The Alzheimer鈥檚 Association projects that 720,000 Florida seniors will have Alzheimer鈥檚 dementia by 2025. That鈥檚 a 24% increase from 2020 to 2025.
Those people and their caregivers will find it harder and harder to enjoy life鈥檚 simple pleasures, like dining out.
Some Central Florida restaurants are making it easier for them. It鈥檚 called dementia-friendly dining.
At the Town House Restaurant
We鈥檙e in a separate area from the main dining room at the Town House Restaurant in Oviedo. A curtain hangs in the doorway muffling the hubbub. Blinds block out the windows and darken the room.
Roy Scherer pushes his wife鈥檚 wheelchair to a small bare table, caresses her face while reminding her who he is, and then greets their friend Dennis Dulniak.
Roy鈥檚 wife, Judy Scherer, is far along on their journey with vascular dementia. Their experience here 鈥� with what鈥檚 called dementia-friendly dining 鈥� is a real treat for her and for Roy.
The environment is controlled, and the waiter is specially trained.
鈥淚n here they know what to expect and so they don鈥檛 come rushing up to the person who has dementia,鈥� Roy Scherer says, adding with a robust laugh. 鈥淲ell, the first thing they have to do is figure out which one of us has dementia.鈥�
The training makes a big difference.
鈥淚n a restaurant where that wouldn鈥檛 be known,鈥� Roy Scherer says, 鈥渢hey would come up, for example, to Judy and say, 鈥榃ell, the special today is French toast and you can have pancakes, you like 鈥︹�� and this is all going right by. She doesn鈥檛 know what day it is, what year it is, may or may not know exactly who I am.鈥�
Toni Gitles and Dennis Dulniak describe a placemat with simple puzzles for dinners dealing with dementia and a list of resources. Photo: Joe Byrnes, WMFE News
Dulniak, who鈥檚 at the restaurant for an interview, is the founder and driving force behind . His wife, Nancy, died last year. He says she had Alzheimer鈥檚
鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 a dedication, that I can pay it forward,鈥� Dulniak says.
Toni Gitles is there, too. She works closely with Dulniak and trains wait staff for participating restaurants.
Three of them are already on board: this one, Patio Grill in Sanford, and The Meatball Stoppe in Orlando. Dulniak鈥檚 effort started in January 2020, before the pandemic. Now it鈥檚 back.
The restaurants set aside a few hours one day a week, when they鈥檙e not busy, and use a quiet room if they have one. The wait staff know to slow down and smile, approach from the front, avoid touching, speak calmly, limit the options and, especially, exercise a ton of patience.
鈥淭hat dining experience reduces the isolation that people have with this disease and allows them to go out and experience life in a way that we still need to support,鈥� Dulniak says.
Perspective from the ADRC
Edith Gendron of the in Winter Park says a typical noisy restaurant can be too much for someone with advanced dementia.
鈥淵our person may withdraw,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd actually pull away and become very uncommunicative, head goes down and maybe they start fiddling with something.
鈥淥r they鈥檙e going to get very distressed and, 鈥楢y, yay, yay,鈥� they want to go. 鈥楴o, no, I鈥檓 not going to go in there.鈥� They鈥檙e going to be upset.鈥�
With dementia-friendly dining, they can focus on the meal and socialize with others traveling the same road.
鈥淪o, if someone at the other table does take that meatball out of their mouth and go, 鈥淲ah, what is this?鈥� and then stick it back in, you鈥檙e OK.鈥�
At the Meatball Stoppe
Central Florida Dementia-Friendly Dining started at the Meatball Stoppe.
Isabella Morgia di Vicari and her husband, Jeff Morgia, own and operate The Meatball Stoppe in Orlando. Photo: Joe Byrnes, WMFE News
Isabella Morgia di Vicari is chef and co-owner with her husband, Jeff Morgia, at the lively Italian eatery. She has witnessed the ravages of Alzheimer鈥檚 in her own family.
The person living with dementia probably won鈥檛 remember the meal. But Morgia di Vicari says that, for that moment, they can delight in an old song or favorite food.
鈥淎nd for them to sing in our restaurant and enjoy eating spaghetti and meatballs or a meatball sub or eggplant parmigiana or whatever this is,鈥� she says, 鈥渋t just brings them joy.鈥�
And it can be a much-needed chance for the caregiver 鈥� who may be grieving and overburdened 鈥� to simply relax.
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