Volunteering

A few weeks ago, I interviewed for an underpaid job with a nonprofit organization I thought had a super-cool mission: they provide adult daycare. It's called day health for obvious reasons, for the frail elderly and otherwise disabled, to give respite to the caregivers--usually family members--for such folk so that the caregivers don't get burnt out, and the care recipients can stay out of longterm care facilities as long as possible. Before a bunch of statewide budget cuts, this nonprofit also provided counseling and support for the caregivers. Makes so much sense to me. Also makes sense that the state would be short-sighted enough to think it was a good place to save money in the budget, not realizing how much it saves them on Medicaid in the long run to keep people out of longterm care facilities. Huh.

Anyway, this organization, which I'll call Geriabulous, needed more hours from me than I could work, so they didn't give me the job. But I think they're so great that I decided to volunteer with them, which, as of Monday (5 days ago), I'm doing 9 hours/week. I like the work. It moves slowly, since it involves the frail elderly, which forces me to slow down and practice patience. I haven't worked my afternoon shift yet--afternoons are for the developmentally disabled, and I'm interested to see what that will look like.

Mornings go in chunks: 8:45-9:45 arrival, coffee (decaf), social time; 9:45-10:30 exercise; 10:30-11:30 some sort of activity; 11:30-12 get situated for lunch. Transitions are slow.
While people are there they see nurses, get vaccines for things, see OTs and PTs--it's really great, and a huge contrast to what I saw at the longterm care facility where I did my clinicals. At the LTCF, emphasis was on speed and task-completion: get them fed, changed, into bed, stat. That is, everything was about physical health, pretty much completely neglecting mental and emotional health, which was, of course, detrimental to physical health. The only "recreation" I saw was residents pushed in their wheelchairs to a TV room, where they sat for hours on end, listless. I realize the missions of the two institutions are different, but they both purport to provide "care," and I think the LTCF's care was distinctly lacking in a caring attitude towards the "care" it provided.

Back to Geriabulous: my first morning there I helped a blind woman, Judith, and a Spanish-speaking blind man, Jose, to do the exercises. Sylvia, who leads the exercises, asked that I help them figure out what they should be doing since they can't watch her and mimic. Everyone (about 30 folks) are gathered around in a big circle in the main room of the converted church that houses the nonprofit. To get to their spots, the clients inch along in walkers, push themselves in their wheelchairs--they are _not_ impatiently and efficiently guided into place by workers who think they need to get the next thing done. The first 3/4 of the exercises are done while sitting. Sylvia has them shrug their shoulders, move their arms in different directions, tap their feet forward and sideways... then we pass out weights, between 1 and 5 pounds, letting the clients choose how much they want to use. It's pretty neat, and they are engaged and really participate. The employees and volunteers are there to check on folks who aren't participating, ask them if they need help, and if so, what help. We treat them like adults, and they are clearly pleased we do so. I like this a lot.

I am starting to understand what my developmental psych instructor meant this summer when she called the elderly "invisible"--they are ignored, overlooked, treated like children or annoying pets, they are wished away. I think I might end up doing geriatric nursing as a career. This is a fascinating population to me, and working with the elderly serves as a perpetual reminder to be grateful for my senses and my mobility, and to do what I know I can to maintain them. My social circle is filled with energetic, young (in spirit and health, if not in age), optimistic, beautiful people, and this means I have a narrowed perspective on life. Working with the elderly would allow me to expand my horizons a little as I am helping an under-appreciated population.