Easter Seals Disability Services

“Recreation Club” to open for Seniors in South Florida

Thanks to a $24,000 grant awarded by Peacock Foundation, Inc. Easter Seals South Florida will open a new social-recreational day program, “Recreation Club,” designed specifically for individuals clinically diagnosed with early-stage memory and cognitive impairment.

This will be a stigma-free option to traditional adult day care.  The ultimate purpose of this project will be to assist persons with dementia and their care partners in reaching their goals. Chief among those goals is to uphold and/or improve their quality of life by maintaining an optimal functional ability in their chosen environment. Recent research shows that people with memory impairment can learn.  That learning can be greatly enhanced through the program’s intended objectives of providing structured therapeutic, social, recreational, and educational activities six hours per day at a minimum of three times per week to individuals in the early stage of memory and cognitive impairment.

Activities included, but not be limited to, the following:

• Physical exercise (Tai Chi, Yoga, Aquatic Therapy, Dance Therapy)
• Cognitive exercise
• Self-care training
• Volunteering opportunities
• Intergenerational Activities
• Animal Assisted Therapy
• Art Therapy
• Field Trips (museums, parks, beach, theatre, bowling, restaurants, malls, etc.)
• Relaxation Therapy (guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation)
• Therapeutic Cooking
• Health Promotion for the Mind

In addition, the program will help seniors without memory impairments actively prevent their own memory loss.  It will also provide participants and caregivers with education and support on the disease process and coping mechanisms.

Participants will be empowered to remain engaged in daily activities and retain a connection to family, friends, and the community for as long as possible. Participants will experience improved quality of life, better self-esteem, life satisfaction, affect, social connections, enhanced coping skills, intrinsic motivation, self-regulation, well being, competence, and autonomy. Care partners will also have decreased stress and depression.

For more information contact Gloria Orlandi, (305) 547-4721 or gorlandi@sfl.easterseals.com



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