Human warmth--This is the 3523rd article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

This is the 3523rd article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

In an era when almost everyone is paying attention to the young "back wave", Forget Me Not Restaurant has turned its attention to the "front wave" who are no longer young and suffering from illness - patients with cognitive impairment. This is the first time I have an in-depth understanding of "cognitive impairment". Forget Me Not Restaurant also gave me an opportunity to get close to patients with cognitive impairment and understand their inner world.

Before going to work at the restaurant, I specifically looked up some information about cognitive impairment on the Internet. Many people equate cognitive impairment with Alzheimer's disease. However, dementia is only a complication of cognitive impairment when it is at its most serious. Alzheimer's disease is also different from cognitive impairment. Alzheimer's disease is only a cognitive impairment caused by neurodegeneration. There are also vascular cognitive impairment and cognitive impairment that combines both. In the late stage of Alzheimer's disease, the patient does not recognize his relatives or even himself. He can see with his eyes, but has lost the recognition of everything he sees. He can hear with his ears, but it is extremely difficult to respond to what he hears. Patients at this stage are like living alone.

After learning about the situation of patients with cognitive impairment, I was worried about whether I could complete the work smoothly, but soon, my concerns were dispelled. The restaurant has a pleasant and warm atmosphere, and the friendly smiles of grandparents also make people feel friendly. When I first met Grandma Caiping, I was deeply attracted by her personal charm. Although grandma often forgets a lot of things due to her illness, she remembers every volunteer by writing a diary. "Today I met a new volunteer: Zhu Ying." Watching her write this line in the notebook stroke by stroke. Even if the memory will be forgotten in the end, Grandma Caiping still wants to keep every good moment in life very carefully.

When I met Grandma for the second time, I thought she had forgotten me. I was about to introduce myself again, but she called me "Xiao Zhu" and asked me to come in as if I knew someone. After just a few weeks, we became good friends, and Grandma Caiping continued to improve with my help. Grandma Caiping was sometimes a little timid, so I would guide her to see if the guests needed anything, pour a glass of water, and chat. Sometimes when she met enthusiastic guests, she was happy to sit down and chat with them. Grandma Caiping has changed a lot. Now she always has a smile on her face and greets us warmly. I thought to myself that even if Grandma Caiping's memory will disappear, her love and vision for life will never be forgotten by us, so we volunteers will write down these beautiful "moments" in life.

During my volunteer days, I accompanied the elderly with love, and my grandparents responded to me with the most sincere emotions. When I first became a volunteer, my communication with my grandparents was very stiff, which made me think about how the younger generation should get along with the elderly. Unlike other college students, my father is older than the fathers of my peers. He is the only elder who lives with me day and night. I can feel that my father is getting older, and the generation gap makes it difficult for me to find a suitable way to communicate. However, my volunteer experience in the Unforgettable Restaurant has gradually taught me how to get along with the elderly. I learned to listen patiently, not to be bored by repeating simple conversations, and to pay attention to the physical condition of the elderly. I began to learn to think about many problems from the perspective of the elderly, so as to better understand their behavior, rather than blindly denying and rejecting. Some time ago, I accompanied my father to a reunion of his old classmates. Almost all the people present were in their sixties and seventies, but I was surprised to find that I seemed to have become accustomed to listening to the "talking" of the elderly, and would unconsciously pay attention to whether my father had eaten enough and remind him to drink in moderation instead of looking at his phone boredly. At that moment I realized that I couldn't forget the restaurant that changed me.

"Life exists in the universe in an infinite cycle. Theists call this reincarnation, and atheists call this the immortality of matter." Zheng Yuanjie once said. After spending a short time with the grandparents in the restaurant, I couldn't help but feel that life is an ultimate cycle. The elderly's physical functions are gradually declining, and they need to be carefully cared for like children. Their minds are also like children, with the most simple emotions. Getting along with them is like a touch of beauty in this noisy world, purifying my heart.

"The warmth of the world transcends countless years and the haze of fate, baking the memories fluffy and fragrant." Life is a journey that is neither long nor short. Everyone is arranged by fate to meet some things and some people. And these experiences and people have made us who we are today. May everyone be treated gently by life!

School of Nursing and Health Management, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Author: Zhu Yingtao Chen Xin

Instructor: Xu Ting

Introduction to Wang Bu Le Tea Restaurant

Forget Me Not Tea Restaurant is the offline store of "Forget Me Not Restaurant". "Forget Me Not Restaurant" is the first documentary observation charity program in China that focuses on cognitive impairment. It became the highest-scoring program on Douban for two consecutive seasons from 2019 to 2020. It also won many public welfare communication program awards such as the "Annual Online Variety Show" at the 8th China Internet Audiovisual Conference. The program is led by celebrity store manager Huang Bo and others to run a restaurant with elderly people with cognitive impairment, allowing them to do some work as waiters within their capacity and communicate with the outside world as much as possible. This is a very scientific and effective means of "non-drug intervention treatment". Through the program, a positive and optimistic attitude towards life is further spread, knowledge on the prevention and treatment of cognitive impairment is popularized, and people who work hard to live are given a voice. On the closing day of the second season of the program, it was officially announced that the offline store of "Forget Me Not Restaurant" will be permanently open to the public, extending the warmth and touching online to offline.

The "Wangbulao Tea Restaurant" is located in Yongjia Court, No. 570, Yongjia Road, Xuhui District. The restaurant will carry out public welfare advocacy, popular science, and concept dissemination functions, and operate as an independent public welfare project. The restaurant implements the "Wangbulao Restaurant Elderly Staff Service Recruitment Plan" to regularly provide jobs for the elderly, especially those with cognitive impairment, to create opportunities and environments for them to communicate with the outside world, and to gain something through their service and continue to realize their self-worth.

Wangbulao Restaurant has cooperated with "Dayi Xiaohu Medical Communication Think Tank" to jointly build a "Big Health Project Management Demonstration Base", with the goal of creating a Shanghai health culture landmark and a city volunteer service business card.