The one-of-a-kind program, offered at New York City's Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale, caters to the nightly sleeplessness that can be caused by a combination of Alzheimer's or dementia and old age.
(ABC News)
More than therapy, the program offers company and community in the loneliest hours.
"At night, when you are alone and you feel like no one wants you, here we are a family," one of the elderly female patients told "Good Morning America."
Originally, Paul Navarro said his mother was reluctant to go to the program, but by the second week, she was a different person and noticeably more alert. She also managed to make new friends, becoming a part of what staff members at the Hebrew Home call "the clique," a group of Spanish-speaking women who love to gossip as much as they love one another.
For family members, the program -- which is widely supported by the state of New York -- also offers significant financial benefits. It is covered by both Medicare and Medicaid.
The program's popularity has piqued interest from all over the globe. Representatives from senior centers based in Ireland, Canada and Great Britain have sought out advice from the Hebrew Home, hoping to replicate the nighttime program.
In addition to music and dancing, the program offers an art class, supervised midnight strolls, massages and even field trips to restaurants and to local movie theaters.
There's always a nurse on hand to give medication, change clothes, bathe tired bodies and calm fears.
"Sometimes they come in here, they're calm," said Mabel Hernandez -- a nurse who has been with the program since its beginning -- of her elderly patients. "Sometimes they come in here and they're agitated. But we have to deal with that every night."
The care enables family members such as Paul Navarro to finally get some much-needed rest at night -- allowing him to function by day.
"Now I sleep straight through the night. I wake up refreshed. I'm able to go to work and pay the bills," he said laughing. "And, you know, my mother's happy and I couldn't be happier."
He added with a laugh, "Sometimes I wonder who has the more active social life, my mother or me."
If you want more information about the program, please contact:
Malka Margolies
Communications Director
The Hebrew Home at Riverdale
5901 Palisade Avenue
Riverdale, New York 10471
718-581-1225
mmargolies@hebrewhome.org
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