Pictured above is me mirroring Mavis during "To Be Somebody's Someone," one of two sessions I presented at the Pioneer Network Conference in New Orleans. Both sessions, "Let's Get Unreal!" a creative engagement half-day intensive, and "To Be Somebody's Someone," a 1 1/2 hour session featuring original songs and narratives about what it is to simply be with another human being in an "I-Thou" relationship, were well received.
I was thrilled when one of the participants in the "Let's Get Unreal" intensive, Debra Block of Hebrew Senior Life in Boston, approached me saying she's been using the curriculum from my book, "Engage! 28 Creative Enrichment Experiences for Older Adults" for about a year. She said, "I find it's the only curriculum I can relate to as an Artistic Theatre Activities Director." All 40 of the books sold out at the Pioneer Network Bookstore. If you're interested in purchasing one for yourself, click here.
Another woman, Kathie Ferguson of Levonia, MI, shared after the session that she jumped right in and created a rough draft of her own creative engagement event, "Mardis Gras Experience."
The 2016 conference, titled "Revolutionizing the Culture of Aging," featured a plethora of sessions on ways to facilitate a culture of aging that is life-affirming, satisfying, humane, and meaningful. One highlight was the Tuesday Morning plenary keynote, "CNA Edge," featuring three Certified Nursing Assistants who blog about what it's like to work in the trenches of long-term care. They relayed the gap between them and the rest of the "system," saying that genuine culture change can't truly change until caregivers are understood. The following list conveys some of what they experience in the trenches:
1. They learn to adapt quickly.
2. Conversations that are insane to others are their norm.
3. They meet demands that make no sense.
4. They shrug off being bombarded by bodily fluids.
5. Humor saves their sanity.
6. They have days that make them wonder why they're in this field.
7. If they stay in this field long enough, their perception will be changed.
One thing was clear. They deeply care for the elders they serve, and are committed in spite of the less than desirable hourly wage. They don't appreciate when others tell them that being a CNA is just a stepping stone to a better career.
A personal highlight was a session facilitated by Molly Middleton Meyer, founder of Mind's Eye Poetry. Upon returning to the trenches the day after the conference, I immediately applied her practical tools on facilitating a meaningful and engaging poetry experience. I'll blog about that in a separate post. But, for now, here's a teaser. It's just one of several poems created collectively from three different group of residents. This one was created by six women with advanced dementia.
Preferred
I see a man playing a guitar
He’s wearing green, yellow, red
He’s wearing a hat
He’s singing
I hope it’s a happy song
Someplace where there’s a crowd
Where people gather with friends
He’s singing loudly
It’s beautiful
What makes me happy is food
What makes me happy is when I’m preferred
Because I do
Sometimes I feel preferred
Sometimes not
It depends on who it is
We all see around here
And now, I leave you with a collage of images of Bourbon Street.
Creatively yours,
Kareen