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Weekly InSight: ‘Time Out’ Is Recruiting Students and Families
We’re excited to announce Time Out is now recruiting students and families.
The award-winning mentorship and respite care program, which launched in 1986, had been on a three-year hiatus. We’re now working with Temple University’s Center for Intergenerational Learning to get it back up and running this spring.
Renee Packel, who cared for her late husband Arthur, a PMC patient, participated in the program about five years ago. Arthur was developing Alzheimer’s disease when his financial woes—which resulted in Packel closing his business and selling their house—began, The New York Times reported in 2010. The affordability of the Time Out program was particularly helpful, she told us last week.
The current cost to participate is $8.50 per hour (waived for eligible families), for up to 10 hours per week. During those hours, local college students give family members temporary relief from the daily responsibilities of caregiving.
Packel recalled how one student would take Arthur to get pizza at the same shop each week.
“The owner came over one day and asked if Art was his grandfather,” Packel said. “You could see the affection between them, and for a stranger to notice it was incredible.”
Another student would take her husband sightseeing.
“She would take him to visit sites around Philly that I think I must have overlooked because I’m a Philly native,” she said. “He was excited to do that with her.”
Other services provided include reading or mobility assistance and may also include meal preparation, laundry, and light grocery shopping. It does not include personal care—such as bathing, dressing, feeding, or toileting—nor administering medication or therapies.
Families who would like to register or learn more should contact Alison Lynn, MSW, LCSW, at alison.lynn@uphs.upenn.edu or 215-360-0257.
Correction: In last week’s InSight, we incorrectly stated a study was conducted at the University of Washington School of Medicine (Seattle) when we should have identified Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis). The error was brought to our attention by Washington University alumnus Sanjeev Vaishnavi, MD, PhD.
Job Opportunity
The Penn Memory Center is seeking a Clinical Research Coordinator B to join our multi-disciplinary team of health professionals. For more information about the full-time position and to apply, click here.
Upcoming Events
The next Memory Café will be held on Friday, March 29, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Old City. There will be a special tasting event with members of Penn Appétit, the University of Pennsylvania’s student-run magazine covering all things food. Memory Café is exclusively for people with memory problems, including Alzheimer’s disease, and their partners/families. The program is free. Please RSVP to Alison Lynn at 215-360-0257 or alison.lynn@uphs.upenn.edu. All 2019 dates are posted here.
Our “Empowering Caregivers” spring series kicked off last week. The next sessions will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 14, April 18, May 16, and June 20 at 241 Ralston House. Caregivers will have access to area experts who will present on a variety of intensive topics from in-home activities to end of life care. Each talk is free and capped at 30 guests. More details about the series are here. To RSVP, contact Felicia Greenfield at felicia.greenfield@uphs.upenn.edu or 215-662-4523 and note which workshop(s) you’d like to attend.
Creative Expression Through Music, a collaboration between PMC and the Curtis Institute of Music, is a new, free program for PMC patients experiencing memory change or those with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage dementia. It’s intended to provide participants with a greater understanding of music, fun new tools for interacting through sound, and creative musical experience that flex their imaginations. Beginners are welcome. Session One will engage participants in collaborative, creative musical experiences and will assess their impact on participants’ mood and well-being. Session Two will focus on creating new music and building the skills and activities of Session One. Registration for Session One is now closed, but Session Two is still enrolling.
Session Two will meet from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on March 19, 26, April 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30. All sessions are held at The Curtis Institute of Music in Lenfest Hall, Room LH314. If you’d like to register or have questions, contact Matthew Volpe at matthew.volpe@uphs.upenn.edu.