The EMDA organization (for patients with Alzheimer's and similar diseases), in cooperation with Ezer Mizion and the Rehovot Municipality's Division for Senior Citizens' Welfare, is expanding its "Connections and Capabilities" project for Alzheimer's patients and their families in Rehovot.

Alzheimer's is a very common illness among the elderly population. It is a deteriorative disease of the brain that strongly affects memory, cognitive abilities and behavior. The cause of the illness is not yet known, and no cure has yet been found, but this project helps slow the deterioration and preserve living skills and function.

The project includes professional training geared for volunteers who are willing to devote several hours a week to implementing the program in the homes of Alzheimer patients. The training is given by professionals in the area of social work and occupational therapy and is based on an innovative new program for improving capabilities and skills and enhancing the patients' quality of life.

The volunteers work in the patient's home and teach the primary caretaker how to activate the patient using the activation kit, which includes interactive games, memory stimulation techniques, activities to rouse the senses of smell and touch and the sensory system as a whole, and also material for hobbies that the patient enjoys.

Anat Yules, Director of the Rehovot Welfare Department in the local Social Services Division says: "I call upon all the residents of Rehovot to come forward and volunteer their time and heart for the benefit of Alzheimer patients and their families.