Service Learning Students as Alzheimer Treatment Providers Long-term Follow-up Study Shows Continued Involvement in Education, Health Care, and Service

In the late 1990s, 111 undergraduates at the University of Arizona signed up for "Elder Rehab." They thereby committed to provide transportation, memory and language stimulation activities, physical fitness training, and supervised volunteer experiences for a person with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. They also did related academic work and earned 3 independent study credits for a semester of participation. This article traces the origin of the student-as-treatment-provider concept; advocates for the wider use of students in this role within the burgeoning service-learning movement; and reports a high level of continued education, health-related careers, and community service involvement among former service-learning students, 10 to 13 years after graduation.