Memory gardens offer hope to Alzheimer's patients

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), May 31, 2002 by Stephanie Basalyga

When Liz McKinney looks at the Portland Memory Garden in Ed Benedict Park, she sees more than lilacs, hollyhocks and tea roses.

She sees a key that may unlock a door for people with Alzheimer's disease.

McKinney, who serves as the executive director of the Oregon- Greater Idaho chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, believes the sight, feel and smell of the old-fashioned flowers filling the garden may help people reach solid ground in a world turned upside down by the disease.

Memory gardens - designed to stir memories of childhood summers spent in grandmother's garden - are a new concept. The Southeast Portland garden, dedicated yesterday during a mid-morning ceremony, is one of eight memory gardens in the country, and one of only two - including a location in Georgia - built on public land.

The gardens are the brainchild of the National Alzheimer's Association, created as a way to create safe havens across the country for people with the disease.

"Often we hear people with Alzheimer's disease say they want to go home," McKinney said. "Home may not be a particular place but a safer time."

An estimated 4 million Americans currently are afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, a number that will increase to about 14 million by 2050 if a cure is not found. The disease, which generally strikes older people, affects about one in 10 people over the age of 65 and nearly half of those older than 85.

More research is needed to uncover exact causes of the disease, but doctors and scientists do know Alzheimer's disease occurs when abnormal structures called "plaques and tangles" begin growing in the brain, cutting off cell nerve connections.

In the early stages of the disease, the formations cut off short- term memory. As Alzheimer's disease progresses, and the formations increase, memory loss becomes more pronounced, making even the simplest tasks - such as remembering how to feed oneself - impossible.

"When people with (Alzheimer's disease) are suffering short-term memory loss, it blocks their ability to reach in and recover the older memories that could enrich their lives," McKinney said. "Often to get back to those memories, you need a key to open that door.

That key, she adds, may be something as simple as stroking a rose petal or drinking in the sweet smell of lilacs in a memory garden, sensory triggers strong enough to push past tangled surface memories to reach a deeper - and safer - place.

The concept of safety is seeded throughout the design of the memory garden in Portland. A sprawl of roses will crawl along a fence enclosing the nearly 20,000-square-foot site. A meandering path twists and turns through the garden, but returns visitors to an original starting point to limit confusion. Strategically placed benches remind garden wanderers to occasionally sit and rest.

From its design to its contents, the garden represents the participation of a long list of players, said garden coordinator Eunice Noell-Waggoner, the president of Portland's Center of Design for an Aging Society.

The city of Portland gave the memory garden a home in one of its parks. Businesses and companies from a range of industries - including architecture, engineering and construction firms - provided financial and in-kind donations to meet the $500,000 target needed to develop, design and build the garden.

For a complete list of those who gave in-kind donations visit the Web site www.djc-or.com

The American Society of Landscape Architects has participated in the creation of both the local memory garden and other memory gardens across the country by contributing the volunteer services of its chapter members.

While the Portland Memory Garden is geared toward people with Alzheimer's disease, anyone from the public is welcome to enjoy it, Noell-Waggoner said. The layout was designed to exceed federal requirements for accessibility for disabled visitors.

The garden, located in Ed Benedict Park at Southeast 104th Avenue and Powell Boulevard, is free and open every day from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.