Social Work Internship Experience With Alzheimer Patients Term Paper

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Social Work Internship Experience With Alzheimer Patients

My service learning experience was a positive one. I had the opportunity to work at an Alzheimer's care facility, with patients exhibiting various stages of Alzheimer's disease. I learned through my interactions with older adults at the clinic that much like anyone else, Alzheimer's patients need stimulation, warmth, compassion and an environment that encourages interaction and relationship building.

My views of older adults have changed significantly since working with patients at the care center. Whereas in the past I might have assumed that all older adults were mentally less cognizant of their emotions and feelings and 'numb' to the world around them, I learned instead that many have a great compassion for caring, and many desire simply to enjoy much of the same things than anyone else would at their age. My experiences are described in greater detail below.

Summary of Experiences

My first impressions were that Legacy Gardens provided optimal care for the elderly. Up until this point in time I had held a somewhat negative image of care centers, believing that they were a place that people might 'dump' elderly family members or sick patients in order to 'wash their hands of them.' I held an image that staff were abrupt with patients and unkind, simply doing a job because they had to rather than because they wanted to. My impressions were immediately changed however, upon working at Legacy Gardens.

Upon meeting with staff members I was greeted by staff and comfortable approaching residents living at the facility. The patients at the care center were separated by capacity; the east side was reserved for higher functioning individuals whereas the west side was preserved for individuals with higher disease progression, meaning they were lower functioning.

I felt my experiences were positive in nature, and believed that the system set in place truly helped the elderly cope with the progression of their disease in a safe and warm environment. Meeting with patients I learned they have many of the same concerns anyone else would. One patient for example was concerned with being separated from his wife, who was in a traditional nursing home. I would feel the same way if separated with my spouse.

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In the advanced disease progression side, I realized that there is some separation as suggested in the disengagement theory presented in the text. Social disengagement theory suggests that the elderly withdraw from society as much as society withdraws from the elderly; the reasoning behind this is that the elderly have less physical stamina and a higher death rate (text). Methods by which the elderly may be disengaged include retirement, less involvement in family life, and separation.

In the case of the particularly patient I met with, they mentioned they missed their wife, but I was instructed to lie to him telling him his wife would come soon. It seems the wife had 'disengaged' herself from the relationship. However, as bad as I felt being dishonest, the small 'white lie' seemed to make the patient feel more at ease and happier about his current situation.

People with less deterioration had noticeably more functioning and cognitive ability then people whose disease was more progressed. When leading group activities, I found it much easier to work with patients on the west side, who despite my having to repeat the instructions for the game several time still grasped the purpose of a group activity. The people with more advanced stages of the illness had a difficult time grasping the concept of the game much less the rules.

The concept of senescence, as described in the text as the process of aging, was varying apparent working in the Alzheimer's facility. As mentioned in the readings, the process of aging affects people in different ways at different rates, and can affect various parts of the body (Gebo, 2004). For some aging occurs vary rapidly, with some parts of the body aging more quickly than others. Most of the physical changes that accompany aging including loss of hearing, wrinkling and sense of touch gradually deteriorate at varying rates; Alzheimer's it seems is very similar, affecting various people in different ways at different rates.

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