Stanford Alzheimer's Alliance

Thousands of individuals are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and neurodegenerative dementia. Our goal is to build meaningful, lasting relationships between college students and nursing home residents who are living with dementia during weekly one-on-one visits. We strive to break through the profound isolation and social disengagement imposed by Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia and promote awareness of these neurodegenerative conditions. The main projects of SAA include weekly visits with Companions, weekly journaling after visits, and reflection meetings.

Service required to fulfill a Cardinal Commitment: After going through the SAA training program, student volunteers are expected to visit their paired Companion once a week throughout an entire academic year during visits facilitated by the SAA directors. Following visits, volunteers will submit a weekly journal reflection detailing their visit, and at the end of each quarter they will write a letter to their Companion’s family summarizing their experience that quarter. Volunteers must also attend quarterly group reflection meetings hosted by SAA.