Up to Speed 1

SW 622 Reflection 1: Up to Speed

D’Corey Sullivan

The University of Mississippi

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Up to Speed

As a sit here reflecting on all things that have happened at my site since the last time, I

wrote a reflection I feel a bit overwhelmed because a lot has happened. Right after Thanksgiving

break, we moved into our new space on the other side of town. This was a big move considering

that all of our participants have some form of dementia and getting them acquainted with new

spaces can be a bit challenging, we saw this the first and second week of being at our new place.

It took everyone some time to get used to the new space. I know for me it took me weeks to

know where to find certain things, like lunch trays, plates, cups, paper towels, etc. So, if I was

having a hard time, I could only imagine what our participants were feeling. Some of them did

mention that they missed the old space but, once the new space got some more much-needed

work done it turned out nice and more spacious. The next big project we’ll be working on is

getting our outside space ready for the participants. We plan to have a garden, bird feeders,

picnic tables, and so much more so our participants can enjoy the outdoors. Last week and had

an architect come and draw up plans for the outside project and he had some great ideas.

Next, there have been some changes in our participants' roster. Unfortunately, two of our

participants Dr. M and Mr. D are no longer able to come. Dr. M, who was a medical doctor

before he retired is now in hospice care and refuses to get out of bed now. Mr. D is now at a

nursing home and can longer walk. After I returned from Christmas break and learned the news

about these former participants, I couldn’t believe it. It was mind-boggling to me just how fast

one's health can decline because I had just seen them 6 weeks ago and they were doing fine. I

was affected by this news because I’ve been at my internship since August and have grown so

close to all of the participants. I am aware that declining health is inevitable with the population

of people I am currently working with but, knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. I have
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learned a lot at my internship but, the biggest thing I have learned is that gerontology isn’t as bad

as I thought it was. I still personally don’t see myself going that route but I am not as opposed to

it than I use to be.

Lastly, we a lot of new faces around Memory Makers! As stated previously we have to 2

participants who aren’t able to come anymore so that meant we had 2 spots available for

Tuesdays and Thursdays. It didn’t take us long to fill 2 spots because we have an extensive

waiting list filled with people. We also have 2 new BSW interns, Shunda and Emma. I was so

excited when I heard we were getting another intern, that excited doubled when I found out we

were getting 2. Since I am an MSW Intern it was really up to me to train the two. Training is

something that I love to do, it comes second nature to me. It's just something about watching a

person grow more competent and confident in something that they didn’t know much about. It

has been about 3 weeks since they have been there and they are doing amazing. Also, it's great to

have more interns there because we get to share the workload more. After all, at one point I was

doing a lot. I am not complaining at all but it's just great to now have more help with like

cleaning, paperwork, and food preparation.