MAY 25, 2022 — ROCHESTER, NY — Jewish Senior Life has partnered with Nazareth College for a new internship opportunity. Two Speech-Language Pathology graduate students from the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department are working with participants at Marian’s House – Jewish Senior Life’s daytime respite program for people with early to mid-staged Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
The two students, Lianne Moscato and Emma Cuffney, facilitate a weekly group, Connections through Communications, with rotating themes. Participants are greeted and asked a question, they will often sing a song, and are then presented with an article or a story to set the tone and inspire conversation. This is followed by an activity and a snack related to the theme. Guests are sent home with the article to prompt further discussion on the weekly topics with their caregivers and families.
“One of the benefits of being at Marian’s House is the socialization and having dialogue with others,” says Ann Barton, Program Manager at Marian’s House. She continues, “The Connections through Communications series with the Nazareth students provides yet another opportunity for the guests to express themselves in a small group setting. An added benefit to this program is the intergenerational experience.”
“Marian’s House provides the Nazareth graduate students with an amazing opportunity to work with an older population and helps them consider how we can serve people across the lifespan. We focus on promoting socialization and providing cognitive stimulation, all through a lens of enhancing quality of life,” adds Janine DiCarlo, Clinical Assistant Professor and Graduate Practicum Coordinator for the Speech-Language Pathology graduate program at Nazareth College.
Moscato and Cuffney will finish their internship at the end of June. The group will reconvene in September when the fall semester resumes at Nazareth.
Marian’s House was named in honor of the late Marian Farash on behalf of The Farash Foundation. Located at 2980 South Clinton Avenue, it provides meals, supervision, and specialized programs in a warm, home-like setting.
