To our delight, our social activities have grown in popularity considerably this year. From long-time favorites like Movement & Motion to new and more specialized programs, we love sharing moments with people living with dementia and their care partners/family who come with them, as well as providing some joy during their week. To accommodate our growing attendance, we’re now running two social activities every Friday at our office. Adding afternoon sessions allows a more flexible arrangement for our attendees. Some people can’t make it to our usual morning sessions, and others prefer to start their day slowly before getting out of their homes. These are only a couple of reasons why we added more sessions, but we wanted to create more options in general for attendees.
Afternoon activities at times may be the same activity as the morning session, and other times may be something different and/or new. For example, sometimes we’ll have two Music Centered Wellness classes, and other times we’ll have Movement & Motion in the morning with Memories in the Making in the afternoon. We’ll also occasionally offer activities that we don’t frequent like Reminiscence Gardening and Tai Chi Yoga Fusion with Sound Healing.
Outside of Friday activities, we’re also adding new programs Mindful Photography and Dance Therapy. Dance Therapy starts on July 12th and will be on the 2nd Wednesday of each month for the rest of the year. It will be at Infinity Dance Sport Center led by dance instructor, Yolanda Vargas. We wanted to implement this activity into our offering as dancing can provide benefits such as improved cardiovascular health, improved flexibility and balance, reduced stress, as well as increased cognitive function and social connection. The other new program, Mindful Photography, is a four week program by photographer Robin Harris allowing for reflection through the world of photography. This program is intended for active care partners, and although the ongoing program is full, we have an interest list for a future group.
View the full calendar of upcoming activities and connections outings. Contact our Social Activities Coordinator, Sara Moller, at smoller@alzsd.org for questions about attending or RSVPs for activities/outings.
By Braulio Ambriz
