Interview Blog

Who I interviewed:

Kelcie Davis, ATR, LPATA; Life Enrichment Director at Creekside on Bardstown

Date and Length of Interview:

February 21, 2022.  Approximately 20 minutes.

Interview Questions:

1. Please describe your role as the Life Enrichment Director at Creekside. What are your main goals for the residents, and what do you hope to accomplish?

2. Please describe the residents at Creekside. What do they like to do? What seems to be motivating for them?

3. What are some needs of the residents you have noticed recently or have been working to address? Why is this important for them?

4. What types of activities have you already considered or implemented in the past to meet these needs?

5. What musical activities have you observed the residents participating in before (e.g., music listening, musical games, music therapy, etc.)? What worked well with these activities or was helpful? What did not work well or was not helpful?

6. What are some barriers to participation you have noticed in either musical or non-musical activities (e.g., cognitive, physical, social)?

7. When you are working with the residents, how do you measure the success of an activity or decide whether it was useful for them?

Blog:

The focus of my service-learning project is to develop supplemental music activities or resources for the team at Creekside to utilize with their residents. This interview was an opportunity for me to learn what specific goals the Life Enrichment Director, Kelcie Davis, targets during the activities that she regularly plans. Kelcie is responsible for the development of five activities with the residents per day. Two central goals she targets are promoting independence and keeping the residents physically and cognitively active.

Independence seems to be a central need for the residents that Kelcie keeps in mind with each activity she plans. Since a decline in independence is a common experience of the residents due to health restrictions or simply living in the facility, she aims to provide them with independent opportunities whenever possible. Laundry is one simple example of an activity the residents frequently participate in, which functions to promote independence, reinforce routine, and build self-esteem. 

Kelcie also aims to keep the residents as physically and cognitively active as possible. One important reason is to prevent muscle atrophy, which is a loss of muscle tissue that can occur due to a lack of physical activity. Some activities they have used in the past to physically engage residents include cardio drumming, dancing to music, and games such as kicking a ball. Cognitive activity can also slow cognitive decline and improve self-esteem, especially for memory care residents who may feel restricted by their cognitive ability. Cognitive objectives Kelcie articulated are keeping the residents busy and provide opportunities for reminiscence.

This brought us to a discussion about how music activities can promote independence and physical and cognitive activity for the residents. One important need is for new activities since the facility provides five activities a day. They also aim to be flexible if a planned activity will not work on a particular day, so plenty of options to choose from is useful. We also discussed the importance of novel experiences and of experiences that promote singing, movement, and reminiscence. Music activities they have already utilized include providing musical entertainment, a monthly music therapy group, and karaoke.

For my own activities that I design, I want to be sure they are feasible for a couple of caregivers to administer to a large group of residents. They will need to be activities that do not require a music therapist to be present or any special training. I will be thinking about simple musical activities that promote physical movement and active engagement. Since they have already played a game with a ball, for example, there may be an opportunity to develop a game using a ball and recorded music. They have a small bag of handheld percussion instruments onsite that they have not used before, so I can envision an activity involving passing these instruments around with music. I am also wondering if music could be incorporated into some activity that is already part of their routine to improve participation in this activity (e.g., music while handling laundry).

I also asked Kelcie for her thoughts on measuring success with either the activities she provides or the ones I will design. The key factor she identified is to what extent residents are or are not participating in an activity; an activity in which most residents are engaging would be considered a success. The mood of the residents is also an important factor. To gather feedback between the activities I design, I may design a simple data sheet the caregivers could use to track the participation and mood of the residents during the activities.

As I begin to craft the first activity, there are some resources that would be useful to explore to be sure I fully understand the needs of these residents. I would like to review qualitative research on the experiences of residents and their families with assisted living and memory care facilities, especially during the pandemic. This would likely be more efficient than interviewing several residents at Creekside and would give me a well-rounded understanding of what matters to residents of these facilities. I would also like to review activities that have already been created that target physical and cognitive engagement in older adults and learn more about why this goal is important (for those with and without dementia). Once I have a short list of possible activities, I plan to share this with Kelcie and then decide which activity to start with first.