Jamie Bird is a Social Work Practicum Student at the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center, working on-site at the Memory Hub community center. Jamie, a 2nd-year social work student at Seattle University, chose to complete her practicum at the Memory Hub to learn more about dementia-friendly communities and how this approach could improve dementia care.
A dementia-friendly community is one in which people with memory loss and their loved ones are respected and included and can participate confidently in community life.
Jamie first developed an interest in dementia last year in her work for Washington State, where she provided long-term care assessments in adult family homes and assisted living facilities. In this field work, she witnessed how isolating the experience of dementia can be.
“These experiences planted the seed of interest about how we approach dementia in social work,” she said. “Through the Memory Hub, I’m learning that dementia doesn't have to be an isolating experience. I'm interested in how to bring this approach to dementia beyond the Memory Hub, so that other organizations can work together to give people living with dementia a voice.”
Caring and caregiving have taken many forms throughout Jamie’s life and work. She first worked as an elementary school teacher in Denver, Colorado, and then became a primary caretaker for her three children. During this time at home, she started making bedding and quilts. “It was a different way of providing care,” she said. Here in Seattle, she worked as a seamstress for a small bedding company, making down pillows and comforters.
“Seeing the comfort that this company provided to our customers was actually what motivated me to go into social work,” says Jamie. Now, the Memory Hub is another caregiving hat I want to wear.”
Jamie is now exploring all the possibilities at the Memory Hub for a practicum focus, including community outreach through intergenerational programs at high schools or community centers.
When Jamie is not studying, she loves being near water and ice in the Pacific Northwest, as well as spending time with her family. She enjoys working with her hands through sewing, gardening, and baking. •
