A caring daughter’s love is bringing comfort and joy to her mom and fellow residents at Parker Jewish Institute in New Hyde Park. The story began when Cassandra Ottaviano, 34, of Bellmore, who visited her mother Marge (Margaret) Karris in early February 2019. Harris, at 68 years old, was admitted to Parker in August 2018 with a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Ottaviano had been in touch with Parker’s Caregiver Support Initiative, while her mother lived alone with home care in a Suffolk apartment. Karris participated in their Caregiver Respite Day Program for a short while, but at some point she needed placement. Ottaviano was told about options, given emotional support, counseling and suggestions about long-term care, and ultimately support through the process of placing her mother.
Fast forward. During her February visit, Ottaviano had her 3-year-old son Mathew give a baby doll to Karris. But after returning from lunch, Karris’ doll was gone, and another resident was found cradling the doll like it was her own baby.
“I didn’t have the heart to take that doll away and give it back to my mom,” Ottaviano said. That’s when she got the idea to collect dolls for residents on Parker’s 8th floor Memory Care Unit.
Ottaviano’s brother Peter helped with the fundraising drive. She posted an appeal on her Facebook page, on the Long Island Preschool and Elementary Moms Group page, and a few Bellmore civic pages. She called it her Dolls for Alzheimer’s Valentine’s Day Fundraiser.
“It would mean so much if you could show your support and consider donating a new doll to residents like my mom who have Alzheimer’s. There are dozens of residents who could benefit from your generosity,” her appeal said. Ottaviano also asked fellow parishioners from Centerpoint Church of Massapequa to donate. As a result, nearly 50 dolls soon arrived at her Bellmore home.
When she visited Parker on Feb. 23, she brought her baby dolls, and with staff approval, asked several residents if they’d like one.
“Their reactions brought tears of joy to my eyes,” Ottaviano said. “Several residents began cradling the life-sized dolls, talking to them and making cooing sounds, as if they were their own babies. We saw a lot of smiles that day.”
Michael N. Rosenblut, Parker’s president and CEO, welcomed the effort.
“We commend efforts like Cassandra’s. Therapy dolls are a helpful, non-pharmaceutical way to calm and soothe seniors with Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” he said. “Gifting a soft, life-sized baby doll to some residents in our Memory Care Unit can bring them back to a time in their lives when they had a sense of purpose, joy and comfort.”
Evidence drawn from baby doll therapy research suggests it can help some people with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s or other dementias.
After giving out dolls at Parker, Ottaviano, her husband Phil and her brother Peter, distributed the rest at local nursing homes. They plan another drive for Mother’s Day in the spring. If you’d like to donate, they need new and ethnically diverse dolls. Contact her ASAP at cassandra.karris@gmail.com.
