(Student Essay Fall 2015)
“It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of person kind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.” ― Leo Buscaglia. Marianna Health and Rehabilitation Center provide their patients with lots of joy and love. Marianna rehab was established in 1970. The 180 bed facility is owned by the city of Marianna. The rehabilitation is located close to Jackson hospital and local doctor offices. The center is one of the few non-profit long-term care facility in the U.S. The center was created to give the elderly and other long- term care and rehabilitative services. The long-term staff has been providing care for nearly 45 years. The center provides a program that is devoted to the physical, social, physiological needs. The staff goes beyond to make their residents feel happy and comfortable. The residents depend on the staff to carry-out their basic needs. “ Individuals need long-term care when a chronic condition, trauma, or illness limits their ability to carry out basic self-care tasks, called activities of daily living (ADLs), (such as bathing, dressing or eating), or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) (such as household chores, meal preparation, or managing money). Long-term care often involves the most intimate aspects of people’s lives—what and when they eat, personal hygiene, getting dressed, using the bathroom. Other, less severe long-term care needs may involve household tasks such as preparing meals or using the telephone” (caregiver). The staff helps the residents with bathing, eating, and dressing. The things that people take for granted, such as drinking, grooming, and mobility. These everyday tasks can be difficult for residents.
My casual visits to Marianna Health and Rehabilitation center, I was familiar with the facility. My Grandmother lived at the center, before she passed in 2012. She suffered from a stroke and could no longer take care of herself. My Auntie made the decision to admit her into Marianna Health and Rehabilitation, so she could receive around the clock care. I was familiar with the day to day activities, but I really never paid close attention to how hard the staff worked. I realized how hard the staff worked, when I spent the whole day at the center. The staff at Marianna Health and Rehabilitation goes beyond to help the resident and others. The staff were really patient with the residents, some of the residents had speech and mobility impaired. The other residents can be mean and uneasy toward the staff at the center. The residents can sometimes refuse to eat or be really difficult.
I spent the day helping with the resident at Marianna Health and Rehabilitation. I had to feed a woman, who was mobility impaired. She could not feed herself, she needed assistance. Many residents who stuffer stroke or other injuries often have difficulty swallowing or chewing their food. I feed her breakfast, which look very appetizing and delicious. The feeding process really wasn’t difficult for me, because I used to feed my grandmother her meals. She lost her feeling on her left side from a stroke and had difficulty eating. My next task was helping with activity day, such as arts and crafts and bingo. “Hobbies are not just a way to pass the time, but offer something to get up and get excited about, look forward to. Depression can involve having no "goals" or the blahs from not having anything to anticipate. And it’s never too late to begin new elderly activities. Especially if a previous hobby is no longer doable -- then people become a little more open minded about trying new elderly activities to challenge and entertain themselves”. The activities help keep the elderly memory and social skills sharp. I helped with gluing pinecones on plastic plates, so they could be Christmas trees. I believe that was a good idea, it allowed the resident a chance to express themselves. They had different types of glitter, ribbons, and string with beads to decorate their Christmas tree with. There was this sweet lady, who had never decorated a Christmas tree before. I assisted her in decorating the Christmas, I decorated it with red, green, and gold glitter. We even decorated wreath with ribbons and red littler tiny berries. I enjoyed helping her, so much I decorated my very own Christmas tree. I tried to also decorate a wreath, but I didn’t turn out how I wanted. I was just amazed at how they were enjoying, something as simple as arts and crafts. They even played in several games of bingo. I helped the resident with making sure, they were getting the right number and spots. The last thing I did was put up decorations for the resident at Marianna health and rehab center. The decorations gave the residents something positive to look at, whenever they decided to leave their rooms. I even redecorated the resident bulletin board, with blue ribbon and blue wrapping paper. The bulletin board is used to display their daily meals and staff, they state makes that a requirement. Last I sat with some of the residents, just spending quality time with them.
I picked this as my service project, because it was something close to my heart. I know that’s all they want is someone to spend quality time with them. When my grandmother was at the Marianna Health and Rehabilitation, I refused to go see her. I refused because I didn’t want to see her sick and unhappy. Most of the people who live in nursing homes do not have a family, so someone just spending time with them is priceless. I saw a glimpse of that during art and craft, they were so happy to be out their room and around others. It changed my perspective on how hard the staffs work. Before, that day I thought just went for money and didn’t care about the resident. I saw that they really cared about them and not just the money. This service project opened my eyes to a lot different things, especially the things I take for granted.
