“Masters of their memories”: Museum helps visitors with dementia

It’s probably not often that the worlds of museums, gerontology and additive manufacturing intersect.

But that’s what has happened at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor.

The museum, managed by the History department, has joined forces with the Gerontology department and the YSU Center for Innovation in Additive Manufacturing to produce Sparking Memories, a new program that focuses on specialized tours of the museum for people living with dementia and related conditions.

“The whole point of these tours is not to educate,” said Amy Plant, an adjunct instructor in the Gerontology department. “People with dementia are masters of their own memories. The point is to talk to them and bring out those memories because it brings out positive experiences.”

Sparking Memories was introduced at a Colloquium on Aging at the museum in April and is part of the museum’s efforts to increase accessibility of its programming for underserved populations, such as individuals with dementia. The museum’s next focus will be people with autism.

Marcelle Wilson, an adjunct instructor in the History department and museum site manager, said the Sparking Memories tour allows people to encounter various exhibits intended to trigger memories. “The goal is to get people talking,” she said.

Also part of the exhibit are artifacts reproduced via 3D printing in YSU’s additive manufacturing lab, under the director of J.J. Wargacki, lab manager.

Tours are conducted by appointment on the first Tuesday of every month. For more information, call 330-941-1314.