New Alzheimer's center in Amityville providing music, dance, services and testing
Participants take part in a movement and dance class at the first satellite office of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America in Amityville on Wednesday. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Eddie Green sat next to his sister at the new Alzheimer’s Foundation of America center in Amityville and repeatedly hit a plastic cup on the table. He didn't do so as hard or as quickly as his sister or others without Alzheimer’s who surrounded him. But it was a deliberate, constant pace.
"He’s still following the rhythm and doing the activity, whether or not he’s doing it as fast as everybody," Cathy Serpico, senior manager at the center, said of Green, 73, who has Alzheimer’s. "And we’re OK with that."
The "Rhythm Revival" session Wednesday, which also included stomping and swaying to music, helped inaugurate the center’s first week of programming. It is the nationwide foundation’s first center outside its Manhattan headquarters, serving the estimated 62,000 Long Islander seniors who have the disease, and their caregivers.
"The needs are significant," said Charles Fuschillo Jr., president and CEO of the foundation.
Shurie Green, 70, of Wyandanch, accompanied her brother Eddie to the center.
"The program keeps him stimulated," and it allows him to interact with people other than family, Shurie Green said.
Eddie Green said he enjoyed the session.
"I like dancing," he said.
Several other free programs involve music, including sing-a-longs. Research shows that people with Alzheimer’s often are able to remember and react to music, even if their overall memory has greatly deteriorated.
The foundation’s Barbara Rabinowitz Education & Resource Center is housed in an old convent of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, Fuschillo said. The former chapel, with its vaulted wooden ceiling and hanging metallic lamps, is now one of several program rooms.
In addition to activities that often are a mix of people with Alzheimer’s and people without the disease — to, Serpico said, promote socialization — there will be support groups for caregivers and education and training on Alzheimer’s for people in health care and other fields, Fuschillo said.
The center also offers a five-minute memory screening that includes spelling a word backward, repeating words and naming as many animals as possible within 30 seconds.
"It’s an early detection test," said Chris Schneider, a foundation spokesman.
A low score leads to a recommendation to follow up with a physician, to determine whether the person may have Alzheimer’s or another condition linked to memory problems, such as sleep apnea, he said.
Lynn Hansen, 65, an administrative assistant with the Town of Babylon who was at the center with other town employees, took the screening Wednesday and was happy to find out that her memory is similar to what it was a year ago. Her mother, Nancy Marchese, had advanced Alzheimer’s when she died of COVID-related causes in 2020 at age 85, she said.
"Starting two years prior to 2020, she didn’t have cognitive communication with me at all, and I feel like when I would go to talk to her, she would hear me, but she couldn’t respond," Hansen said. "There were little gestures maybe once in a while in her face."
Seeing what her mother went through, and knowing that people with a parent who had Alzheimer’s are more likely to develop the disease, "I’m really concerned about it," Hansen said.
The foundation has been reaching out to area senior centers, churches, physician offices, libraries and other places to spread the word about the center, Schneider said.
The Amityville center is the newest of several on the Island that serve people with Alzheimer's, including Long Island Alzheimer's & Dementia Center in Westbury and Alzheimer's Disease Resource Center in East Islip.
A feature of the Amityville center is a Long Island Rail Road seat donated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to help people with Alzheimer’s get familiar with a train seat before traveling and decrease stress, Serpico said. An airline seat will be installed later.
"It's very easy for people to be confused, to get agitated by the sight, the sound, just the difference in the environment," she said.
Outside will be a "sensory garden" with different smells and textures, and gardening activities, Serpico said.
The foundation is funded through individual, organizational and corporate donations, and government grants, and all programs are free.
"We wanted to make sure economics was not a barrier for seeking help or assistance," Fuschillo said.
Eddie Green sat next to his sister at the new Alzheimer’s Foundation of America center in Amityville and repeatedly hit a plastic cup on the table. He didn't do so as hard or as quickly as his sister or others without Alzheimer’s who surrounded him. But it was a deliberate, constant pace.
"He’s still following the rhythm and doing the activity, whether or not he’s doing it as fast as everybody," Cathy Serpico, senior manager at the center, said of Green, 73, who has Alzheimer’s. "And we’re OK with that."
The "Rhythm Revival" session Wednesday, which also included stomping and swaying to music, helped inaugurate the center’s first week of programming. It is the nationwide foundation’s first center outside its Manhattan headquarters, serving the estimated 62,000 Long Islander seniors who have the disease, and their caregivers.
"The needs are significant," said Charles Fuschillo Jr., president and CEO of the foundation.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America this week began serving people with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers at its new site in Amityville, the first satellite office for the Manhattan-based nonprofit.
- The free services include music, dance and art programs, support groups, and training sessions for health care workers and others. A "sensory garden" is planned.
- Memory screenings, which include questions that test the ability to remember words and name animals, are open to anyone. Those with a low score are encouraged to follow up with a physician.
Shurie Green, 70, of Wyandanch, accompanied her brother Eddie to the center.
"The program keeps him stimulated," and it allows him to interact with people other than family, Shurie Green said.
Eddie Green said he enjoyed the session.
"I like dancing," he said.
Shurie Green, left, and her brother Eddie Green, both of Wyandanch, at the first satellite office of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America in Amityville on Wednesday. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Several other free programs involve music, including sing-a-longs. Research shows that people with Alzheimer’s often are able to remember and react to music, even if their overall memory has greatly deteriorated.
The foundation’s Barbara Rabinowitz Education & Resource Center is housed in an old convent of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, Fuschillo said. The former chapel, with its vaulted wooden ceiling and hanging metallic lamps, is now one of several program rooms.
In addition to activities that often are a mix of people with Alzheimer’s and people without the disease — to, Serpico said, promote socialization — there will be support groups for caregivers and education and training on Alzheimer’s for people in health care and other fields, Fuschillo said.
The center also offers a five-minute memory screening that includes spelling a word backward, repeating words and naming as many animals as possible within 30 seconds.
"It’s an early detection test," said Chris Schneider, a foundation spokesman.
A low score leads to a recommendation to follow up with a physician, to determine whether the person may have Alzheimer’s or another condition linked to memory problems, such as sleep apnea, he said.
Lynn Hansen, 65, an administrative assistant with the Town of Babylon who was at the center with other town employees, took the screening Wednesday and was happy to find out that her memory is similar to what it was a year ago. Her mother, Nancy Marchese, had advanced Alzheimer’s when she died of COVID-related causes in 2020 at age 85, she said.
"Starting two years prior to 2020, she didn’t have cognitive communication with me at all, and I feel like when I would go to talk to her, she would hear me, but she couldn’t respond," Hansen said. "There were little gestures maybe once in a while in her face."
Seeing what her mother went through, and knowing that people with a parent who had Alzheimer’s are more likely to develop the disease, "I’m really concerned about it," Hansen said.
The foundation has been reaching out to area senior centers, churches, physician offices, libraries and other places to spread the word about the center, Schneider said.
The Amityville center is the newest of several on the Island that serve people with Alzheimer's, including Long Island Alzheimer's & Dementia Center in Westbury and Alzheimer's Disease Resource Center in East Islip.
A feature of the Amityville center is a Long Island Rail Road seat donated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to help people with Alzheimer’s get familiar with a train seat before traveling and decrease stress, Serpico said. An airline seat will be installed later.
"It's very easy for people to be confused, to get agitated by the sight, the sound, just the difference in the environment," she said.
Outside will be a "sensory garden" with different smells and textures, and gardening activities, Serpico said.
The foundation is funded through individual, organizational and corporate donations, and government grants, and all programs are free.
"We wanted to make sure economics was not a barrier for seeking help or assistance," Fuschillo said.
David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.
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