Fred Jones never spent much time in the kitchen.
He knows his way around a barbecue, but his wife did most of the cooking indoors.
That has changed. Jones is now a caregiver for his wife, who has Alzheimer’s disease.
So, it came time for Jones to step up to the dinner plate.
He joined the Parish Outreach to Seniors (POTS) Slow Cooker Club offered through Guardian Angels Church in Orillia. The club wrapped up its first six-week program — a pilot project — on Friday. Now Jones can slow-cook with the best of them.
“It’s an easy way to prepare meals, and they’re all healthy,” he said.
Each member of the club was given a slow cooker to take home.
The club is a way for seniors to socialize, meet new people and learn to cook with a slow cooker for free. But its benefits are far more wide-reaching.
Dennis Goddard is 85 and he just recently learned to cook. He is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and the weekly sessions have helped him with his memory, said his wife, Clara Goddard.
“This is a very good source of brain activity for people with dementia,” she said, adding they were referred to the club by the Alzheimer Society.
As her husband’s caregiver, Clara Goddard isn’t taking part in the program out of necessity. She is beyond comfortable in the kitchen and has even published a cookbook.
“It’s an activity that we can do together and it’s good brain exercise,” she said.
The social side of it has been helpful, too.
“A lot of seniors are alone, so it’s a good way of getting out and meeting people,” she said.
That’s one of the reasons the club was formed, said POTS co-ordinator Wanda Minnings.
She cited a Statistics Canada study that identified six communities as having high levels of loneliness, isolation and depression among seniors. Three of those communities are in Simcoe County: Bradford, Barrie, and Orillia and area.
“Everybody has a different story, but the common thread was that they were looking for opportunities to get out of the house,” Minnings said. “Not everybody comes out because they can’t cook or can’t shop.”
The Slow Cooker Club is about more than food. Guest speakers have been on hand for many of the two-hour sessions. For the final one Friday, Carolyn Jones, of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, was there to share some tips and information about everything from physical health to using the internet.
Minnings deemed the pilot project a success. She hopes to offer another slow-cooker program this year. For more information, contact Minnings at 705-326-2849, ext. 135, or [email protected].
