Assessment Essay

Wet Noses and Wrinkly Faces:

An Essay on My Pet Visits to StoneRidge’s Avalon

An Essay by Alexander Hawley

8^th Grade English

Pine Point School

March 1, 2011

Did you know that 80% of people 65 and up are lonely (Holiday)? I did after some basic research, so for my 8^th Assessment project, I brought my dog Sidney to StoneRidge’s nursing home, the Avalon. Coincidentally, my service is almost mirrored in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This experience was a great, enjoyable, and life changing, part of my schedule.   

StoneRidge was an amazing place to work, and there are multiple reasons I chose to work there. First of all, I knew that I wanted to work with animals, as some of the other options sounded a bit intimidating. My first choice was Animal Rescue Fund, but after talking to them, I found out that I could not come often enough to get all seven visits in on time. However, even after that minor setback I still wanted to do something with animals. After again looking through the packet with service site suggestions, I decided that I will take on the more challenging task of going to StoneRidge, but that I will bring my to comfort me and the people I am visiting. I wanted to do pet therapy because I knew it helped people who are lonely which, from my biography on a StoneRidge resident, I knew many people at the home were. I really wanted to do the most good I could, so helping with loneliness in seniors was a good idea for me. Finally, I wanted to go to StoneRidge because they are the only senior living facility in the region with a nursing home (StoneRidge). I wanted to go to the Avalon nursing home to really make a difference. Animal therapy helps anyone, but it has the most effect on nursing home residents. After all those reasons added up, I called up and met Laura who got me in for pet visits at StoneRidge’s nursing home.

          Although I really helped people at my site, I faced many challenges. The first problem I faced is that many of the people cannot hear well. This makes it very hard to tell them basic information like mine and my dog’s names. Also, it is very problematic if they have such bad hearing that you have to scream which is hard to do because you don’t want to sound mean, but you do want to tell them what you are trying to tell them. Another problem I faced in about the first three weeks of visits was my dog was sometimes being scared. Although by the last week he was chocking himself out of excitement, the first few visit he didn’t want to go into the residents rooms and his normally curly tail would be going straight down towards the carpeted floor. Once, when we took a break in between rooms I saw him actually shaking out of fear. The final, and most aggravating, problem I have is trying to spend the whole hour at StoneRidge. There are only 62 rooms and about one quarter of them are vacant. To add to that, another half of the people don’t want a visit, are sleeping, or have a doctor in their room. If you do that math, only 15 or 16 people can really be visited, so I have to spend at least four minutes with each person, which doesn’t usually happen. Although this is a great site, there are a few challenges that I had to confront.

          During my time at my service site I did so much good. First, and most importantly, I made all of the residents I saw happy. All of the residents sat up and talked to me, even the ones that usually lie down and don’t talk when they see the nurses or other visitors. Also, you could tell they enjoyed my pet visits as most of the residents told me to come back, and to see them again. For some residents I helped them feel at home. They started telling me about all of their dogs at home. If they had dogs at home having a dog in their room again makes them feel like they are home again. I even helped the staff. They are very busy doing what tires me to do for an hour all day, but when they see my dog, it gives them a few seconds to relax and take a break from all of their work. If I were to do what I did all day long, I would certainly need a break. I picked this site because of all the good I could do, and I certainly did a lot of good for the sick Avalon residents.

          Each fact I took improved my understanding of my work at the Avalon at StoneRidge. One of the topics that I researched a lot was common diseases among seniors. It really helped me when I knew what the people were going through, and I it made me feel more connected to them. For example, if I saw someone with the symptoms of dementia, one of the common diseases for seniors (Diseases), I would know more about what that feels like for them and how to act when I am around them. Also I found out how much more I was helping. I knew that I was helping to reduce the resident’s loneliness. However, I didn’t know I was helping them with other things like improving their socialization and increasing their memory (Holmes). Most, importantly, I found out just how lonely people are in nursing homes and how that happens, so I knew just how big of an effect I was having on them. I now know that if the residents can get attached to something, like my dog, it can help them become less lonely. (Carolin) I also know that people who know they aren’t going home or have just lost a good friend can be lonelier, and therefore need more help, than others (Carolin). My research not only increased my understanding but let me do more good and really understand the residents I was visiting.

          The book written by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, can relate to my service site in many ways. First of all, the most obvious connection is to Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose was lonely and sick just like many of the people that I met with. Moreover, Jem came to meet her and help her through her pain just like I did with the people at the Avalon. Another big relationship between my spectacular service at StoneRidge and the great novel by Harper Lee is the term courage. Courage was one of our themes in the book as many people had to be courageous. For example, when Scout ran into a circle of people to save Atticus she used lots of courage. I also had to use courage when I entered a room of someone who was very sick, and they were using courage to pull through their sickness. Another theme the class decided was in To Kill a Mockingbird was surprises. Surprises were all over my work site, from the surprising stories the residents told me, to the surprised look on the face when Sidney and I walked into the door. Surprises also showed up in To Kill a Mockingbird, from when Jem and Scout got air rifles, to when Scout finally realized Boo was the one who saved Jem’s life. To Kill a Mockingbird, the amazing novel by Harper Lee relates in many ways to my service at StoneRidge.

          I really enjoyed my work at StoneRidge, but I might have made a couple changes. First of all, I would have probably asked the residents more often if they wanted to have Sidney on their lap. Although just looking at Sidney made them happy, they became ecstatic when he sat on their laps. For example, one lady, my favorite lady, Alice, had  Sidney sit on her lap smiling and talking the whole time, but when I walked by her and she didn’t see me, I never saw her talking. I also would have asked Laura or Debbie, the two recreation staff, which residents especially liked to see dogs. This way I could make sure to see them, as I know they would love to see Sidney, my dog. Also, this way I wouldn’t have to deal with the nervousness of possibly getting rejected by the resident whose room I am trying to enter. Finally, for about half of the visits I might have gone to the larger part of StoneRidge where there are many more people. On the first day I walked through the actual building and I saw just how big it really was. There must be at least 500 rooms to visit. These were successful and helpful visits, but, in hindsight, I might have made a few changes.

This experience changed me in so many different ways. First of all, I learned much more about seniors, nursing homes, and different types of therapy. I learned about things like seniors personalities from being at StoneRidge, but I learned some things like different types of therapy from my research. For example, I learned that seniors aren’t something to be scared of, but I also learned things like the differences that can be seen in a painting made by someone with Dementia versus someone with out it. Furthermore, this experience made me feel very good that I helped. I feel so good when I reminisce about all of the smiles that I created while at the Avalon. I now known, thanks to my research that I didn’t just create smiles, I did so much more (Benefits). However, on a sad note, it made me realize that being retired isn’t a walk in the park. Seniors get left alone a lot and can even be lonely on the holidays (Holiday). Also, as I saw at StoneRidge, seniors can get extremely sick or even extremely injure themselves by just falling down. This really has been a life changing experience for me.

My visits to StoneRidge were a very big, but enjoyable, part of my life. From the long process of picking my site, to all of the research, and even to how it changed me the visits were very important. It is also very hard to believe how much To Kill a Mockingbird relates to my pet visits at StoneRidge. In conclusion, when wet noses meet wrinkly faces, the result is overjoyed seniors.

Works Cited

“Animal-Assisted Therapy.” Wikipedia. N.p., 19 Feb. 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal-assisted_therapy>.

“Benefits of Pet Therapy.” Paws and Hearts. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://www.pawsandhearts.org/P&Hbenefits.htm>.

Bruck, Laura. “Art, Music and Pet Therapy.” Nursing Homes July 1996: n. pag. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.

Carolin, Duncan. “Loneliness, Helplessness, and Boredom: Experience is the Best Teacher for Appreciating the Emotional Needs of Nursing Home Residents.” Nursing Homes Sept. 2007: n. pag. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.

“Diseases, Conditions, and Injuries Affecting Seniors.” Usa.gov: Government Made Easy. U.S. Government, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Seniors/Health/Diseases.shtml>.

“Elderly Abuse Complaints Rising.” Highlands Today [Sebring, FL] 29 Jan. 2007: n. pag. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.

Geilich, Peter. “Consider This When Choosing a Nursing Home.” Fairfield County Buisness Journal 7 July 2003: n. pag. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.

“Holiday Loneliness: 10 Ways Seniors Can Fight the Holiday Blues.” PRWeb Newswire 4 Dec. 2009: n. pag. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.

Holmes, Anisea. “Therapy Dogs Added to Local Hospital Staff to Aid Patient Recovery.” Daily News [Jacksonville] 14 Nov. 2010: n. pag. EBSCO Host: Student Reasearch Center. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?hid=11&sid=ada29ea0-e105-47e6-8383-e946ad98bec8%40sessionmgr4&vid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU%3d#db=nfh&AN=2W6235896481>.

“Most Senior Citizens Experience Loneliness, Say Researchers.” Senior Journal. N.p., 21 Nov. 2005. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Aging/5-11-21-SeniorsAreLonely.htm>.

“Nursing Home Alternative.” Providence Journal 11 Sept. 2006: n. pag. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.

StoneRidge. N.p., 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://www.stoneridgelcs.com/>.

Thatcher, Patrick. “With a Wag comes a Smile.” Daily Press [Victoriaville, CA] 11 May 2009: n. pag. EBSCO Host Student Reasearch Center. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?hid=11&sid=ada29ea0-e105-47e6-8383-e946ad98bec8%40sessionmgr4&vid=6&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU%3d#db=nfh&AN=2W62784203932>.

Trombley, Jessica, Bruce Thomas, and Pearl Mosher-Ashley. “Massage Therapy for Elder Residents: Examining the Power of Touch on Pain, Anxiety, and Strength Building.” Nursing Homes Oct. 2003: n. pag. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.