A Place to Remember: How 92NY Supports Minds in Transition

“My mom, with dementia, remembers almost zero of anything. The only thing she has remembered consistently from that first day is the [92nd Street] Y,” said Anne Pae. “Every time we leave the house, even when we leave the Y and we’re going home, ‘Are we going to the Y?’ ‘Are you taking me to the Y?’ ‘Can we go to the Y today?’ . . . An easy way for me to get her going is to say, ‘Yeah, let’s go to the Y.’ She has loved it from the first day.”

Pae is profoundly grateful for the 92NY Program for Cognitive Strength and Ability—a group for older individuals experiencing cognitive decline run by the 92nd Street Y—for the support it has offered her mother.

“When we go to other social events, sometimes she asks on the way home, ‘Did I do OK? You know, was I inappropriate?,’ ” Pae said. “But if she goes to the Y, she always knows that no matter how many times she has asked the same question, it’s always OK, and she feels incredibly comfortable there.”

Executive Director Julia Zeuner had been working on getting the program off the ground for a long time, before it eventually launched in 2022.

“I’ve always felt like programming that was geared toward people with cognitive loss was really undignified,” said Zeuner. “They often really infantilized people, and I knew that there was a real need in our community for a dignified, respectful, high-level program for people who were at the beginning stages of this journey.”

There are two types of groups within the program: Cohorts (groups of eight to 10 people experiencing more mild cognitive decline that meet twice weekly for three hours) and Salons (groups of 10 to 12 individuals experiencing more moderate cognitive decline that meet once weekly for two-and-a-half hours), with eight groups total. Both versions of the program see their sessions divided into three main sections: conversation, fitness, and arts.

The conversations, explained Arielle Silverman, who directs the program, have several planned elements (there is always a joke of the day, a “This Day in History,” etc.), but also can go in whichever direction the group ends up taking.

“Especially in our more mild-cognitive-change group, they really like to talk about things that are happening in the present,” Silverman said. A week before Thanksgiving, the conversation topic was what everyone’s opinions on turkey were. Other sessions have featured a wide range of different topics, from the 2024 election to childhood memories, and anything in between.

“The moderate group[’s] conversation topics really focus more on reminiscing in the sense of, ‘What are your favorite . . . ,’ or ‘What were your favorite . . . ,’ or ‘What was it like growing up?,’ things like that—not so much present- or current-day topics,” said Zeuner. “Because when someone has more moderate-stage cognitive loss, their short-term memory is what is first to kind of go so they have those more long-term memories and feelings.”

The social workers and staff running the program make an effort to encourage everyone there to participate in the conversation in a way that makes the participants comfortable.

“The conversations are just the right amount,” said Pae. “They work hard at including everyone, because my mom has no problem participating, but some people need more assistance than others, so they do go around the room and help people interact when they need a little assistance, I think they’re really pretty good at that.”

The fitness section sees an instructor guiding the participants through a sequence of exercises. They are seated for some of the exercises, standing for others. Many involve the use of a resistance band, which participants are asked to fold, move, and stretch in various ways.

“Fitness is a class that we designed that really is meant to focus on the mind-body connection,” Silverman said. “So, doing specific exercises, maybe using, like, your left hand and stepping with your right foot at the same time. So using a different part of your brain that you know not everyone uses all the time. . . . It’s a fitness class that’s very appropriate for the group, but it is challenging.”

She shared that the program has made a physical difference in the participants, according to the instructors. “They have gotten so much stronger,” Silverman said.

The arts component can differ from session to session, though music is a common favorite. Silverman describes it as being “like a music appreciation class”: A musician plays for the group but also fosters dialogue about what they are playing.

“The musician is performing while also having conversation with the group and sharing information with them about the song or the time period, so they’re able to stay engaged the whole time,” Silverman said. “It’s not just an hour of performing.”

“What’s amazing about people with dementia is that they can’t remember, like, who’s sitting next to them, but they can remember songs from forever ago,” said Lauren Starr, a caregiver for her mother, who is in the program. “So my mom . . . I think her favorite part of the class is the music part, especially, like, the show tunes and Yiddish songs and all the songs that she has known from, like, over 50 years ago. She knows every word. She’s so happy, sings every song.”

Not every session’s art section is focused on music, though. Past sessions have featured talks by artists and museum educators, Shakespeare and poetry artists, and more.

The program has done wonders for those involved, but as it currently stands, its biggest struggle is its inability to accommodate everyone who might need it.

“We’re actually nervous to do marketing for the program, because we know that there is such a great need, and we don’t have the capacity right now to really grow that as quickly as we need to grow,” Zeuner said.

For those the program can help, it is life-changing. Pae’s mother shared with her daughter that she wishes it were more accessible to everyone.

“One time she went, ‘Do we pay for this?,’ ” Pae said. “And I said, ‘Yes.’ She said, ‘What about people who can’t afford it? Everyone needs this. Everyone needs this. How? How can we help other people to have this?’ ”

As Zeuner explained, it ultimately comes down to more money, space, and staffing. While this is an ongoing process, Zeuner hopes the program will be able to grow and develop, allowing more who need it the ability to access it.

“When you start to lose your mind, your friends also kind of disappear because they can’t really communicate with you well anymore, and the most important thing for people with dementia is to be stimulated,” Starr said. “So the fact that I can have a place where my mom goes . . . to be stimulated, and be around people like her, and have activity, and get some laughs and some exercise, and sing, is incredible.”