On Thursday afternoons, just before early dinnertime, TCU Nursing students visit residents
in the memory care units of two local senior living facilities. The tools they use
to help the patients aren’t stethoscopes or thermometers, but their words. They’re
practicing one of the most important aspects of working with patients with dementia:
talking to them.
Michelle Kimzey’s Dementia in the Community class has partnered with Dementia Friendly Fort Worth, Brookdale Senior Living and The Ridglea Senior Living to visit patients and speak with them, hear their stories and even play bingo together.
By socializing with patients outside of traditional medical settings, the students have the chance to learn how best to handle the complexities of communicating with patients living with dementia without the added pressure of providing care.
“It’s so fun to come back every week,” sophomore Addison Horn said. “Some of them don’t remember us, but some of them really do, and they get so excited to see us. They’re just really fun to hang out with.”
Junior Mia Goicoechea said she is typically ready to visit with anyone, but this is
challenging her conversation skills in a helpful way.
“When they throw something at you, and you have no idea what to say … we have no experience doing that, so it’s cool doing it in a non-medical setting,” she said.
The semester prior to starting their visits, students take Kimzey’s Families, Caregivers and People Living with Dementia course to learn more about dementia from both medical and broader social perspectives. From existing support structures to the stigma faced within the medical community and without, students gain a deeper understanding of how dementia affects both those living with it and their families.
This provides a baseline for students to take with them on their visits.
“This is what you know, now go and do,” Kimzey said.
The visits are rewarding beyond the valuable experience of learning how to communicate effectively. Students have formed friendships with many residents, including one who slyly sneaks mints to students while they talk, one who loves to reminisce on his days as a pilot in the Army and another who always wears a bedazzled cowboy hat.
“They have these stories that they love to reminisce on,” junior Emma Burgess said.
“So once you can hit on those, you can just keep expanding on that topic.”
Junior Isabella Van Stone agrees.
“It’s unique whenever you go back after each week and you can hit the same topic again,” she said. “They may leave out details that they’ve told before, but then they add in new ones. You’re getting this massive story of their life, which is really cool. It’s like a puzzle.”
When asked what the most important lesson they’ve learned from the experience is, the students agree: patience and advocacy.
“You’ll have patients, regardless of where you choose to work, that aren’t able to express themselves or advocate for themselves,” Van Stone said. “So you have to be that person to step in and advocate for them.”