Memory Club: a group intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their care partners.

Purpose: Diagnosis of dementia in its early stages presents a window of opportunity for examining the immediate and long-term consequences of the illness at a point when the individual with memory loss can still participate in decision making.

Design And Methods: Memory Club is a 10-session group program designed to provide information about memory loss and resources for coping with it in an emotionally supportive atmosphere for people with dementia and their care partners. Memory Club sessions are structured so that dyads meet together, as well as separately with other care partners and people with dementia, respectively.