Fieldwork Reflection
For the fall of 2016, my fieldwork placement has been at a local group for individuals with Alzheimers and Dementia, as well as their caregivers. At stepping stones, there are roughly 15 participants in the program. Sessions are held once weekly, for 1.5 hours and includes a warm up activity, fine motor activity and gross motor activity. The model that I feel is reflected best from the program is PEOP. The activities are meticulously chosen specifically for the likes, dislikes and most importantly, cognitive and physical functional level of each patient. While this addresses the intrinsic factors, the environment that Stepping Stones is held in promotes the intrinsic factor. The program is held at a local church and the space utilized for
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However, the leaders of Stepping Stones are two occupational therapists. One of which is always present at each session and works collaboratively with the graduate assistant assigned to the program, and the students completing fieldwork. Her role includes overseeing the content of each program, budgeting and advising fieldwork students on their strengths and weaknesses. She has provided invaluable feedback and knowledge on individuals with dementia or Alzheimers. For example, prior to this fieldwork experience, I have had no experience with this type of cognitive disability and while producing a powerpoint for one of the sessions, she explained the importance of using sounds to during each slide transition to reorient clients back to the screen. This would not have crossed my mind without her helpful insight. As FW students, we are responsible for coming up with ideas for the powerpoint, fine motor and gross motor activites. Last week, the theme was thanksgiving. Thus, we created a fun powerpoint, everyone made cornicopias with waffle cones filled with trail mix and then we played a pine cone tossing game to fill a bucket that looked like a turkey. The students and our supervisor work closely together to find the just right challenge for all. For example, during the pine cone tossing, we had some clients stand, while others sat down and had the bucket close to them. We have to be constantly
However, the leaders of Stepping Stones are two occupational therapists. One of which is always present at each session and works collaboratively with the graduate assistant assigned to the program, and the students completing fieldwork. Her role includes overseeing the content of each program, budgeting and advising fieldwork students on their strengths and weaknesses. She has provided invaluable feedback and knowledge on individuals with dementia or Alzheimers. For example, prior to this fieldwork experience, I have had no experience with this type of cognitive disability and while producing a powerpoint for one of the sessions, she explained the importance of using sounds to during each slide transition to reorient clients back to the screen. This would not have crossed my mind without her helpful insight. As FW students, we are responsible for coming up with ideas for the powerpoint, fine motor and gross motor activites. Last week, the theme was thanksgiving. Thus, we created a fun powerpoint, everyone made cornicopias with waffle cones filled with trail mix and then we played a pine cone tossing game to fill a bucket that looked like a turkey. The students and our supervisor work closely together to find the just right challenge for all. For example, during the pine cone tossing, we had some clients stand, while others sat down and had the bucket close to them. We have to be constantly