FGCU students bond with assisted living residents in memory care

A group of students from Florida Gulf Coast University makes biweekly visits to residents in the memory care unit at Canterfield of Fort Myers, and everyone benefits.

Bradley Cook is one of the FGCU students bonding with the memory care residents at the Canterfield assisted living facility. He and his class instructor Courtney Satkoski started Unlocked Memories in 2022, inspired by their respective grandmothers’ battles with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“We just have fun with them, and they get to relive some of their old memories,” Cook said.

“That interaction with people is critical to their care,” Satkoski said. “Isolation, something that happened in COVID, that was something that negatively impacted the Alzheimer’s community in a disproportionately large way.”

Student volunteers usually visit the facility twice a week. Sometimes they paint the residents’ nails, bake or do puzzles together. Sometimes, it’s as simple as sitting and talking.

“For a disease that really does take away a lot of your memories, the residents remember the students,” Satkoski said.

At the 2023 Easter party, they cranked the old tunes and served up root beer floats, taking residents back to a time they remember well.

“Bringing them to a time in their life that makes them happy, right?” Cook said. “Give them some peace of mind, some clarity in a world full of confusion.”

The families are grateful for the volunteers’ time.

“Oh my God, they’re absolutely wonderful,” said Coquita Merritt, whose mother is a memory care resident in Canterfield of Fort Myers. “I just love the interaction today, wonderful.”

And the students are getting something out of it, too.

“It’s really cool how, like, we’re getting to experience their favorite things from their generation,” Cook said. “That would have been lost if it were not for them.”

Last year, the group held a golf tournament fundraiser to raise money for their activities, and they bought a new iPad for the facility. It’s used to keep residents connected to their family members who live in other states.