Three local nurses team up to found new Nashua adult day program

NASHUA – For Ann Prussel, Sharon Connelly and Penny Gagne, caring for the elderly has been a lifelong passion. All three have worked in the nursing field for years, with a combined 75 years of experience among them. So when they saw community members struggling to care for family members after the adult day health programs at St. Joseph Hospital and Elliot Hospital were lost to budget cuts, they had to step in. “This has always been my dream, but I just didn’t have the backing,” Connelly said. So, she brought an idea to Prussel and Gagne, and together, the women opened All Generations Adult Day Program, a care and  socialization program for the elderly or any adult with a condition that leaves them in need of continuous care. The program is in the same Amherst Street facility that once housed St. Joseph Hospital’s Adult Day Health program, and the women said they hope to one day serve the community as well as that program did for 16 years. “We just thought, we really do need to do something to help our community,” Prussel said. Walk into All Generations Adult Day Program and the first thing that stands out is the space: There’s tons of it. The facility consists of one huge room, complete with a television viewing area at one end, an arts and crafts and games section in the middle, and mealtime table at the other end. The open space, Connelly said, is ideal for keeping clients moving – practicing walking up and down the room and taking part in other exercise programs. There are large bathrooms featuring accessible showers on site, and a quiet reading room complete with shelves of books and audio books. The women said they’d love to be able to offer even more programming for their clients in the coming year – starting a garden in the small patio behind the building, and maybe offering baking classes in the kitchen. “It’s not just about custodial care, it’s really about enhancing the clients’ lives,” Prussel said. Clients can attend the day program for two, three or five days a week. Part-time attendees pay $85 a day, and full-time attendees pay $80 a day.