T-be memory. The museum meets Alzheimer's

T-essere memoria project is an experimental approach launched by the Educational Services of the Archaeological Heritage Office of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage of the Autonomous Province of Trento with the aim of making the Fiavé Palafitte Museum accessible also to people affected by diseases related to dementia that are difficult to accompany in a museum or participate in archaeological laboratories at this stage of life. The project involved about 90 residents of the Alzheimer centers of nine Trentino APSPs who took part in meetings, practical workshops and visits to the museum.
The project consisted of four themed meetings open to all citizens with the presentation of the book "When are we going home?" written by Michele Farina who tells how Alzheimer’s emptied his mother. The "Sound, silence, music: rethinking the relationship with the person with dementia" will be held on with interventions by educator Stefania Filippi and student Evelin Boccone. The third meeting presents another book "Return to the father" by Loretta Zanella with the participation of Renzo Dori, president of the APSP of Povo. T-essere memoria concludes the meetings with a conference "Active aging: the importance of physical activity" held by Andrea D'Andreatta. The exhibition "T-be memory", at the S.A.S.S. was developed through the exhibition of artifacts, very simple and essential but rich in meaning to stimulate the memory of participants and to resurface forgotten memories or gestures, then the project included a laboratory phase in which all patients demonstrated their ability to "know how" despite the disease.
A second phase of the process involved pupils from two preschools and four primary schools who designed and built effective tools and materials for communicating with people with dementia and then interacting with the elderly. The path carried out has highlighted how the museum, if made usable and participatory, can have a social role and help improve the quality of life for patients but also for families and those who care for them.