Home Instead Senior Care Austin - Call us today at (512) 347-9207.

Austin seniors are choosing to return to college. They love going back to school because it allows them to meet people with similar interests. A recent AP article says. “Many of them call each other outside the ‘classroom’ to chat and check up on each other.”

As the nation’s population grows older, experts say programs like University Without Walls in New York help engage seniors’ minds and expand their social network by giving them something stimulating to do; factors helpful in diminishing the onset of depression, dementia and other ailments.

A recent Associated Press article focuses on DOROT University Without Walls, which has about 500 people enrolled for the fall semester in a telephone-based educational program for homebound seniors.

The curriculum includes more than 250 courses ranging from understanding feng shui and poetry writing to discussions on moral, ethical and philosophical issues and a discourse on women of the progressive era. Other class topics include Internet surfing, medicine and money management. Classes are taught by professionals in the areas of art, history, science and medicine who often volunteer their time.

The program was started in 1989 by DOROT, a New York-based senior services agency that partners with some of New York City’s major medical and cultural institutions in offering the classes.