BOSTON, MA — Standish Village Assisted Living recently presented their “Making Sense of Dementia” course to members of a Boston Student Ambassador Program who are passionate about increasing outreach and awareness around dementia and related cognitive impairments. The Ambassador Program, organized by the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (BUADRC), is open to all local graduate and undergraduate students and “aims to educate students about Alzheimer’s disease and related cognitive impairments, improve students’ communication skills with older adults and cognitively impaired individuals, educate students about culturally diverse communities, and recruit participants for clinical trials and studies” (BU.edu).
At the recent virtual presentation hosted by Standish Village Assisted Living — who have a therapeutic, secure neighborhood on their campus specifically for residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia — students from BU and Mass College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences learned more about dementia, effective communication skills, risk factors and how to recognize common signs and symptoms. The presentation is part of Standish’s Dementia Friendly Communities Initiative, which involves working with area organizations, municipalities and schools to help make communities more inclusive for residents with cognitive impairment and gradually fight the stigma that often accompanies dementia.
Boston University and Standish Village have united in their shared belief that providing educational programming and hands-on experience with older adults may help inspire interest in future Alzheimer’s and dementia-related career paths and aid in recruiting participants into research studies, particularly those who are currently underrepresented.
You can learn more about BUADRC’s Student Ambassador Program and how to get involved at BU.edu. Learn more about Standish Village at www.StandishVillage.com.