-Introduction-

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The site I had chosen for my important project was Courtside Cottages in Vacaville. Courtside good is a nursing home tucked away in a small corner lot around the old Vacaville outlets. It is an atnazing facility filled with a hard working staff. Their goal being to create a homely and comforting environment for the elderly. To help them stay healthy and cope with their various health issues such as alsimers and dementia. Courtside has a specific set up were their are five homes, each for different senior citizens at their different stages of mind. Their is the Wheatly house, the Wilson house, the Clark house, the Papas house, and the lock house. The reason behind making this nursing home look more like a home is because the workers here understand that the families of these people want them to feel at home and don't want them to feel homesick or lonely. This home has been around for many years and has become a popular place to send the elderly who can no longer be taken care of by their families. Although the families can rest well knowing that they have placed their loved ones in the best ofhands. Though the families can no longer care for their loved ones they are still aloud to visit them any time they want between moming and six in the afternoon. Courtside makes sure that families can stay in contact with their loved ones- They even let families take them out sometimes for shopping, eating out, or other reasons such as holidays or other events. The amount of care and freedom the staff gives to its residents and families is why it is one of the better nursing homes in this area. The way things are run is all for the residents well being. In Courtside residents are given full homemade meals by the staff, are given daily medical attention by their nurses, every house has T.Vs where they play old black and white shows or their favorite old movies, They play recognizable music in all the homes, and have fun day to day activities that help keep an engaging environment. The amount of effort put into this place is what makes it unique and is what will always set it apart from other places.

-Why This Sitechoose this site in particular was mainly for convenience. It was close by and my mother already knew some people here so she was more comfortable with the idea of me doing my project there. However when I started to work there and got my project started something in me began to change. When this project started my grandfather had a bad heart/breathing problem and was sent to the hospital. We almost thought we were gonna lose him. A lot of my family from other places came down to the hospital. He quickly recovered his strength, but we know he is slowly going to get worse from here. We almost didn't think we were gonna be able to give him the proper care he needed. Doctors suggested a nursing home, but no one ever wanted him to end up their, especially my grandfather. He said that was aplace were people were left to be forgotten. I realize that their are some families who cannot get any help for their loved ones medically so they drop them off their so they can. Their are some residents whose families don't see them anymore and although I understand they don't want the burden, I don't think people realize how much that hurts them. Which is why so many people feel an air of depression or loneliness around nursing homes. Because some of those people, although confused, are still people and do feel a sense of abandonment over time. Which is why I chose this site. Their are some really sweet and cool residents here who deserve to be happy, so I set out to do just that. I chose this site for the sake of making these people who feel long forgotten happy and remembered. Also the staffappreciates an extra hand to help lighten their load. They work hard and deserve a break even if its a small one.

At first the main reasons I

Cooper 2

-ExperienceIn the beginning I was a bit nervous about this project. I have never worked at an official site nor had I any prior experience. Also I knew going into this that I would have to stop being so quiet and shy around people I don't know which is a problem since my project is to make others happy. When I frst walked into that door I half expected it to be more like a cold hospital which was one famous reason I heard people hated nursing homes. However when that door opened, I rcalize I was dead wrong. This place was like a house. I noticed the kitchen where I saw some of the staff cooking a homemade lunch for the residents. Their was a dinning room, a living room with comfr coaches, and a bedroom for each resident to have all for themselves. It was the exact opposite of what I was expecting. Getting started, I explained to my supervisor Helen, the activities coordinator, why I was here and what my project was. I asked if their were things I needed to know about the residents and if their are things I should and shouldn't do. Immediately she mentioned that helping out with activities would help a lot, especially if I were to bring some activities of my own since they run out of activities to do sometimes. Ironically I had brought play dough for the residents to mess around with. I knew from what my mother said that most of the resident their are low functioning, meaning either have alsimers, dementia, confusion, or lack of mobility. With that in mind I thought doing they something creative would help with minor hand mobility problems and bring out their inner child. Helen helped bring together some residence who were eager to get started. We all talked, created some interesting creations with the play dough, and had a fun time. After this first activity I noticed how afterwards they all seemed much happier than they were before. Before Mary Lou seemed quiet, but when we brought her over she immediately became excited and happy, apparently she loves art and is quite good at it. Vesta although silent and reserved the whole time seemed to enjoy the conversations. Other than activities I had begun to help out with smaller chores such as folding laundry, sweeping floors, and feeding the immobile residents food which Helen said helps the other staff out a lot since they are usually always so busy. For the past few months this is what I did for my project and for the people at Coutside. Me and Helen would brain storm and do all sorts of helpful and creative projects with the residents and It was great. I always kept mental notes on how some of the residents I work with are doing. Asked others if their seemed to be change in their conditions or well being. Though most residents like Jackie and Velma seemed to be changing for the better in wellness and happiness, I did notice some go through a downward spiral due to their health. Like Pearl who other staffmembers mentioned, used to love eating and talking, now talks less, eats little, and needs help remembering and moving around. Though its hard for me to help the people in the downward spiral, it's good to know I can at least help brighten their mood even if sometimes its just trough a simple smile or hello. One thing I'm glad I got to experience was the amazing personalities these people have. Over the months of my project I've met some pretty amazing people. Like Theresa who sings hums tunes twenty four seven. She was probable the most happiest person I met to sing all day like and that. I even got to meet her daughter whom I asked why her mother always sings. She simply replied that thats just how her mother always was, that she was happy all the time. Their are other like Jackie, Jess, and another whom we would always have interesting conversations about the past. Mary Lou always had some cool tips for painting and the other Marie who never really talked but always laughed and would smile. I feel i've made others happy, but in my overall experience at the nursing home I felt like they taught me how to find happiness in the little things. In a weird sense we sort of helped each
other.

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-EvaluationWithin my evaluation my supervisor mentions how Although I am soft spoken, through much patients and kindness I made the residents happy. That I was a good worker, though Helen seemed to be better at getting the residents places than I was. I feel her comments were quit accurate about how I did in Coutside. I will admit that my shyness did get the best of me through most of the first month. However I feel personally that I did get outside that and became more outspoken in situations where me and the residents were having conversations. Like when I would talk \Mith Patsy in the Clark house and with Jackie in Papas. I was a little disappointed when I didn't see any extra comments from my new supervisor, but She wasn't around through most of my two months, because at the time Helen was my supervisor. My new supervisor Mary Jo didn't really see the beginning to end product with my project like Helen did, so I shouldn't have expected anything more or less on my evaluation. I feel as though overall my project and work went good, not great but not bad either. It still bothers me that I really wasn't able to reach out to some of the residents, weather it due to health or memory. Though I feel confident that the ones I did make happy are glad that I did and I know that the staffis thankful for the help. I guess its like that one movie we watched were even changing one person could help make a difference, even if its a small one. If their were anything I would do differently I would take Mary Jo's advice and try to be more assertive and outspoken around others. Hopefully thats advice I can take with me when I go out and get a job some time.

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Cooper 5

-Personal GrowthObservation on my personality in the work place was easily made.

I was shy, a bit nervous,

made myself busy with work, and was not assertive. Though through the days I slowly came out of my shell and learned to be more attentive and assertive. This mainly started when I began to talk more with

the residents during activities and with some help from the staff I learned how to handle myself in challenging situations with confused residents. I believe that most of my new found self was through the help of the staffwho always tried to help me learn. Throughout this project I gained much that will no doughtily help me in my future careers to come. The many skills I learned through this experience are both useful and plenty. Through simple talk with strangers I gained some people skills. I eventually leamed how to keep proper track of time with all those activities timing was crucial. Knowing how to handle not so calm situations, like when Burnen started to argue with the pasture and the staff and I had to move him from the room. I have some knowledge of how confusion is common amongst men and how dementia works. I learned to be patient with those who are ill and listen to those who are confirsed. Though these skills be simple, they can help grow into a better person and hopefully come in handy in future events.

-ReflectionWhen I was first going into this simple project of making others happy I didn't care much for it. In fact I dreaded the idea of losing my free weekends of which I knew I wouldn't be able to get much school work done. I don't think I was ever ready to suddenly be thrust into a working environment, but then I had to start somewhere. However later into my project after certain events with my grandfather my views shifted. I guess it took a personal touch to get me to open my eyes to the importance of happiness in a nursing home. Before hand I knew nothing about Coutside Cottages other than it was a nursing home with troubled people. I had always thought nursing homes were these horrible places filled with people who don't care for others, where senior citizens were abandoned to pass on. However I found that is certainly not the case with Courtside. Everyone actually cares for their residents and the residents in furn are doing much better than those in other ntusing homes. The environment at Courtside was definitely more homely, but lacked interaction. It was as though nobody wanted to talk with the residents. Also the place seemed a little outdated making it look a bit dirfy, but that was easily fixed with a little cleaning. My performance at the site was a little more than I expected from mysell if that makes sense. I was really worried that no one would warm up to me or that nothing would change for my project to work. However with some personal change I was not only able to make some of the residents feel more happy, but I was also able to help light the work load of the staffmembers. After the second month Helen had quit her job for another, and the staffwas worried because that left them with no activities person. However I was still their so I temporarily filled that gap,which relived some of their worries. If I ever had the option of doing this again I would honestly opt out for the sake of; I really need to focus more on school and graduating with good grades. Thats a hard thing to do when your trying to balance both work and school. I do believe people need to help each other out more in this world, but at my age thats a vary diffficult task to assign. Especially when people my age don't have jobs, don't have money to support their work, and already have enough stress as is. If I did have to do another project

Cooper 6 though I would pick something more important next time, like trying to help fix are broken education system. My site for that would probably start with my school, but I not to sure how that would work seeing as my opinions mean nothing to the older generation. I came into this project pretty unorganized. I didn't really have a general plan or a way to measure my goal up until the second month. If I could start agin I would definitely plan out what I'm going to do more out from the start. That might have helped me at some point. My overall experience is I met amazing people, made some friends, gained some new found knowledge, czrme out of my shy habits, and helped some residents smile more. I feel good about how I did with my project even if not that many people were affected. Mary Jo has already asked me to stay for a little while longer until she can find a replacement. I think I will do just that and stay theirjust a little while longer.