COMMUNITY OFFERINGS
Dementia Rehab Program Invites Summer 2026 Referrals By Dr. Sharon Arkin, PsyD Elder Rehab is Tucson’s research- validated physical and mental fitness program for seniors with dementia, and is seeking participants for its summer 2026 semester at Desert Sports and Fitness NE, 2480 N. Pantano. Are you caring for a formerly active spouse or parent who has been sidelined because of Alzheimer’s or another dementia-causing disorder? If you answered “yes”, this program offers your care recipient an energizing opportunity for physical exercise, mental stimulation and companionship so you can get ongoing periods of respite from caregiving.
Applications are accepted all year long, but a quick match with a partner is most likely to occur if applications are received before, during or the month after a semester begins. University of Arizona’s summer semester begins on June 18, 2026. Applicants who apply at or near the beginning of the semester will pay $499 for 20 sessions; late entrants pay a pro-rated $25 per session, payable upfront. There is also a one-time $85 fee for a cognitive evaluation and an $85 fee for a required physical fitness assessment. Each spring, the University of Arizona physiology department holds a “match-making” event for medical school-bound students seeking volunteer experience working with elderly or disabled adults. ◆ FOR MORE INFORMATION For an Elder Rehab application form and a pre-screening quiz to determine cognitive suitability, contact Sharon Arkin at sharonmerlearkin@gmail.com or (520) 603-2912.
Elder Rehab matches its participants with trained University of Arizona (UA) volunteers who provide their Ally supervises her former partner during the exercise portion of her rehab session.
respective partners with 20 twice-weekly 2-hour one-to-one rehab sessions per semester. Each session consists of an hour of physical exercise and an hour of memory- and language-stimulating activities. Most students have parental permission to drive their partner to and from the program site, but these arrangements are made privately and are not the responsibility of Elder Rehab or Desert Sports and Fitness.
From last year’s “Match Day” are student rehab volunteers Tavin Backer and Ally Dietrich. Seated from left to right are Janet Horton, Ally’s latest rehab partner, and George Wolfson, Tavin’s new found partner, and Elder Rehab founder and director, Dr. Sharon Arkin, PsyD.
Page 16 | May & June 2026, Never Too Late
Pima Council on Aging
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