creativemusicvoice
This is a collection of real life stories of when I worked as a recreation therapist with the geriatric population in a twenty year period in both nursing home(also known as skilled nursing facilities)and assisted living facility settings. In some of these stories, I've changed some of the names for privacy reasons.
This was during a period of which quality mattered when creating and conducting recreation programs. It wasn't limited to running Bingo games nor simply putting on compact discs for patients to listen to. It was when genuine care, the willingness to learn and using one's abilities in creating positive therapist-client relationships were essential to the quality of life of the patients.
Unfortunately, what was once essential had become very much non-essential. The health care facilities believed that Recreation became the lowest possible level on the totem pole of health care. This was despite the endless studies that have proved that Recreation is an important means of improving geriatric patients' quality of life.
Despite my dedication to my work and abilities, I found out that these were considered both unwelcoming and threatening to the staff. I realized that if I remained in this field, I'd be putting my entire career as well as my overall well being in jeopardy. For these reasons, I had to leave the Recreation field.
It was suggested to me that I write my stories about
how I was able to reach geriatric patients using my sincere care, creative abilities, experience and all I could bring to enhance their quality of life. In doing this, I know that I've left the field with my sanity intact and a clear conscious.
(C) 2021 C