Sharing Family Meals Can Help Those With Dementia Connect

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Many Americans gather together as families and spend time with each other over the winter holidays. It can be difficult when a family member suffers from memory loss.
许多美国人像家人一样聚在一起，共度寒假。当一个家庭成员失去记忆时，这可能会很困难。

Tim Hollingsworth knows. The well-known American chef learned to cook at his mother's side when he was growing up. Hollingsworth would measure ingredients to help her make dinner. He would talk with his mother and taste the food as they cooked.

蒂姆·霍林斯沃思知道。这位著名的美国厨师在成长过程中学会了在母亲身边做饭。霍林斯沃思会测量食材来帮她做晚餐。他会和妈妈聊天，边吃边品尝食物。

Today, he is the winner of "The Final Table" competition on Netflix, the media production company. He also is the owner of Otium, a restaurant in Los Angeles, California.

今天，他是媒体制作公司Netflix“最后一张桌子”比赛的冠军。他也是奥蒂姆的老板，奥蒂姆是加州洛杉矶的一家餐馆。

Hollingsworth still cooks with his mother, but it is different now. She struggles with memory loss. She sits with him as he prepares meals from her favorite recipes. These include recipes for "comfort foods"— ones that fill your stomach and warm your heart with happy memories, while filling a home with a pleasant smell.

霍林斯沃思仍然和他妈妈一起做饭，但现在不同了。她在与失忆作斗争。当他用她最喜欢的食谱做饭时，她和他坐在一起。其中包括“舒适食品”的食谱，这些食物能填满你的胃，让你的心充满快乐的回忆，同时让家充满怡人的气味。

His mother does not cook anymore. But being present at the cooking and eating foods she may remember helps close the distance that dementia can create.

他妈妈不再做饭了。但在烹饪和食用食物时，她可能会记得，这有助于拉近痴呆症可能造成的距离。

Dementia and Alzheimer's disease affect older people's memories. Over time, patients lose their memories, piece by piece. The first to go are usually the newer memories. The older memories, from when they were young, can be the last to disappear.

痴呆症和老年痴呆症影响老年人的记忆。随着时间的推移，病人会一点一点地失去记忆。首先要失去的通常是新的记忆。老的记忆，从他们年轻的时候，可能是最后消失的。

Being with family and doing things together can help.

和家人在一起，一起做事会有帮助。

When we make and share food with others, "we feel a sense of usefulness and belonging," says Sheila Molony. She studies the aging process and is a professor of nursing at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.

当我们与他人一起制作和分享食物时，“我们会感到一种有用和归属感，”希拉·莫洛尼说。她研究衰老过程，是康涅狄格州哈姆登市昆尼皮亚克大学的护理学教授。

Family members with dementia can be involved in meal preparation or setting the table. That may give them some sense of peace and what Molony calls "at-homeness." It helps them feel like part of a family or community.

痴呆症患者的家庭成员可以参与膳食准备或餐桌布置。这可能会给他们一些平和的感觉，莫罗尼称之为“在家里”。这有助于他们感觉自己是家庭或社区的一部分。

Kim Borghoff and her family kept their tradition of Sunday meals together as her husband and his father were both struggling with Alzheimer's disease at the same time.

金·博格霍夫和她的家人保持着周日聚餐的传统，因为她的丈夫和父亲都同时患有老年痴呆症。

Both men were found to have Alzheimer's several years ago. That is when she began making sure that every other Sunday, the whole family had dinner together -- just like they did when their children were growing up.

几年前两人都被发现患有老年痴呆症。就在那时，她开始确保每隔一个星期天，全家一起吃晚饭——就像他们的孩子长大时一样。

What they ate was not important. It was instead the familiar and comforting experience of sitting around the table together, even after the family had finished eating. It helped both men regain some of their old personalities, even if just for a short time.

他们吃什么并不重要。相反，这是一种熟悉而舒适的体验，即使在一家人吃完饭后，他们也会围坐在一起。这有助于两人恢复一些旧的个性，即使只是短暂的时间。

This year, the Alzheimer's Association has been spreading the word about the connecting power of mealtime through their Around the Table program. Along with Hollingsworth, the group asked other chefs to help. They include Hugh Acheson, chef and owner of two restaurants in the state of Georgia.今年，老年痴呆症协会一直在通过他们的“围桌”计划传播关于吃饭时间连接能力的信息。除了霍林斯沃思，该组织还请了其他厨师帮忙。他们包括休·艾奇森，乔治亚州两家餐馆的厨师和老板。

Acheson's father, a former professor, developed Alzheimer's about five years ago. Sharing meals was always a part of their relationship, but it is different for Hugh Acheson as his father's memory slowly disappears.

艾奇逊的父亲曾是一名教授，五年前患上了老年痴呆症。分享食物一直是他们关系的一部分，但休·艾奇逊的不同之处在于他父亲的记忆慢慢消失。

His father was a single parent, raising four children alone, while working full-time. Acheson says his father did not have much time to cook complicated meals. Now, the son might cook a good steak and simply add a fresh, green salad as a side dish.

他的父亲是单亲，独自抚养四个孩子，同时全职工作。艾奇森说，他父亲没有太多时间做复杂的饭菜。现在，儿子可能会煮一份好牛排，然后简单地加一份新鲜的绿色沙拉作为配菜。

Acheson says a good meal made with love can bring out a person with dementia and bring them real joy.

艾奇森说，用爱做的一顿美餐能让痴呆症患者苏醒过来，给他们带来真正的快乐。

"We make memories over good food that's been cared for," he says, food that has been made with "thought and love."

他说：“我们用“思想和爱”做的食物，会让人回忆起被照顾过的好食物。”