Are you looking for a fun service learning or volunteer opportunity? New Friends might be for you!
New Friends is a program that pairs undergraduate and health professional students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with individuals living with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, or another dementia (mentors) to meet one-to-one on an informal basis outside of the classroom or clinical setting. Through shared activities (ie: going for coffee, visiting a museum, taking a walk, playing a game) and conversations, New Friends allows students to learn from their mentor and family as mentors share their experiences with dementia. It also provides an opportunity for the mentor to contribute to training future health professionals through sharing their perspectives regarding their personal diagnostic and treatment journey.
The time commitment is 2 hours each month, plus a monthly hour-long debriefing/educational meeting (usually on a Saturday morning) with fellow students and program staff. The program will run from October 2019 through April 2020.
A mandatory orientation and meet-and-greet program will kick-off the start of the program on October 26, 2019 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
More information can be found in the attached flyer. If you are interested, please complete the attached application. Applications are being accepted now through September 20, 2019. After your application is received, we will meet with you in person and ask you to complete a consent form.
New Friends is a program of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute, UW School of Medicine and Public Health
This post was authored by Diane Farsetta on 07/30/2019.