about memory loss.

According to US News World & Report, only 33 percent of Alzheimer’s sufferers heard about their diagnosis from a doctor in 2015. Doctors are not required by law to inform a patient about their dementia.

“If we can change the culture in our facilities and in our employees, it will change the way healthcare professionals treat everything,” said Lokvig, “and our communities as a whole.”