Dementia wellness and education programs
On this page you can find information about:
Mayo Clinic programs and resources
Dementia Hub blog
The Dementia Hub is a blog for people with dementia and their caregivers, families and friends. At "The Hub," you can learn about programs and events on brain health, dementia, caregiving and research. The Hub is a place to engage with others, share experiences and ideas, ask questions, and feel connected.
Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
The center offers education, support and wellness programs on or near Mayo Clinic's campuses in Jacksonville, Florida, and Rochester, Minnesota. To find Florida-related activities, visit the center's Florida-focused outreach website.
Mayo Clinic Connect Dementia Caregivers Support Group
The Caregivers: Dementia Support Group is a peer-led group with Mayo Clinic moderators. It's one of 75 groups on Mayo Clinic Connect, Mayo's online community connecting patients and caregivers with each other. Group members can find others who are going through similar situations, practical information and answers to their questions about caring for someone living with dementia.
Mayo Clinic Healthy Action to Benefit Independence & Thinking (HABIT)
Mayo Clinic offers HABIT, a comprehensive program for people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. The program addresses cognitive changes and helps participants incorporate new habits that can play a role in optimizing independence and overall health and well-being. For more information, email habitprogram@mayo.edu.
Mayo Clinic Press
Mayo Clinic Press publishes and sells books by Mayo experts about many health topics, including Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
- "Day to Day: Living With Dementia." This book offers essential caregiving guidance, including practical tips and resources, techniques for working through difficult emotions, and strategies for managing common dementia-related challenges.
View the book in the Mayo Clinic Marketplace.
- "Mayo Clinic on Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias." In this book, specialists at Mayo Clinic share what they know about Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and how best to treat them. Equally important, they offer practical guidance on topics such as navigating changes, adapting new communications techniques, creating dementia-accommodating environments and providing person-centered care for individuals with dementia as well as those caring for them.
View the book in the Mayo Clinic Marketplace.
Mindfulness-Based Dementia Caring
Mindfulness-Based Dementia Caring is an eight-week program for family care partners of people with dementia.
Care partners learn the practice of mindfulness and how it can help them cope with the challenges and stresses of dementia care. The program includes interactive mindful care practices, gentle yoga, lectures, group sharing and at-home assignments.
For program details, including dates and times, please contact Angela Lunde at lunde.angela@mayo.edu or call 507-538-4048.
Education and support for specific dementias
Alzheimer's disease
- Alzheimer's Association. The Alzheimer's Association leads the way to end Alzheimer's disease and all other dementias by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support.
Frontotemporal degeneration
- The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration's mission is to improve the quality of life for people affected by frontotemporal degeneration and to advance research, awareness, support, education and advocacy. For more information, call the helpline at 866-507-7222 (toll-free) or visit The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration website.
Lewy body dementia
- Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA). The LBDA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about Lewy body dementia (LBD). The organization supports people with LBD and their families and caregivers and promotes scientific advances.
In 2021, Mayo Clinic partnered with the LBDA and the University of Washington to deliver the Lewy Body Dementia Knowledge and Support Summit. You can find segments from the Knowledge and Support Summit on Mayo Clinic Connect's Dementia Hub blog.
- Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. The Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center is a Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) Research Center of Excellence. In this role, the center offers events and resources for people with Lewy body dementia and their families, community members and healthcare professionals.
Learn more about Lewy body dementia research and care through the center's video collection.
The center also offers events and resources for people with frontotemporal dementia and their families, community members and healthcare professionals.
Prime-of-life neurodegeneration
- CurePSP. CurePSP is a leading source of information and support for patients and their families, other caregivers, researchers, and healthcare professionals about prime-of-life neurodegeneration, including progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, multiple system atrophy and related diseases.
Call 800-457-4777 (toll-free), email info@curepsp.org or visit the Cure PSP website for more information.
Mayo Clinic support groups for specific dementias
Mayo Clinic's Jacksonville and Rochester campuses offer support groups on Zoom that are led by Mayo Clinic staff members. In the groups, participants share experiences and feelings with others who are on similar caregiving paths. They can reflect, solve problems together and share information. These groups help people feel heard, understood and supported through sharing and learning.
For more information, contact Nick Rethemeier at rethemeier.nicholas@mayo.edu or call 507-538-4048.
- Caring Conversations. Caring Conversations is a virtual support group for people who care for or support a spouse, partner, relative or close friend with Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, mild cognitive impairment or a related condition.
- Caring for FTD. Caring for FTD is a support program for families and relatives providing care or support to a person with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
- Caring for Lewy. Caring for Lewy is an online education and support program for families and relatives providing care or support to a person with Lewy body dementia.
Elder Network
Elder Network offers nonmedical care services, including senior advocacy, education and support, companion services, in-home respite care, peer support, friendly visitors, and transportation in southeast Minnesota. Call 507-285-5272, email info@elder-network.org, or visit the Elder Network website for more information.
- Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH). REACH is led by trained staff from Elder Network. It is a program to support family members who are caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Caregivers meet one-on-one with trained caregiver consultants who customize each session to meet specific caregiver needs. The goals are to teach caregivers how to reduce stress, solve problems, address daily challenges, and feel confident in the care they provide and their ability to cope.
Family Service Rochester
Family Service Rochester is a community-based organization that provides senior independence services including Meals on Wheels, chore services, home safety and more. For more information, call 507-287-2010 or visit the Family Service Rochester website.
Giving Voice
Giving Voice chorus is a dementia-friendly choir for people with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers to build a path toward well-being. Giving Voice choirs are located across the United States and around the world.
Olmsted County Aging and Care Coordination Services
Home and community care programs are designed to support older adults and disabled people in living in the community as independently as possible. Call 507-328-6519 for more information.
Resounding Voices Chorus
Resounding Voices Chorus is a professionally directed chorus for people experiencing mild memory impairment or dementia and their care partners. It provides cognitive stimulation and fosters learning, new friendships and a renewed purpose. The chorus rehearses weekly in Rochester and performs publicly throughout the year.
Visit the Resounding Voices website or call 507-218-8376 for more information.
Southeast Minnesota Area Agency on Aging (SEMAAA)
SEMAAA is a private nonprofit agency serving the 11 counties of southeast Minnesota. It works with families, seniors, service providers and public agencies to help support, coordinate or develop community services.
SEMAAA's mission is to promote the independence and dignity of older adults so that they can age successfully and remain in their homes for as long as possible. SEMAAA operates the Senior LinkAge Line, a free service that connects people to information and assistance. Call 800-333-2433 (toll-free) for more information.
Virtual communities
Dementia Action Alliance (DAA)
The DAA works to create a better society in which to live with dementia. It provides discussion groups, podcasts, an online resources center, a national speakers bureau and other services. All content is shaped and informed by people living with dementia. Visit the DAA website for more information.
This Dementia Life is a heartwarming podcast produced by the DAA about living life with dementia. It is available on the DAA website, iTunes, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Lorenzo's House
Through a holistic and innovative approach, Lorenzo's House empowers young people and their families affected by younger-onset dementia. Based out of Chicago, Lorenzo's House is building community with families and partners nationally and worldwide, shifting the narrative from isolation to connection, stigma to strength and darkness to light.
Remember Me Podcast
The Remember Me Podcast honors the lives of individuals touched by frontotemporal degeneration and the family and friends walking the journey alongside them.
Visit the Remember Me website for more information or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Caregiver-specific organizations
Family Caregiver Alliance
The mission of Family Caregiver Alliance is to improve the quality of life for family caregivers and the people who receive their care. For more information, call 800-445-8106 (toll-free) or visit the Family Caregiver Alliance website.
National Alliance for Caregiving
The National Alliance for Caregiving is dedicated to improving the quality of life for friend and family caregivers and those in their care by advancing research, advocacy and innovation. For more information, call 202-918-1013 or visit the National Alliance for Caregiving website.
Presence Care Project
The Presence Care Project offers mindfulness-based programs that promote greater ease, enhanced well-being and improved resilience for people caring for someone with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
National research organizations
Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center
The ADEAR Center is a service of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the primary federal agency for Alzheimer's disease research.
The ADEAR Center provides current, comprehensive unbiased information about Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. All its information and materials about the search for causes, treatment, cures and better diagnostic tools are carefully researched and thoroughly reviewed by NIA scientists and health communicators for accuracy and integrity.
AARP
AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people to choose how they live as they age. AARP works to strengthen communities and advocates for what matters most to families, with a focus on health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment.