Day 1

It's 8:22am and I'm already up and ready to be there at 9. I thought I would quickly give an update about what I did yesterday and what I will be expected to do in the future.

Yesterday, for the first hour that I was there I had very little to do. I just kind of sat around and checked my Facebook and Pinterest. Then, I went down and chatted with the OT about what days/times I can shadow. I'll be shadowing MTW from 2-3pm. Although we've already seen a conflict with Monday and plan to change it to 1-2pm. Then, I went to the lobby and chatted with some of the 'lobby-dwellers.' They were some sweet individuals out there. Despite having worked with the elderly population quite a bit, I still struggle with raising my voice enough that they can hear me. I feel like I'm screaming---which is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing but it doesn't make me feel any more comfortable about doing it.

After visiting with residents, I had a cup of coffee and figured out what exactly I needed to do. Daniel assigned me the task of coming up with exercises for patients with dementia and visually or hearing impaired patients. That's my primary assignment for the next eight weeks. I have to come up with a good solid plan for activities and an implementation plan. Yesterday, I started working on a list of activities and a scheduling time. It looks like at 10am everyday I'll be leading the activities that I plan once I figure them out. I'm excited but also nervous about the assignment. It's going to be very trial and error. I think over the next couple of days, I am going to get to meet the people that he is wanting me to focus on which will make it much easier for me to develop a plan. Right now, I don't know the severity of dementia that I'm working with so it makes it hard to plan appropriate activities for them. Once we chatted, I think he understood that and realized I really needed to meet them first.

In the afternoon, I shadowed the OT for about 45 minutes. The therapy sessions seemed very laxed. The residents frequently needed pretty long breaks because they fatigued so easily from the activities. When I talked to her, she mentioned how much the field has changed over the past 30 years. She said when she first became an OT, there was very little paperwork and basically all of her time was spent with patients in therapy sessions. Then in the early 90's, policies changed and much more paperwork was needed in order for patients to get approved for therapy. She said that was a major downfall of the job now, but I think it's definitely something that I could deal with.

Afterwards, I helped a resident with bingo which was a blast. All of the residents are so eager to win and anxious to hear the next letter and number to be called. Residents are set up on a newly implemented points system. They get a point for every time they win regular bingo and two points for every time they win a coverall. After all the rounds have been played, a prize table is waiting for them in the activities room where they can choose their prize or save their points for larger, more valuable prizes. This is  really neat system that I plan to share with the facilities that I work with in Berea.

Overall, my first day was a wonderful experience. I hope to have more to do in the future and so far on day two, I have had. The people here are super friendly, welcoming, and open to conversation. Hopefully it will go this well all eight weeks!!

Until next time,

Megan