Inter-generational Activities at the CenterGirl Scout troop 20079 and Daisy troop 20079 from Oriole Park, a Chicago neighborhood, visited the senior clients at Gottlieb’s Adult Day Center on St. Patrick's Day–also the girls' first day of spring vacation–where they made arts and crafts, played games like toss-a-frog on a lily pad and they all enjoyed yummy girl scout cookies.
The Adult Day Center provides assistance and supervision to older adults with impairments so they can continue living at home. Adult Day has exchanged letters with elementary students, hosted area school music groups and is very flexible in working with community groups.
If anyone is interested in participating in an intergenerational program with the seniors at Adult Day, contact director Jill Nelson at (708) 681-7700.
Amanda Wiggins, five, of Daisy Troop 20079 in Oriole Park, creates a shamrock arts and crafts project with Gottlieb Adult Day Center client, Francisco Hernandez, of Maywood.
Gottlieb Adult Day participates actively in many intergenerational programs with the community, including exchanging pen pal letters, hosting school groups and more. The Chicago Public School Daisy troop of kindergarten students together with the first grade students who are Brownies spent their first day of spring vacation brightening the morning of the senior clients at Gottlieb Professional Building in Melrose Park.
The Gottlieb Memorial Hospital Adult Day Center clients cheer on Megan Sobolewski, eight, of Chicago Girl Scout troop 20079, during a game of toss-a-frog on a lily pad.
"Fun Activities & Social Interaction" (an article from the Winter 2006 Pulse)
They play volleyball and beanbag toss, do arts and crafts projects, keep limber with chair exercises, enjoy sing-alongs, go on outings and reminisce together about the old days.
They are the clients of Gottlieb’s Adult Day Center located in a big, bright, cheerfully decorated facility on the Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park.
One client is Robert Gattone, 82, of Melrose Park who has been coming for over five years.
“Back then, dad had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and I couldn’t leave him alone when I went to work,” said his daughter Mikki Gattone. “So I spent a lot of time looking for a good adult day care program for him, and Gottlieb has proved to be the best one around. They offer so many activities, and the staff is great. They treat dad like a member of their own family, with love and dignity. This is his home away from home; he feels very comfortable here. He may not remember things from day to day, but he recognizes his many friends, and being in this wonderful environment has really helped stabilize his Alzheimer’s.”
Megan Buckley, a staff nurse at Gottlieb, signed up her grandma for the Adult Day Center more than three years ago to give grandpa a break from caregiving. Grandma is Josephine Weinstein, 87, who has mild dementia and enjoys attending what she calls “school” five days a week. Grandpa Abe is a spry 90-year-old who drives his wife to the Center every morning at 8 a.m. and often spends time at Maywood Park Racetrack. Megan picks her up at 4.
“Grandma loves people, loves to talk, and day care is so much better for her mental health than sitting in front of the TV all day, which is what she used to do.”
According to manager Shelia Allen, RN, Gottlieb’s is one of the few local programs with full-day and half-day options. Other adult day programs in the area charge $75 to $80 a day. At Gottlieb, a full day is eight hours and costs $56. A half-day is any five consecutive hours during the day and costs $44. Transportation to and from the Adult Day Center is available in certain areas through the Gottlieb Bus Service for an additional nominal charge.
“We’re about evenly split between full- and half-day clients,” said Allen. “Many caregivers who just want a few hours to themselves, to do shopping or recharge their batteries, are getting that respite with a couple of half-days each week.”
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM
