By Jim Davis - Florida Catholic
Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC
Music therapist Marianela Cordoba leads singing at the Wilton Manors Adult Day Care Center at the end of December 2023.
WILTON MANORS | Marianela Cordoba strummed a guitar as she led in singing old-time favorites: Que Será, Será, Bésame Mucho, Happy Trails and New York, New York. But she was holding more than a mere sing-along for her elderly audience.
She was watching for other signs: smiles of recognition, knowledge of the lyrics, remembrance of younger days, even bodies moving to the motion: music as a meter of mental, physical and emotional health.
“This isn't entertainment,” Cordoba, a music therapist, said after her session at the Wilton Manors Adult Day Care Center, run by the archdiocese’s Catholic Charities. “Music is the only thing that stimulates the whole brain. It connects people with their bodies and with each other.”
Her music was part of Active Brain, Active Body, a pilot project to ease loneliness and isolation among the elderly, as well as improving physical coping skills.
Launched in July 2023 with a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Broward, Active Brain, Active Body adds music and other units to the other programs at the center. It’s said to be the first program of its kind to be offered both in Spanish and English.
One class, A Matter of Balance, trains clients in mild exercises to impart confidence in movement and prevent accidental falls. A Tai Chi class will counter arthritis.
Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC
Activities aide Elta Estimond helps Nely Limeira color a gingerbread man at the Wilton Manors Adult Day Care Center at the end of December 2023.
“They love it,” activities aide Elta Estimond said. “They get up and dance, even one who is 99 years old. They're like family.”
Active Brain, Active Body was a natural for the Wilton Manors Adult Day Care Center, which has been serving the elderly for three decades. The center currently serves 43 clients, with 23 coming all five days each week.
Clients are given a range of activities: Bingo, Scrabble, dominos, ring toss, darts, even an indoor version of bowling. December, of course, was arts and crafts month for Christmas.
The seniors helped decorate a tree at the center and created globes and Santa-style booties to hang from the ceiling. They also gift-wrapped a pile of oversize boxes as a decoration at the front door.
“It’s the best,” said Luz Maria, 80, a new client, while decorating a paper gingerbread man. “Coloring, dancing – I enjoy everything.”
It was a common response among those at the session.
“Todo me gusta (I like it all), especially the friends I make,” said Carmen Morales, 77, patting an aide on the back.
Aidee Arce is a long-timer – not only because of her 96 years on Earth, but for her 16 years at the center. She listed dancing, singing and leading daily prayer for Spanish-speaking clients as her favorite things there.
“I want to come here until God says it’s the last day,” Arce said.
Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC
Egbert Francis, 99, shows off his gingerbread man at the Wilton Manors Adult Day Care Center. He says people often say he looks like actor Morgan Freeman.
Egbert Francis, who bears a close likeness to actor Morgan Freeman, began coming six months ago on his daughter’s recommendation. He's another one who takes it all in.
“Whatever they're doing, I sit and smile with them,” said Francis, 99.
Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC
Luisa Salazar, standing, is a volunteer aide at the Wilton Manors Adult Day Care Center. It helps her look after her mother, Teofila Defoster.
Serving at the center are six staffers and three volunteers, some of them not much younger than the clients. Luisa Salazar, 76, has volunteered there for 10 years – partly to watch over her mother, Teofila Defoster, 92.
“I just enjoy being around (seniors),” Salazar said. She added a simple credo: “My mission is to serve.”
For the senior center, that mission lasts from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Program coordinator Ivon Suarez explained that it’s meant to help not only the seniors but their grown children – many of whom are caring for children of their own.
“So we’re helping caregivers as well as clients,” she said.
The seniors also get served lunch, on this day, a tuna salad and some veggies. That’s a vital part of the work too, Suarez said. “A lot of times when they're at home, they forget to feed themselves.”
The center staff also line up entertainment. Performers may include a harpist or a magician. One day brought the Slow Burn Theatre Company from the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, doing a selection from the musical Over the Rainbow. Another day brought caroling students from Cardinal Gibbons High School. Volunteers from St. Thomas Aquinas High School also visit.
Suarez said she “fell in love” with the seniors when she began working at the center 10 years ago. “Some people think there’s nothing they can do and they're a burden on society. But there’s a lot you can learn from them. They're full of knowledge and always giving me advice on life. Like, ‘Don’t wait until you retire to do things you want.’ Sometimes they couldn't do what they wanted after they retired.”
One way she and the other workers know when they’ve succeeded is through an annual assessment of the clients, measuring their memory and daily activities. Workers take vital signs and weigh each client, keeping track of health and nutrition. They notify the seniors’ caregivers of any problems. And, as does music therapist Cordoba, they watch the reactions of the clients themselves.
Of the eight seniors who finished the eight-week Matter of Balance class, 60% reported more control against falling, and all of them said they felt more comfortable in becoming more physically active.
“Whatever they need, we try to help,” Suarez said.
Photographer: COURTESY
Clients at the Wilton Manors Adult Day Care Center take part in A Matter of Balance session. From left are Marian Doughty, Susan O'Day and Joan Walkling.
