Discovering Diversity Project This experience was specifically chosen as a mechanism to better understanding dementia in all its facets following the loss of an uncle, who I later found was diagnosed with the disorder. As described by Amin and Holmes (2016) dementia is a general term for a range of progressive organic brain diseases characterized by problems of short-term memory and other cognitive deficits and is often a consequence of processes that result in the aberrant polymerization of proteins (p. 687). From an academic and biological perspective, this information is extremely fascinating, however I rarely considered the faces behind the disorder and as such experienced something akin to a sudden bereavement following my uncle 's …show more content…
Unpredictable movements and vocalizations frightened and pushed me from my comfort zone, yet cooperating with an interdisciplinary team provided invaluable practical experience and a chance to learn appropriate care for those in vulnerable positions. Accordingly, two individuals made a major difference in my experience. The first was JP Hermano, the volunteer coordinator, who assisted me greatly by providing numerous seminars and training sessions to help me understand and become comfortable with dementia. The second was Alle Choi, the head dietician, and she helped to teach more of the practical and scientific aspects, such as the theory behind good feeding practices and potential warning signs to watch for with diagnosed individuals.
Evidence of Discovered Diversity
Since starting in February of 2016 I’ve had a clash of ideas concerning senior home care. One the one hand they provide many of life’s necessities, such as companionship, sustenance, and medical care but on the other it greatly diminishes individual autonomy and freedom to do many of the things an individual may love. Consequently, it was not until Diversity in Learning that I began to make connections to my discomforts towards senior homes. These discomforts stemmed from two social justice concepts: Privilege and discrimination, specifically ableism.
I will preface by saying that while I understand the necessity for control and oversight, one of the things that irked me most about my volunteering
All of the patients on my unit in my former position were in the beginning and mid stages of Alzheimer’s with one or two very alert ones. The challenge was keeping the more alert residents from rapid mental decline. The key in maintaining the resident’s dignity is providing an environment where they can participate in their level of care,
The world is not created by a single group whom all share the same beliefs and opinions. The education of a person shapes the way people think about society. It is shown through Jonathan Kozol's essay, "The uses of Diversity," how an impact of diversity has on our mindset. Differing opinions let people become informed; democracy is built on the idea of freedom of speech which is filled with diverse opinions. Diversity enables students to discern the world from various perspectives; it facilitates the use of our freedom of speech to produce informative
• Every individual, including individuals with dementia, has their unique life history, lifestyle, culture and preferences, including their likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests, which makes an individualised approach in care necessary.
Attention Getter: Can you imagine your life if your memories and cognition slowly started deteriorating? Well, the Alzheimer’s Association’s webpage titled Alzheimer’s latest facts and figures last updated in 2018 estimates that that’s the reality for 5.7 million Americans.
Focusing on dementia, it is not constantly possible to involve the dementia sufferers in the decision making course of their care without encouragement and assistance by
Diversity does not simply refer to race or even culture; it’s everywhere. We are all diverse, meaning we are all different from one another. The book The Other Wes Moore we see two kids with the same name, but very different lives that they live. Wes and Wes are similar in ways, but in the end turn out nothing like each other. One chose to lead his life in a better path, while the other sticks with a path that ultimately destructs his life. In this paper, I will discuss what diversity means to me, messages that I learned about various minorities or majorities when I was a child, if my views have changed, when diversity influenced my life, and the situation when it influenced me. Some other things that I will discuss also are the main characters of the book, examples of diversity involving the main characters, and which character I related with the most in this book.
One thing every living organism has in common on this planet-- age. No one wants to age or face the fact that aging is inevitable. However, since it’s impossible to beat the never ending time clock that is life; everyone wants to be as comfortable as possible when age finally does catch up with them. When the majority of people think of comfortability in old age, they think of living in their own homes and being surrounded by their loved ones. Not many individuals want to be placed into a nursing home type facility because they can’t imagine themselves being comfortable that way. Nonetheless, even though being placed in a home does take away some of an elderly person’s independence, usually the independence lost is in activities that person can no longer do for themselves. Indeed, nursing homes do have their own set of scary stories behind them; life lost, independence lost, and privacy lost, yet many of those stories are outdated. Upon investigation, it would be easy for anyone to scare themselves out of a nursing facility due to the stories that are out there. Yet, upon even further research people would be able to see how far the United States has come in their development and evolution of nursing care facilities. The care of the elderly in the form of nursing homes has faced a tough evolution starting off with a harsh past, to what nursing homes are like now, and what people can expect for the future of these homes.
Dementia is an extremely common disease among the elderly, with 4 million Americans currently suffering from the Alzheimer’s type alone. Figures show that 3% of people between the ages of 65-74 suffer from the disease, rapidly increasing to 19% for the 75-84 age bracket, and as high as 47% for the over 85s. Therefore, it is easy to see why Dementia is such a large part of many people’s lives, whether they are suffering from the condition themselves, or have an elderly relative who requires full time care just to undertake simple day to day tasks. The disease can be extremely traumatic for the patient and their families, as the person, who may have been extremely lively and bright throughout their
My interest in medicine was triggered by my own early experiences with nut allergy, which I was diagnosed with as a child. It fuelled my pursuit of knowledge in medical science as I was fascinated how there is not a known cause of peanut allergy. This captivating medical dilemma led me to recognise that there is a lot yet to be discovered in medicine. My curiosity in this field inspired me to initiate contact with allergy specialists and write a personal study on the topic where I explored the genetic and environmental effects of developing a peanut allergy.
Therefore, it would be a reasonable assumption that if formal eldercare providers display empathy, and an interest regarding informal elder caregivers’ well-being, their caregiver responsibilities and offer caregiver training, perhaps African American informal elder caregivers and other minority elder caregivers would experience a sense of empowerment and a high sense of caregiver self-efficacy. Marshall and Gerstl-Pepin state (as cited in Gerstl-Pepin, Killeen & Hasazi, 2006, p. 252) that leaders who “care” about social justice would need to understand cultural and social inequities such as racism, sexism, heterosexism, poverty and disability to address these comprehensive issues.
In the first article, the president of PRSA Torod Nepture discussed the road to diversity. When speaking on the topic, he expresses his passion to help talented practitioners who are entering the field. He also stated that during his time as president, he has developed a passion to expand to advocate for important causes. When asked about what he’d like to accomplish during his first year, he mentioned goals for he has for his Verizon team. Nepture believe that focusing on fewer things can lead to have a greater impact. He mentioned that this approach has been coined “impact at scale.” One of the key points of the interview was the question presented about the next step in professional PR. Nepture believes that this comes down to leadership
Many sociological theorists studying the older generation focus upon healthcare inequalities as a wider research topic. This is evidently a high prioritisation for older people, yet socially older people experience inequalities and stigmatisation causing a division within society. The reporter will use granted and legal access into older people’s homes to identify inequalities apparent to older people within society from a personal perspective. A qualitative observational approach will be used to allow the informal discussion of each person’s perspective of their place within society. The paper develops an alternative, moral and intimate approach to the varied living standards of the older population, focusing on the mental welfare of each
Gilligan’s (1982) theory of ethic of care on the moral development of women, focuses on the highest moral requirement of taking care of needs and sustaining relationships. This ethic of care when associated with the care of aging older adults, accentuates the value of providing in-home care by family and fictive kin instead of choosing paid formal eldercare in-home services or placement in a long-term care facility (Anderson & Turner, 2010). According to Smith (1991) African American older adults who may be eligible for placement in long-term care facilities, are the same people who experienced blatant hostility and discrimination from many of the formal eldercare organizations that now offer support. Consequently, the cultural respect given
Growing old is something that no one ever wants to talk about but unfortunately in the end it happens to everyone. Growing up away from most of my extended family I never had an older presence in my life, besides my parents which some would argue were still kids themselves. With this grey matter in my mind about what it was like to be an older member of society I began to look into senior living homes. It always intrigued me where the line was drawn and in what circumstances should someone be put in a senior living residence and who made that distinction. Any given day you are guaranteed to see one of these older citizens doing everyday functions, for example shopping, exercising, interacting with others, the list goes on so why are some men and woman of the same generation in assisted living homes when others are not. When touring some of the senior living agencies in my area the distinction between the seniors in theses programs and the seniors I saw in public became evident. The seniors in these programs in one way or another needed help with everyday affairs. Whether it was something minor like having trouble with mobility and moving around to something a little more serious like having certain disorders or diseases. These men and woman needed help leading a stereotypically normal life. This is what drew me to The Benchmark. This agency’s staff was trained in a wide variety of caregiving tactics as well as having trained nurses on duty to ensure
When discovering the various altitudes of discrimination towards elderly people, what shines out the most is the discrimination towards elderly women. Women are often viewed as the caregiver for their families and friends. However, as they grow older they are considered fragile and as a burden by the people around them, often leading to older women being disowned by their families. It can be said without any doubt, that elderly women suffer and go through much more harsh living conditions than elderly men around the globe, as not only is their age targeted but also their gender. Speaking of demographics, what stands out the most is how there have always been more older women than men, but men still have more rigorous rights than women. Statistically, women have a longer life span, and thus many older women are left alone during their 60s . However, societal structures make it difficult for these women to live without relying on the men in their lives.