Little Miracles in Little Village (English)

The arts help us connect with one another, and during COVID-19 the kinship and balm the arts provide is even more crucial.  But how do you bring art to people during a pandemic? LaBROCHA has figured it out, providing opportunities for artistic creation and engagement for people ages 60 years and older, especially individuals living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD) in the Latinx community. Storyteller, Activist, and Lookingglass Teaching Artist Jasmin Cardenas hosts a conversation with La BROCHA’s founders: Susan Aguiñaga is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the director of the Health Equity and Aging Lab, where her work focuses on addressing health disparities in cognition. Yadira Montoya is a Principal Research Analyst at NORC at the University of Chicago, and was recognized in 2019 as a Culture of Health Leader by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for her research and community work with Latino older adults and families facing Alzheimer’s disease. Judith Rocha is a licensed clinical social worker and Assistant Professor and the Interim Master’s Social Work Program Director at Northeastern Illinois University.  Her research includes Latinx-relevant social issues with a focus on family care-giving of older Latinas and Latinos with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia.