SRU student project connects senior citizens and homeless
A class project for three Slippery Rock University students resulted in a connection between two groups of disadvantaged people, giving a sense of purpose for older adults confined in a home to care for people who don't have a home.
As part of their service-learning projects, students in the Recreational Therapy for Older Adults class, taught by associate professor Betsy Kemeny, conducted research and developed interventions for older adults by working with staff at Orchard Manor nursing home in Grove City, Home 2 Me assisted-living facility in Slippery Rock and the Quality Life Services continuing care community in Chicora.
Student groups were tasked with addressing various issues affecting older adults, including cardiovascular health, fall prevention and cognitive abilities.
Seniors Brianna Dillon, a health science-public health major; Rosemary Franklin, a dual recreational therapy and dance major; and Gabrielle Cunningham, a recreational therapy major, faced a different challenge. They were asked to create an intervention addressing older adults' changing life roles as a result of being in a care facility.
“Older adults, because they are retired or they may have lost a spouse or are living in a care community, often don't have the same roles they once had,” Kemeny said. “There's a lot of research coming out about how we need to address social isolation, loneliness and lack of roles.”
Dillon, Franklin and Cunningham focused their intervention on volunteerism. Their research revealed more than 70 percent of U.S. adults ages 55 and older do not volunteer, despite research showing volunteer activities improve several areas of health for older adults, including competency, cognitive and intellectual stimulation, and social capital.
“We thought a good thing to focus on was giving older adults a sense of purpose and immediately we thought of volunteering,” Dillon said. “It makes people feel good to serve other people and feel purposeful. But then we thought, 'We're college students; we can't take these people out of the nursing home and have them weed a flower bed in a park or volunteer at a community library. What are we going to do?'”
Dillon, a service team leader for Rock Catholic, a faith-based student organization at SRU, said she soon thought of “The Red Door” program as a way to encourage volunteerism among the elderly residents. The ministry program is operated by St. Mary of Mercy Catholic Church in Pittsburgh and supported by Rock Catholic and St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in Slippery Rock.
The program dates back to the Great Depression in the Steel City when food was delivered to homeless people via a red door alongside the St. Mary of Mercy church. The program is open for two hours per day, six days a week and provides homeless people with food, clothing and other donated supplies.
Dillon decided to bring the two programs together by having older adults pack bags that would be handed out at the Red Door.
The students worked with staff at Orchard Manor and Home 2 Me to identify a group of 25 older adults from the two facilities who wanted to participate. Residents packed supplies, including food and personal hygiene products, as well as “identity boards,” which are collages of images selected by the residents that represent who they are, so the homeless recipient can feel a connection to them.
“(The success of this project) has to do with how you facilitate it and talk about it,” Kemeny said. “It can't just be a task; you have to talk about how it's going to help people. We've set it up for them, so they can feel productive.”
Supplies were provided by donations from Rock Catholic, parishioners at St. Peter's and through a $300 minigrant from the SRU Office for Community-Engaged Learning, which funds service-learning courses taught by designated faculty dealing with High Impact Practice (HIPs) for Service-Learning. Identified by the Association of American College and Universities, HIPs benefit students through active learning.
“This project is a great example of the 'win/win/win' that results from acquiring HIP designation for service-learning,” said Jeffrey Rathlef, director of the Office for Community-Engaged Learning at SRU.
The “win” for the community partners in this instance extends not only to residents at Orchard Manor and Home 2 Me, but also for the homeless people in Pittsburgh. For Dillon, the most transformative part of the project was handing out the bags in Pittsburgh.
“You have all these people coming up to you who don't have food and don't have any place to go, and as soon as you give them something they are just the most grateful people that you'll ever meet,” Dillon said. “It's incredible. Everyone needs to experience that. Homeless ministry is very powerful.”
Justin Zackal is a communication specialist with Slippery Rock University.
