Wellness Therapy And Volunteer Services For A 111 Bed Nursing Home Essay

Volunteering at the Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home over the summer was an invaluable experience. As I became more comfortable, I began extending my duties beyond physical tasks such as serving food or transporting residents. I started interacting with the residents on a more personal level, not as a volunteer, but more as a friend. In return, the residents became increasingly open, and the nurses watched as I conversed with residents they had deemed as reserved. Sometimes when I helped residents they would say nothing, but at the same time they said everything I needed to hear. I probably appreciated helping those residents, more than they appreciated me. Every night when I went to bed, I felt I had actually made a difference. This volunteering experience allowed me to realize that whatever I do in life, I want to go to sleep feeling the same way I did that summer.

When we observe the demographics of today¡¦s society, we notice that there is quite a change in the average age, as well as life expectancy. In 1993, the average life expectancy rose to an amazing 75.5 years, with women living an average of 79 years and men living an average of 72 years (Hawkins, 1996, p. 4). With this gradual rise in age, the idea of therapeutic recreation for the aging population has taken on a significant role. Therapeutic recreation uses recreation and leisure activities to meet the needs of people in order to improve their quality of life. These needs include social, physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual. The experience of engaging in recreation is perceived to have therapeutic benefits. Engaging in

“The Palace” is located in the heart of the gables. It is one of the top notch awarded nursing home facilities for seniors stated by many families. Currently being an employee at this facility, I am learning the frightful stories of senior living. Even the Palace one of the most expensive, awarded senior living is actually a terrible place for the elderly. Especially, working at the Front Desk as the receptionist, I have seen firsthand how these poor seniors are forced into these haunted “luxurious” homes. The marble of the building has been often a misleading reason for placing their parent or grandparent in such terrible care. Most humans tend to judge by the appearance of the nursing homes rather than further investigating any violations that the facilities may have. From my own experience with my grandmother, I know it can be very difficult to take care of a senior citizen, especially when they suffer from various conditions and are just not safe in their home. Once adults become seniors, they require a lot of attention and assistance, which is hard when running a whole household and a career. But placing your loved one in one of these facilities can just shorten the amount of time they have to live. Also, it can be very expensive. Lastly, nursing home makes seniors feel the lack of freedom.

Dieser, R. (2013). Special issues: Global therapeutic recreation: Should the United States therapeutic recreation profession and the United States National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) be replicated in other nations. World Leisure Journal, 55(4), 307-319

The long-term care services delivery system in the United States has changed substantially over the last 30 years . There are approximately 17,000 elderly and disabled persons are receiving care in nursing homes (NNHS, 2004). The number of people using nursing facilities, alternative residential care places, or home care services are projected to increase from 15 million in 2000 to 27 million in 2050 (HHS, 2003). Identifying the best nursing home that would fit their needs can be difficult and time-consuming. Although nursing homes usually provide certain basic care that patients need, some nursing home facilities provides special care for certain types of individuals with special needs. For example, people with dementia, AIDS, ventilator-dependents,

From my social care placement, I have chosen to assist a service user to partake in a recreational activity for completion of my HNC Social Care Graded Unit project. This part of the project will consist of planning and organising the activity.

Assisted Living Concepts Inc., hereafter referred to as ALC, was a Nevada corporation formed in 1994 with its principal place of business in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. ALC provides senior assisted living residences that provide multiple personal services for their residences. ALC was purchased by Extendicare Health Services, Inc. in January 2005. In 2006 ALC was spun off from Extendicare as a publicly traded company. As of December 31, 2012 ALC had 211 assisted and independent living residences in 20 states totaling 9,348 units with 4,600 employees. ALC generated revenues in excess of $228 million dollars for year-end 2012 (Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. 2013). In July 2013, ALC was acquired by the private equity firm TPG Capital, L.P. for $278.3 million dollars (Boulton 2013). In March 2014 ALC changed their name to Enlivant (Enlivant 2014).

Long-Term Care is the retirement crisis that no one is talking about. There is an increasing demand for long-term care services because Americans are living longer with chronic health conditions. For Example, Veterans may live with family or alone and need services that their caregiver can no longer provide or may outlive their primary caregiver. Nursing home placement seems like the only option.

I was nervous at first because this was this was my first field work, and had just started the Therapeutic Recreational program. Nichole Cummins was aware of this and made me comfortable in my new venture at the St. Joseph’s Impatient Rehabilitation Unit. I discussed my goals with her before starting the field work. The unit is on the 4th floor of the main hospital. Files of patients are filed in a secure cabinet. My field work was 60 hours of experience. My goals were to learn about documentation, program planning, and activity modification.

I ambitiously decided that I would brighten the lives of the elderly by volunteering at a rest home, but discovered that the elderly were being neglected, shoved aside and forgotten. As I stepped into the home a pungent odor penetrated my nostrils, causing an instantaneous gagging reflex. The place was abounded with neglected and subdued inhabitants, yearning for attention. Anybody that passed them caused a sudden outburst of ranting. The negligence and disregard the home displayed appalled me, but helped me to realize that I wanted to make a difference and change the condition people live in.

Assisted Living Homes are designed to provide residents with basic everyday assistance. An important aspect is that assisted care facilities provide a safe and comfortable environment for older adults who need assistance with duties such as bathing, dressing, shopping, cooking, grooming, arranging doctor’s appointments, medication administration and laundry services. These facilities have social and recreational activity programs designed to keep the residents active. The recreation groups provide residents with activities for enjoyment, exercise, and interactions with others to build character. Special activities such as luncheon,

Documented in Oregon, one individual (Kate Cheney) was sent to a nursing home because her family was tired of caring for her. Kate had spent one unhappy week in the nursing home and her quality of life degraded so tremendously that she was motivated to take her own life. There is no requirement under the Oregon law that “sufficient home and community-based long-term care services be provided to relieve the demands on family members and ease the individual’s feelings of being a burden” (Golden 20). It is extremely upsetting that the daughter or son of an individual could devalue life to such an extent, especially the life of a parent. This lack of caring by family members can cause the patient to request PAS or take their own life.

As a Therapeutic Recreation major, I was given the opportunity to attend courses that educates and prepares me for the future. For instance, courses such Assessment and Documentation, TR Modalities, and Health Promotion through Leisure Education gave me a foundation on how to plan and implement activities, educate the clients using the activities, and modify different activities for different populations. TR in Geriatric Service Settings course and my junior internship helped prepare me for a role in a geriatric setting. Having a junior internship gave me the opportunity to use the skills and techniques that I learned in class towards an actual population. It also allows me to see the importance of social support and client’s motivation. When the client isn’t motivated to participate in certain interventions, a responsibility of a quality of life coordinator and a TR is to communicate with family and friend(s) to develop a solution for the client’s case. With the foundation that Temple University provide and possible future opportunities, I believe I will be able to gain more knowledge and experience in this

I also chose these theories to work with Dontae because I believe it is common for young people to feel singled out by adults and over react so I believe that these therapy models also assist the young person in evaluating their emotions and making sure that they are being insightful to their behavior and how it affects others. In addition these models of practice allow me to assist Dontae in building alternative coping mechanism to his previously negative coping mechanism of smoking. Moreover it allows me to reframe a period of adjustment with Dontae setting an example of positive adjustment experiences. I also understand that the MTR program style aids in my implementation of the CPS and REBT therapy models because the MTR staff also create an environment where Dontae should feel comfortable speaking. For example the residents are encouraged to voice their feelings and opinions on everything from the services they receive to how the house is structured at their weekly community living meetings and in the moment as long as it’s done

The proposal for this study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Mary. The community-based wellness program was designed by the researchers based on current literature on the effectiveness of such programs with the PD population. Participants for this study were recruited from a Parkinson’s disease support group in the Upper Midwest. Purposive and convenience sampling was utilized, which involves selecting individuals who have a diagnosis of PD living in the community and who are willing to volunteer. Participants all signed informed consent forms prior to the administration of assessments and intervention, and completed a demographics form. Researchers collected data using anecdotal evidence from