Ashley's Feedback #1

Feedback for Activity #1 : Breathing to Music Resource

Who: Ryan Montgomery - Physical Therapist at the VA Medical Center in Lexington, KY

Date of Implementation: April 5, 2022 - April 12, 2022

Date of Feedback Received: April 13, 2022

Goal: Targeting insomnia symptoms - increasing relaxation and decreasing stress

Feedback Reflection

Introduction:

The first activity that I created was a handout outlining why breathing to music is beneficial and instructions on how the veteran patients can pair their breathing to the music of their choice. I wanted to make sure that I left it up to the veteran patients to pick what song(s) they wanted to breathe to. That way, we could potentially avoid any negative triggers that specific songs might prompt. I went over the handout with Ryan, my community partner, and we edited it together to make sure it would work for his patients. We also went over how to explain the instructions if questions should arise.

Ryan spent the next week giving the handout to his patients, explaining its contents. He also let them know that he would be contacting them in a few days to see how the activity went for them. Ryan did not disclose to me to how many patients he gave the handout, but he did tell me that he heard back from a lot of them. He said the instructions were good and clear, and, overall, there was a very good positive response.

Experience:

I have been having a good experience with working with Ryan and learning how the activity is working for his patients. I really appreciated how he went out of his way to contact the patients he gave handouts to for feedback. It is very easy to tell how much he cares about them and their well-being. The feedback he received was very informational. The veteran patients reported exact instances they used the activity, how it worked for them, what was helpful about the handout, and anything that confusing.

Assumptions:

I honestly went into this with little to no assumptions. I tried to anticipate any possible roadblocks that the veteran patients might encounter and make a plan for it. I made a digital handout with alt-text that could be downloaded or printed. I also tried to be color-blind and dyslexic conscious when formatting the document. Upon reflection, I realize that I did make the assumption that the veteran patients would have a way to listen to music. When hearing about how they utilized music playing in public, I had not previously thought of that as an option. I will have to keep this in consideration when planning for the next two activities.

Knowledge and Skills:

The feedback I received from Ryan on behalf of his patients was very insightful. It gave a sense of how these activities were really going to function for them. Based on the feedback, the veteran patients found the instructions to be clear and easy to follow. The activities was very useful in helping them fall asleep, reduce anxiety, reduced road-rage, reduce pain (some by distraction), and helped reduce addiction cravings. There was a wide range of environments that they decided to try to activity - at home, in restaurants, and in their car. They did it at varying times of the day too, though many did it before bed to help with sleep. Some stated that they preferred positive up-beat songs and others preferred slower relaxing/calm music. What I really appreciated was that many stated it became much easier to do with practice. Based off of one incident Ryan mentioned, it seemed to help the veteran patient with their PTSD anxiety. 

I am still learning in what capacities the veteran patients are using the activity. This knowledge will help inform how I structure the next two activities. I enjoy learning what is going to work best for these veteran patients and figuring out new ways to provide for them.

Action:

The handout format seemed to work very well for the veteran patients, so I plan on keeping the format the same and changing the content and color scheme for the next activity. I will be taking the feedback I was given about the veteran patients not knowing exactly how long to do the activity and clarify that it this next activity. My plan is to have the veteran patients pair their stretching exercises to music now. They will be using the song(s) of their choosing to structure their time for their stretches, as well as using them as motivation to complete the required times set out by their physical therapists.