Today I visited my local assisted living facility, which has become a routine event at this point; however, this visit was significant as it was the first of many times I will visit for the specific purpose of trying to create change through my original work. More specifically, my goal through this ISM project is to lead a series of activities with the residents of the assisted living facility to create a comprehensive report about how members of the community can care for elders in simple ways as well as benefit the mental health of my local geriatric residents. The completion of this goal began today with the simple act of painting pots.
For more context, I wanted to create a project that would allow me to inform the general public about ways we can help geriatric individuals feel more confident as well as bring more positivity into the lives of the individual's closest to me. Therefore, my original work encompasses a planting activity for the residents at my local assisted living facility, which will serve as the subject of my report. My reasoning behind choosing a planting activity as a means to inform the public is that the process entails a high degree of responsibility in order to care for a plant along the way; therefore, giving this task to geriatric residents would encourage them to create a meaningful routine that they can find security in. The process of decorating the pots to harvest the final plant(basil) not only exercises their fine motor skills but can also bolster their perception of their own abilities in the process as they must hold themselves accountable for the success of their endeavor. I hope that the report will serve as evidence of the necessity of community action to get more elderly individuals involved in these sorts of activities. I also hope that the residents will find the experience even more rewarding when they are able to use their fully grown plant to create a meal for themselves and their peers.
That is why today we started the process with something that can only be judged by the eye of the beholder: painting. I wanted to start off with an activity that would give the residents creative freedom without fear of judgment, and what better form of expression is there than art? Consequently, the first activity of many in this project was having the residents customize their own planting pots as it is the foundation for their plant. However, as expected I already encountered the self-doubt that is all too common among elderly people. Self-criticism of their painting skills ran rampant, and throughout the activity my goal was to provide assurance that would counter their negativity in order to get them to see the value of their work. Although this first activity has some hurdles, I am excited to see how any challenges I may encounter during this process will allow me to grow my knowledge and compassion and share those findings with others.
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