Carolina Ortiz Capstone

Taking care of my sick grandfather exposed me to the hardships that many senior citizens have to face. Not only with their health but in a society that doesn’t seem to fully value them. My curiosity and want to help the nursing home community led me to do research how to improve their wellbeing. Looking through the internet I found many sources which showed that senior citizens face a high risk of depression and that a good way to help prevent that is with creative activities. Therefore I decided to make my capstone project a set of “creative workshops” for residents at The Watermark on Logan Square. In total, three of the four times I went to see them I hosted “creative workshops”. On two occasions we created tissue paper stained glass window decor and in my latest visit we decorated flower pots for flowers. They’ve told me how excited they are to see me and with each visit I noticed a boost in their mood. For me, the most heartwarming day was when everyone saw the flowers I had bought. All of their faces lit up with happiness like I hadn’t seen before, a reminder of why I chose my capstone. Thanks to the funding on behalf of Braskem I was able to create a Capstone project which I enjoyed doing and was able to positively impact the lives of others. Creating bonds that I am excited to keep. Bibliohraphy Anderson, Jeff. “Inside Assisted Living Art Therapy Programs.” Senior Assisted Living Guides: Find Senior Care A Place for Mom, 9 Nov. 2018, www.aplaceformom.com/blog/2-28-14-inside-assisted-living-art-therapy-programs/. This source showed me the way in which art can help the senior citizen community.As well as what activities are good for them and what they help in specifically. This also gave me a good variety of activities no matter who I will be working with. Depression in the Elderly: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments. (n.d.). Retrieved January, 2019, from https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-elderly#1 This source is a well known medical site which helps people know more about an illness or many other health related things. Since I will be working in a nursing home I personally used this source to know more about the depression which exists in the elderly community. Finding that this can actually lead to many other bad things. I had heard from other people that this was a big issue but this source allowed me to get more information which I believe is trustworthy. Even though this information is not “good” it has allowed me to feel like my project might actually have a real impact on at least the day of the people I’ll be working with. “Fine Motor Skill Activities for Seniors.” Medicalopedia, 28 Mar. 2018, www.medicalopedia.org/6506/fine-motor-skill-activities-for-seniors/. One of the most important things to everyone are motor skills. However, these are also one of the main things that the elderly community loose first. Which is why in my activities this is something that I will need to take into consideration. Hannemann, B. T. (n.d.). Creativity with dementia patients. Can creativity and art stimulate dementia patients positively? Retrieved January, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16439826 This source is the website for the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health and is the reason I found it to be credible. Additionally it is the reason I found another one of my sources to be valid since this was linked on it. I chose to look into this one because it is about an actual study that was done about patients with dementia and its connection to creativity. I was able to see the way that my project connected in a way to another project that actually exists and I found that to be pretty interesting. Furthermore, it helped me think of a way to have my Capstone gather some sort of data in regards to the work that I will be doing. “Improving Fine Motor Skills In Elderly.” Interim HealthCare, www.interimhealthcare.com/albuquerquenm/blog/improving-fine-motor-skills-in-elderly/. One again this was another source based on the motor skills for the elderly. Reading this source allowed me to gain more clarity on the topic. Inc. 10 Tips for Educating Elderly Patients, 1 May 2019, www.hcpro.com/HOM-288902-6962/10-Tips-for-Educating-Elderly-Patients.html. This source allowed me to have a straightforward list of how to teach the elderly. After reading this I understood better how important it was for me to know how to teach them and be patient with them in every way. “Senior Activities | Activities for Seniors in Assisted Living Communities.” SeniorLiving.org, 6 Apr. 2018, www.seniorliving.org/life/activities/. This source gave me a good broad idea of activities for senior citizens which I will be using when I meet all of the residents I will be working with. I will be able to present some to them and gauge their interests. Stahl, A. (2018, August 12). Here's How Creativity Actually Improves Your Health. Retrieved January, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2018/07/25/heres-how-creativity-actually-improves-your-health/#5f7b5fd213a6 As this was one of my first sources I was skeptical of its credibility at first but found that companies and even some one my teachers saw it as credible, therefore, I went on and looked into it. One of the first things that grasped my attention was the title of, “Here's How Creativity Actually Improves Your Health”, because of the direct connection which it clearly has to my project as the people I am working with are recovering from one thing or another. By reading the contents of this article I was able to find five detailed ways in which th creativity helps health. They were not all involving building but I still found it allowed me to have a better understanding of this concept and was able to find more sources of actually studies that back up the article. “Teaching Older Adults.” EuroMed Info, www.euromedinfo.eu/teaching-older-adults.html/. In my capstone I will not only be doing “crafts” with residents i will be trying to teach them how to do certain things. This source showed me some ways to be able to teach and communicate with them with more ease for myself as well as them. “10 Stimulating Activities for Alzheimer's Patients.” Alzheimers.net, 20 July 2018, www.alzheimers.net/2014-03-06/stimulating-activities-for-alzheimers-patients/. Not knowing the exact demographic of the senior citizen community that I will be working with I find it valuable to get to know about some illness specific activities that i can know how to do. Thankfully I found this site which gives a good list of suggested activities for people with Alzheimer's