Planning Ahead

I had a great meeting today with Shelley, the Activities and Volunteer Coordinator of Sunrise Nursing Homes in Worthington.

I got a tour, met a lot of great people, and talked about where my research is headed.

Shelley is totally on board to help out with my proposed independent study for the fall. I am going to be spending 4-5 weeks as a volunteer at Sunrise in their memory assistance unit, called Reminiscence House. My goal is to participate, not as a researcher with a clipboard, but as a regular volunteer, in whatever capacity they need on that day. I want to see how the system functions from a staff and resident perspective.

I will be journaling this experience every week, and writing some kind of summary at the end as a deliverable for the independent study. The goal is to combine this experience with the research I am doing this quarter on Snoezelen rooms, to identify how my research study should come together and get a pilot study going for next school year.