The director of education at the
Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Northwestern University will be at Eastern on Thursday to of give a presentation to members of the community about her work with early diagnosed dementia patients.

The lecture will take place at 7:15 p.m. in Room 1165 of Blair Hall.

Darby Morhardt, who is also a research associate professor at Northwestern’s University Feinberg School of Medicine, will focus specifically on what she has learned from “The Buddy Program,” which she co-founded 14 years ago.

The program pairs up first-year medical students with patients who have recently been diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer’s or a similar disease.

“The idea came about when one of the Northwestern neurologists was diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s,” Morhardt said. “We talked about while he could no longer operate, he could mentor a new medical student.”

She said after talking with her colleagues, the program was born.

“We ran with it and learned the importance of treating the patient as a mentor, and we now have 10 to 12 patient/student pairs each year,” Morhardt said. “Both participants gain friendship, and the students see how the patients are living and coping with the disease.”

Morhardt works with the medical students and keeps track of what they are learning throughout the process and how the program affects them.

“I study how the relationship between the pair changes as the students gain knowledge,” she said. “I also follow up with the students and where in the medical field the land, and where they do their residency program.”

Jacquelyn Frank, the coordinator for the graduate program in gerontology and a family and consumer sciences professor, said she chose Morhardt to speak after hearing about her work with “The Buddy Program.”

“The program has gained national attention, and she also has years of expertise in both working with people with dementia and conducting research with them,” Frank said. “Also, this particular program illustrates the importance of intergenerational collaboration to better the lives of everyone involved.”

While the presentation is open to the public, Frank said it will be geared toward graduate students.

“Our research series aims to have scholars address their current research topics and projects in ways that are understandable by the average person,” Frank said. “The Buddy Program is such a unique program that it may very well inspire attendees to think outside the box when it comes to integrative learning experiences for students and the university.”

Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-2812 or alwywialowski.edu.