The Cork Memory Gym is a post-diagnostic management programme providing cognitive stimulation therapy and other practical compensation strategies.It is based in St Finbarrs Hospital in the community therapy Dept (CNU). The Cork Memory Gym is a new service offered as part of the memory services in St Finbarrs Hospital, Cork City, Ireland. Memory gyms (also referred to as brain or dementia gyms) have emerged with the aim of maintaining a healthy mind and body. These gyms can be physical spaces or websites that provide both physical and mental exercise programmes to people with normal cognition who are worried about memory loss and those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia. The aim of the Cork Memory Gym is to provide interventions to improve memory and strategies to adapt and cope with the challenges that this presents.

The gym will run once weekly, as group therapy, for blocks of between 4 and 6 weeks with booster sessions at intervals for maintenance treatment. We encourage family members and friends of those attending to participate. Interventions offered will include brain training and compensation strategies.

The Cork memory gym is run in conjunction with the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, University College Cork, and the departments of Occupational Therapy and Clinical Psychology in St Finbarrs Hospital.  Based upon the experience of previous gyms run in Cork, the Cork Memory Gym is the first to be connected formally to a Memory Clinic and will complement the activities of the clinic and the Cork Alzheimer Café, both on site in St Finbarrs.  We are currently accepting referrals only through St Finbarrs Memory Clinic but hope to expand the service in time.