Elder Rehab, Tucson’s student-powered body and brain exercise program for people with dementia, is inviting referrals to its first ever summer program, with a rolling admission beginning June 9. The program provides twice-weekly 2-hour one-to-one treatment sessions. Each session consists of an hour of physical exercise and an hour of memory- and language-stimulation exercises and games. Sessions are conducted by trained University of Arizona interns and volunteers.
The program takes place at Desert Sports and Fitness, NE, 2480 N. Pantano. Because summer schedules typically include vacation periods, individual session times are scheduled between each student rehab worker and their assigned partner’s caregiver. This is also true during the fall and spring semesters. If the applicant is registered close to the start of the semester, the cost is $499 for 20 2-hour sessions. Later entrants pay a pro-rated $25 per session upfront. Caregivers who live with their care recipient and have a joint income of less than $150,000 per year can apply for a respite reimbursement grant from the Arizona Caregiver Coalition. As of mid-April, 2025, grant funds were still available. (See www.azcaregiver.org or call 888-737-7494 for information)
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Most students stay with their partner for two semesters, some as many as three or four. According to the program’s director Dr. Sharon Arkin, such longterm intimate contact with an elderly individual who has other age-related conditions besides dementia, is an experience most doctors will never have. “Elder Rehab participants relish the undivided attention of their young student partner, as they typically see their grandchildren, if they have any, only briefly at Thanksgiving and other family gatherings.”
Before an applicant can join join Elder Rehab, their cognitive suitability is determined via a brief quiz administered at home consisting of easy and more difficult examples of the activities engaged in during the cognitive hour.
If they can handle the easy examples at a minimum, they are invited to engaged in a free one-hour cognitive session with Dr. Arkin during which the student gets acquainted with their partner and observes and takes notes.
If the trial session goes well, the applicant is scheduled for a physical fitness evaluation which doubles as a training session for the assigned student. The participant is moved through a series of three standardized fitness tests followed by warm up, stretch and balance exercises, five different weight machines and time on a stationary bike and treadmill. Deletions, substitutions, and/or additions are prescribed to accommodate restrictions or special needs the participant might have.
That customized fitness exam and exercise prescription costs $85.
The University of Arizona’s Physiology Honors Academy, a club of pre-med students, sponsors an annual “Match” event to help its members attending summer school to find health care-related volunteer experiences during the summer. One student, Tavin Backer, who had promised his friend, Karthik Srinivas, to work with his partner, George Wolfson, during the summer while Karthik was out of town, had his picture taken with his partner-to-be at the match event without realizing it! George had come to the event with his wife, Beatrice della Santa to talk with students about Elder Rehab.
For further information about Elder Rehab and an application form, contact Dr. Arkin at sharonmerlearkin@gmail.com or (520) 603-2912.
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