The Mission
A Sweeter Course is dedicated to supporting and uplifting the dementia community, providing education about dementia, and helping caregivers and people living with dementia tell their stories. There are overwhelming gaps in the healthcare system that impact individuals with dementia and their caregivers, who face significant financial, social, and emotional hurdles that result in part from a lack of awareness and understanding. Caregivers need to be heard so that change can happen at a policy level. Healthcare providers need to be thoroughly trained so that their patients are provided with the best possible treatment plans. And we all need to learn more so that we can provide support and connection to community members, friends, family, and colleagues who need it.
Our symbol is the sweet pea flower, a type of climbing plant that grows tall with the right support.
The Story
Rebecca began A Sweeter Course in 2017 as a blog. At the time, the goal was to encourage caregivers to share their stories and to connect through food, especially family recipes.
In 2021 and 2022, the project shifted into selling baked goods to raise funds to go directly toward caregivers, who were hit extra hard as a result of the pandemic. This venture was called the Night Bakery because Rebecca was working in a skilled nursing facility during the day and therefore did much of the baking at night.
A Sweeter Course wants, more than anything, to support and honor people living with dementia and their partners in care. Over time, the goal is to build a brick-and-mortar location for a dementia cafe that can become an integral part of the community. While we work towards this goal, we are seeking to build a community of healthcare providers and caregivers interested in connecting through conversations about dementia, food, art and other meaningful tools. And you can currently purchase home-baked goods if you live in NYC. Proceeds go towards paying caregivers to share their stories and towards development of a non-profit.
About Rebecca
Rebecca (she/her) is a licensed speech-language pathologist and certified dementia practitioner® in New York City. She received her Master of Science from New York University. She has worked in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities and in home health. Rebecca specializes in communication and swallowing changes resulting from neurodegenerative diseases and she is invested in raising awareness of all types of dementia in order to ensure optimal social support for care partners and individuals living with dementia. Her background also includes six years assisting in neurocognitive research focused on memory and psycholinguistics.
Rebecca’s goal is to empower individuals with dementia and their caregivers with information and to support them in making evidence-based decisions that balance safety and quality of life while taking individual perspectives and contexts into account. She loves to learn and to listen to stories.
Rebecca holds her certificate of clinical competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and certifications from both the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners (Certified Dementia Practitioner®) and from Brush Development (Can Do! Dementia Certificate).