By Kimberley Cheng, 4A Honours Planning co-op student
With COVID-19 limiting face-to-face interactions and outings, remaining social and active is increasingly important – but how do you create opportunities like this for seniors with dementia staying at a mental health inpatient unit?
This was the challenge faced by Jonathan, a third-year Therapeutic Recreation student at the University of Waterloo who recently completed a co-op work term at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.
Building relationships
As a recreation therapist in a senior’s mental health unit, he recognized that building relationships with the seniors was key, a task made more challenging because of the required face masks.
“It takes building rapport with the patients that you’re working with, and that way they trust you,” he says.
Normally, seniors can go out for dinners and day trips. Jonathan was restricted to planning programs within the property boundaries, and with limited numbers of participants per activity.
These were obstacles he faced every day.
“COVID-19 has completely changed the landscape for how I could provide programming,” he says. Jonathan and his co-workers did their best to limit face-to-face interactions to ensure everyone’s safety. “I needed to be considerate of how COVID-19 plays a role in how I structure my programs.”
To provide social activities that would be impactful to his clients, Jonathan worked with patients to learn about their previous careers and interests. He then used this knowledge to prepare activities such as watching films, colouring, or even just scheduling long conversations with them individually.
Jonathan’s daily tasks also consisted of helping the nursing team serve meals and support the seniors while they ate, which further helped him establish stronger relationships.
Jonathan's pathway to success
This was not Jonathan's first experience working with patients with cognitive impairment or mental health challenges.
In winter (January to March) 2020, he landed a co-op position as a support worker for the acquired brain injury program at St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph. He leveraged this experience to help him successfully qualify for the role in a senior’s mental health inpatient unit at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in fall (September to December) 2020.
“I was confident I would be able to get the position that I wanted because I had done my best to craft my experiences around things that I might want to do in the future.”