Do You Know What My Name Is?

Dementia, nursing home staff John Rodeman reminds us, is an awful disease. The afflicted can forget things that happened moments ago, just as they can forget the names of their children. But since 2011, there’s been hope: Cleveland’s Eliza Jennings Senior Care Network is the first site in the United States to conduct research on a program of learning therapy that can reverse symptoms of dementia. Devised by neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima, it has already helped thousands of people in Japan. But let’s meet some of the residents at Eliza Jennings. Evelyn, Bea, Mary, and Mae are accomplished women who have recently lost cognitive function. Their therapy involves reading aloud and doing simple math problems on a regular basis. After months of working with cheerful caregivers on “brain exercises,” they exhibit an astonishing improvement in memory, focus, and mood. John Roodeman has a question for each of them: DO YOU KNOW WHAT MY NAME IS? Thanks to learning therapy, their answer is now likely to be a resounding “Yes!” – B.B.