In early April, Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) staff members Stacie Bonenberger, MOT, OTR/L, and Anneliese Perry, MS, NHA, presented a Dementia Friends information session to 200 volunteers at the Pennsylvania Department of Aging's 2024 Aging Network Volunteer Conference. Bonenberger and Perry co-lead Dementia Friendly Pennsylvania, a program of JHF that is supported by the Department of Aging.
This was the first time the Department held a conference for its 11,0000 Aging Services volunteers who support multiple services for older adults through Pennsylvania's 52 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs). Collectively these volunteers spend 156,000 hours of service every year by supporting Senior Community Centers and Family Caregiver Support Programs, delivering meals to older adults living at home, and more, according to a Department press release. The 200 attendees spent the 3-day conference in Bethlehem attending various educational workshops and sessions as well as a Volunteer Recognition Dinner hosted by the Department's Secretary Jason Kavulich.