My One Thing:
Creative Engagement isn’t only an activities approach. It is a model (an evidenced-based model at that) of the full picture of care. If you leave it up to the Activities team to understand and use Creative Engagement, you are missing a big piece of the pie.
Hi There!
I’m Kathryne (Kate) Fassbender
I have been called a Creative Gerontologist, Speaker, and Arts and Innovator.
I continue to dedicate my life to accompanying those living with dementia. I believe dementia is not a death sentence, a reason to squash dignity, purpose, and joy, nor an eraser that eliminates the beauty of your life. But it is also not a reason to fear suffering, and “shush” conversations about the real trials of dementia. Whether you have the diagnosis yourself or are a care partner, I seek to walk with you through the trials and triumphs of this life.
I am a Midwestern heart living on the East Coast.
Born and raised in Wisconsin, I have spent my adult life living “out East.” This connection between these two creative, innovative, and leading regions of our country in aging and dementia (as well as arts and health) has allowed me to dream big, to put out into the deep and imagine a better world for those on the dementia journey.
I am the granddaughter of someone who lived with Vascular Dementia.
My grandmother was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia when I was 16. After already volunteering in memory care since I was 11, her diagnosis made dementia real in a new way. I saw the family dynamics, the trials as well as the triumphs, what care looked like across the spectrum, and where I wish we could have done better.
“If You Look The Right Way, You Can See That The Whole World Is A Garden.”
– Frances Hodgson Burnett
My Dementia Journey
20 years ago, I started my dementia journey.
It did not come in the form of a person I love being diagnosed with a form of dementia, a job (I was, after all, a 6th grader), or via a parent’s career. It came through a comment made by a classmate in my science class.
In my 6th-grade science class, my peers started talking about dementia. At the time I had no clue what it really was, nor was I aware of anyone in my life who had dementia. I knew enough though, that when a classmate started calling it, “old timer’s disease,” the correct behavior was to be appalled by that comment. This launched my passion for working with dementia as a volunteer. In 2005 when my grandmother was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia, the story become personal. My view of dementia as well as a greater awareness of what it means to live with dementia drastically changed. I experienced the struggles, stereotypes, shame, joy, love, laughter, and dynamics of the family journey. The world of dementia that I had moved into continued to grow, evolve, and transformed once again as I worked to make dementia my career recognizing that I was uniquely created for this purpose.
In 2011 the Dementia Letters Project started off as a blend of Life Enrichment work and volunteering (which at the time was named, Bonae Memorie.) In 2015, I started the shift towards officially launching the Dementia Letters Project.
Over the last 16 years, I have recognized the need for those living with dementia to tell their story, and for the greater community to start having a different type of conversation. There exists a longing to move away from doom and gloom and into joy. I started the project as a way to help all of us share our stories of dementia and move into that joy. As I write the current pages of the Dementia Letters Project story, I invite you to join me, to co-create a new narrative of dementia.
Continuing Education Promise
Each year I seek ways to continue to grow in knowledge and understanding, both informally and formally. Above and beyond what is required to maintain any certifications I may have, I participate in monthly CE webinars, workshops, and courses hosted by universities, conferences, and other dementia-based organizations.
I also value greatly the growth that happens when we work with and listen to those living with dementia. These individuals provide an education that surpasses anything one might learn in a textbook or lecture.
Let us work together!
Book a free consultation to discuss how we can work together.
