Heather Watkins

Heather Watkins Programming Activity Report April 7th, 2009

I was not able to complete the assignment as requested on the syllabus, but I did make an attempt. After speaking with you about my fears in going to a nursing home and learning that you thought I would learn more from facing my fears and going, I decided to give it a shot. I tried calling several facilities in Ireland, but was unable to organize a large group activity. Administrators at the various facilities I visited seemed quite hesitant to let me arrange something that would involve any large group of residents, but they were all quite happy to have me come in and sing for some residents on a one to one basis if I so chose. This was much the same as it had been when I attempted email contact, and I didn’t want to push the issue too much. They were supportive of my desire to learn, but would rather have had someone more qualified plan the activity and have me join in, rather than me leading it. I was a little disappointed but could understand why they were hesitant. I spent time in Edinburgh, Scotland before my trip to Ireland, and my roommate there had an aunt who was an Alzheimer’s patient. She was in a home on the west side of the city, and I would often go with my roommate when he went to visit her. While I didn’t try to plan any activities there based on the condition of the patients, which was usually rather advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, I did try to talk to as many residents as I could. I learned that Alzheimer’s care is quite different in Scotland than in the United States, in that the staff are not so focused on treatment as they are on comfort. The facility was very well staffed and had a variety of activities from group music therapy to knitting circles, when the patients were feeling well enough. I would have liked to spend more time observing there, as it seemed a very nice place to be. Relatives were made to feel more like they were visiting family at a house in the country rather than a nursing home, which really seemed to help my roommate and his family deal with seeing their aunt in the later stages of the disease. When I got to Ireland, I emailed several facilities in the Galway area, and while none of them seemed keen on having me lead an activity, they all told me that visitors were more than welcome and that I could join in any activities in the common room as well as talk to any of the residents when it suited me. As I told you in my email, I have social anxiety disorder and find it extremely hard to do things like this, but I knew that you were right and that I would never learn if I didn’t take a chance. So, as scared as I was to actually go by myself and try to interact with people I’d never met, I knew that it was something I needed to do. I decided to bite the bullet and give it a shot. I ended up having a great time, and was able to sing for several residents at the Oranmore Nursing Home in County Galway, Ireland. This involved little more than visiting and asking the front desk which patients might like a visit. I was advised to go to several rooms in which the residents didn’t get frequent family visits, and despite what I consider a rather mediocre singing voice the residents seemed to enjoy my visit. I was able to talk to them after singing and found that most of them are very happy with the standard of care at the facility, which I thought was very good to hear. None of the residents seemed at all deprived, and I was told by several that they enjoy the many activities offered by the home, such as arts and crafts at various times as well as outing to have lunch by the sea on the rare sunny days on the Irish coast. I also had the opportunity to play poker with some of the residents in the common room at Oranmore, and enjoyed this immensely. I had gone into it with the preconceived notion that the residents would be quiet and lack energy, but this turned out to be hugely erroneous on my part, and I was very glad of it. The men with whom I played, and who taught me a lot about the game which I’d been unfamiliar with previously, were incredibly fun to spend time with and I truly with I’d been able to go back more. I was a bit nervous at first, and had no plans whatsoever to play cards with the group of men crowded around the table in the middle of the common room. I was actually in there looking for someone who might like me to come back and sing for them at some point, but when I saw the group playing cards and heard them laughing and talking I decided to go over and see what was going on. I was told that the game was almost always a daily event unless the good majority of the players had visitors or appointments, and that it was a lot like a poker night outside a nursing home, where a group get together at a friend or coworker’s house and have snacks and talk all night. One of the men joked that they were all too tired to talk all night anymore, but they were just fine with talking during the day, so they did. I learned a lot about Irish history from these people. I visited several times and always found them in the same place in the early afternoon, and they all remembered me from the times before and would ask me to sit and play poker while they told me stories about their lives. They shared war stories as well as stories from the time when Ireland was very poor. Most of them grew up quite poor and joked with me that I was a spoiled American since I’d never really known what that was like. It was good natured though, and they seemed to be having a good time so it didn’t bother me. They also told me a lot about the Celtic Tiger happening over the past 20 or so years and how it had changed the country a great deal. I learned so much about Ireland just from their jokes and personal histories that I could never have learned by simply touring the country or visiting museums, and I’ll always be grateful for that. They were incredibly kind to me, even going so far as to show me the basics of poker, which I knew nothing about before my time there. I learned the basics of the game and while I never got very good at it, I learned enough to hold my own. We played for change and I never won, but I didn’t always lose, either, which I considered progress. As far as the activity was concerned I think it helped al of them to still have an element of social time in their lives, and the staff were always very respectful of the games and never interrupted unless they needed to give out medications or something of that sort. The residents’ families seemed aware of game time too, because they never came for visits during those hours and it seemed that the group was there almost every day. It had become a sort of ritual for them, and I was impressed that the staff let them continue it day by day without much if any interference. Being able to talk amongst their friends seemed to be very good for the residents who participated. They all seemed to be very happy and in great spirits while playing and laughing with their friends. Several of them told me that their families don’t visit much, so the group and the game have become a sort of second family to them. It keeps them from getting lonely, and gives them something to look forward to. While a lot of them participate in other activities at the facility, the ones I spoke to about it said that while they like the other activities, the poker game feels the most like home for them and that they wouldn’t give it up for the world. They also seemed to enjoy having me there and were constantly joking around with me and showing me card tricks. I think they liked having an audience. As for what could have gone better, I obviously would have liked to be able to implement an activity for more residents at once. While I learned a great deal from what I was able to do and enjoyed it a lot, I felt I would have learned more being in charge of organizing an activity on a bigger scale that more residents could have enjoyed. Still, I understood why that couldn’t happen and I hold no grudges about it. Honestly, I have to admit being a bit relieved that the singing I did was in front of individuals and that the poker game, while in a group setting, wasn’t packed full of people. I found it to be a very good compromise, especially in a country where I had no friends to accompany me when I went to the facility. While I wasn’t able to complete the assignment in exactly the way it was posted on the syllabus, I hope that my attempt was at least a step in the right direction. I know I learned a lot from it and was able to conquer one of my fears. Being around people isn’t as bad as I had thought it was going to be. Thank you for convincing me to try it.