A recent blog post was created with one of our SERC partners, PointerWare.. here is what they wrote:
At PointerWare, we’re all about preventing social isolation so we found we had a lot in common when we met up with SERC partner, Amy MacFarlane of Recreational Respite.
Like us, Amy is passionate about helping seniors and others with physical or cognitive challenges. In Amy’s case, she helps Recreational Respite clients by designing custom recreation programs for people with Alzheimer’s Disease, dementias, disabilities due to stroke, Parkinsons and several other cognitive and physical challenges.
Recreational Respite starts with the premise that a one-size-fits-all strategy isn’t the best when it comes to helping people reduce the effects of their illness. Instead, Amy and her team create individual, therapeutic programs for each client, based on the clients’ strengths, interests and abilities. It might take the form of an individualized exercise program for someone who has suffered a stroke, a companion for someone who isn’t able to go into the community on their own, or a dementia-specific program that helps someone who struggles with aggression and agitation. The success of this individualized approach is significant. Recreational Respite clients and their families report improvements ranging from a slowdown in the rapid onset of some diseases to enhanced memory to improved social skills, all of which play a role in preventing social isolation.