Relatable Essay

Introduction

Through my service-learning project this semester, I aimed to reduce isolation among older adults living in a residential facility in western Kentucky. I selected this target and population because of the heightened impact of isolation on those living away from loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, older adults living in residential facilities during the pandemic are likely to have reduced access to the interactive programs and services in which they might typically participate. Because isolation can have detrimental effects on psychosocial, cognitive, and physical well-being, I chose to focus on reducing isolation through the activities I created for this project. 

As I prepared to work with the community partner facility, I felt excited to serve the residents. I also felt slightly apprehensive as I considered how to best support them during this time. The project needed to be safe and feasible to implement during the pandemic. As my role in this service-learning project was fully virtual, I kept in mind the importance of selecting accessible formats and platforms for the community partner to use. This project was my first service-learning experience, and I was grateful to have a structure provided in class to guide my development of activities. Reading about the steps involved in service-learning helped me to understand the importance of collaboration, and how the learning component is imperative to the service. Without learning from the community partner, I would have been targeting needs I perceived or expected, rather than needs articulated by the people I wanted to serve. I wanted to make my project as helpful and accessible as possible, and I was eager to apply concepts from class and knowledge I gained from discussion with the community partner.

Outcomes about myself

Ultimately, the three activities I included were a music-themed bingo game, a set of interactive singing videos, and a set of videos with guided stretches to music. I based the activities I chose on an interview with the community partner, research literature on reducing isolation in older adults, previous music therapy and community music experiences, and feedback from Dr. Reschke-Hernández. In order to maximize engagement with the activities, I included a variety of music genres. The bingo game includes a mix of country, rock, jazz, big band, and gospel music. The interactive singing and guided stretch videos incorporate the same activity across a variety of genres so that residents can select the music they prefer. I added subtitles to each video through YouTube or Amara in order to increase accessibility through universal design principles.

To prioritize the goals and needs of the community partner, I consulted with the facility’s therapy director about each activity prior to the planning stage. As I implemented the resulting plans, I became more comfortable with technology, particularly with adding subtitles to videos. I believe this skill will be useful in future work with clients and students. Additionally, I gained a deeper understanding of universal design and social-emotional learning by implementing principles of these frameworks as I planned activities, recorded and published videos, and designed pages on the Google Site. This experience reinforced the importance of inclusion. As I considered principles of universal design, I perceived my privilege through the ways some of these considerations were relatively new to me. An area for growth I noticed as I worked on adding subtitles to my videos related to sections where I could have included more concise verbal prompts. As I continue to learn and grow, I will look through the lens of the social model of disability, which espouses that systemic and environmental barriers and discrimination are what produce problems for individuals with disabilities. I will aim to reduce these barriers through inclusive practices, such as providing multiple ways to engage with an activity and referring to the expertise of any community I wish to serve. I will continue to keep in mind the human rights slogan "nothing about us without us."

Outcomes regarding the community partner

Working with the community partner throughout this experience was a helpful and eye-opening experience. I began my initial interview with the community partner with a few potential activities in mind to reduce isolation, such as active music listening and interactive singing. Through my interview with the facility’s therapy director, I gained clearer insights into specific activities that could target the current needs of the residents. It was helpful to learn about activities at the facility prior to the pandemic, such as a Music in Motion program. With this knowledge, I decided to record the guided stretch videos to music. Additionally, when I learned that the staff were leading socially distanced bingo games, I selected music-themed bingo as another activity because I believed it could support an activity that the facility was already providing and that the residents enjoyed. While I entered the interview with broad assumptions about activities that might be helpful, I ended the phone call with a clearer sense of direction for planning activities that would be feasible at this time and useful for the residents.

The community partner responded helpfully and supportively to my requests for consultation about the activities I ultimately selected. The therapy director encouraged me to call as needed, which I appreciated as I aimed to support the residents through evolving circumstances with the pandemic. These discussions enhanced my confidence with designing activities, as did the feedback Dr. Reschke-Hernández provided. Something I could have done differently would have been to seek feedback during the implementation of activity plans. I sought feedback before and after, and seeking feedback during the implementation stage could have also provided useful insights.

Outcomes regarding my knowledge and skills

As I consider the knowledge and skills I gained during this project, I am eager to learn more about accessible technology. I am also looking forward to continuing to apply universal design (UDL) and social-emotional learning (SEL) concepts. I hope to apply these principles across all stages of the music therapy process in order to maximize engagement, inclusion, and felt safety. I connected my course work to this experience by referring to course readings on inclusive practices, the UDL guidelines, and the SEL core competencies for service-learning assignments. 

I gained specific skills related to inclusive technology use, such as adding subtitles to videos. Using YouTube and Amara to add subtitles was a valuable learning experience. I initially felt slightly intimidated to use this technology because I did not previously know how, but I quickly became excited to see the results and how it would make the videos more accessible. This skill will be useful in my career as I create more electronic resources, as more people will be able to use them, and the subtitles will provide a visual way to access information. 

Another area in which I grew and will aim to continue growing is creating engaging videos. I tried to maximize eye contact with the camera and limit transition time. In order to accomplish this, I needed to cut some transitions out of my videos and memorize the prompts I planned to provide. It was a fun challenge to try to make the videos as engaging as possible. As my main goal was to reduce isolation, I aimed to balance the specific activities with other interactive elements, such as greetings in the videos and images on the Google Site pages. 

Outcomes about my values

This service-learning experience reminded me of the imperativeness of inclusion across all aspects of society. Inclusion impacts access to all spheres of everyday life, such as access to healthcare. Accessibility was a foremost concern in our class’ website and activity designs. In virtual formats and in person, I will continue prioritizing accessibility and refer to course content for helpful strategies. Additionally, I will continue to refer to the evolving literature on diversity, equity, and inclusion. I will listen to members of marginalized groups, who can be disproportionately impacted by isolating experiences such as the pandemic. 

This experience particularly touched on my personal values as COVID-19 led to the illness or death of many older adults living in residential facilities. I considered the fear and worry that these circumstances could foster among older adults and hoped that my project could provide something positive for them. I considered the community partner facility and how hard the staff are working, as well. I felt and continue to feel gratitude for what I got to learn from the community partner during such a challenging time. These experiences have informed my personal philosophy of music therapy and music education by reminding me of the innate value of music and how everyone deserves music. Music has been a part of many of the residents’ entire lives, and getting to provide music in some way to these individuals during this time was an honor. 

Outcomes about action

A next step I will take after this project is to call the community partner again to see if there are any changes that would be helpful to make to the activities once they have had more time to use them. Advice I would offer the next person who wants to address the needs of a similar community partner would be to listen openly. I gained a valuable perspective from collaborating with the community partner and am grateful for the insights they shared with me. To my future self, I would advise remembering to continue listening, learning, and growing. From encountering multiple perspectives through this course and project, I now have a richer understanding of inclusion and its importance. I will always have more to learn, and I will turn to others for their expertise so that I can more effectively provide music and music therapy. I am motivated to continue reading and listening to others’ perspectives. I can engage others with the issues I learned about through my experiences this semester through conversation and by recommending relevant readings, videos, and podcasts. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important for people to continue to engage in their communities because connectedness is a valuable part of the human experience. Additionally, connection is beneficial for our health. It is important to continue addressing pressing social issues, such as isolation among older adults, during this time because these issues persist and are amplified by the pandemic. Many important social issues, such as racial injustice, are intersectional—the pandemic disproportionately impacts marginalized groups.

Conclusion

When referring to the Learning Outcomes and Service Learning Goals for this course, I note the progress I have made toward applying principles of UDL and SEL, prioritizing inclusion and accessibility, further developing my critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and understanding my role in developing community partnerships. Examples of this progress include providing visual and auditory ways to engage with the videos I created, incorporating multiple music options, consulting with the community partner for feedback, and designing a variety of activities to target connectedness and engagement during the pandemic. I am concluding this service-learning experience feeling inspired and grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the community partner. I continue to be concerned about the pandemic, those who are isolated, those who are sick, and those who have lost loved ones. This course and this project provided something positive to me during a challenging time, and I hope the activities will provide something positive to the residents of the community partner facility.