Today I made leprechaun hats with the residents for St. Patrick's Day. Only one resident was helping out, but it was still fun because she had such a positive attitude.
When dinner came along, I help served the food. I thought it was cute because a lot of the resident's families came to visit them today. It made me happy because the residents seemed to be happier with the company. When the residents were eating, a resident who doesn't speak much English called me over. I went to her and she grabbed my hand. She kept speaking in her language, and I didn't know what to do. So I just smiled at her until she let go.
One resident got really mad. He started to swear and yell. I was frightened and shocked because he was one of the residents who was really nice to me. However, I know he didn't get mad intentionally. Alzheimer's can make a person change moods in an instant because it messes with the brain.
A lot of residents said that they were cold, but the room we were in was quite warm. I guess the disease makes a person cold because it's draining out all of their energy.
The next step is to keep observing people with Alzheimer's behavior. I have a total of 24 hours completed.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
February 6, 2013: 4 hours
The first thing I did was paint a resident's nails. She fell asleep while I was painting them. And I felt like she was having some kind of nightmare because she was twitching. I got kind of scared, but when she woke up, she was fine.
Next, when I walked through the door for Life's Neighborhood, one of the residents tried talking to me. But she was whispering so I couldn't really understand her. I tried to asked her if anything was wrong, and all I heard was, "don't tell anyone. Now go on, I know your mom." Something along those lines. I didn't know what to do, so I walked away when she walked away.
I read and asked some trivia questions. One person answered and got most of them right. However, I can tell she was getting frustrated when she didn't know the answers to some of them. So I tried hinting to her what it was or I'd just tell her and move on to the next question.
When dinner was about to start, I was trying to get the residents to the table. One of the residents was in a wheelchair. And she kept trying to leave from the table. Whenever I put her back to the table, she kind of growled at me, but I know it's not her fault because it's the disease and I felt like she was getting a little impatient because the food wasn't there yet.
The next step is to keep learning about the disease. I have a total of 21 hours completed.
Next, when I walked through the door for Life's Neighborhood, one of the residents tried talking to me. But she was whispering so I couldn't really understand her. I tried to asked her if anything was wrong, and all I heard was, "don't tell anyone. Now go on, I know your mom." Something along those lines. I didn't know what to do, so I walked away when she walked away.
I read and asked some trivia questions. One person answered and got most of them right. However, I can tell she was getting frustrated when she didn't know the answers to some of them. So I tried hinting to her what it was or I'd just tell her and move on to the next question.
When dinner was about to start, I was trying to get the residents to the table. One of the residents was in a wheelchair. And she kept trying to leave from the table. Whenever I put her back to the table, she kind of growled at me, but I know it's not her fault because it's the disease and I felt like she was getting a little impatient because the food wasn't there yet.
The next step is to keep learning about the disease. I have a total of 21 hours completed.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
February 2, 2013: 1 hour
Today I served dinner to the residents in Assistant Living. There was this one lady who was very nice. She still remembered my name which really shocked me. It was also nice that she still remembered my name because it means that the disease isn't as severe for her.
As I was clearing the tables, a lady in a wheelchair said she needed to go to the bathroom. She asked me to push her to the restroom, so I did. And when we got there, she asked me to wait outside. I said okay. But then she told me that she needed help with getting on the toilet. As she was getting up out of her wheelchair, I panicked and got a caretaker as soon as possible. The caretaker helped her and I went back to clear the tables.
The next step is to observe how Alzheimer's affects a person. I have a totally of 17 hours.
As I was clearing the tables, a lady in a wheelchair said she needed to go to the bathroom. She asked me to push her to the restroom, so I did. And when we got there, she asked me to wait outside. I said okay. But then she told me that she needed help with getting on the toilet. As she was getting up out of her wheelchair, I panicked and got a caretaker as soon as possible. The caretaker helped her and I went back to clear the tables.
The next step is to observe how Alzheimer's affects a person. I have a totally of 17 hours.
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