A Discussion on the Content and Experience of Leisure Participation for Aging People with Intellectual Disabilities at Tainan Education and Nursing Institution
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Chen, Ming-Shu
Abstract
To ensure the highest possible level of care for the aging individuals it shelters, Tainan Education and Nursing Institution (“TENI” hereafter) recently reviewed of the efficacy of its education/training-based services and consequently began to implement appropriate changes. Starting in 2007, TENI established a series of day-time leisure activities for aging people with intellectual disabilities with the aim of replacing past education/training programs. In this study, the content, and the implementation, of the leisure activities provided for the sheltered individuals are examined. The aim of this study is to discuss this important topic and suggest how similar institutions could enhance their programming by changing, or adapting, the services they provide for aging people with intellectual disabilities. The purposes of this study are thus to: (1) understand the content of the leisure activities provided for aging people with intellectual disabilities in TENI, (2) analyze the implementation of these activities, (3) discuss the experiences of the subjects’ participation in the activities, and (4) provide suggestions for similar institutions for providing leisure activities for aging people with intellectual disabilities.
Adopting an in-depth interview methodology, six service-providers in TENI who lead leisure activities and provide care were interviewed, along with six individuals who are sheltered by TENI. The service-receivers chosen to be interviewed had a higher cognitive ability and were more capable of verbal expression than the average TENI service-receiver. These interviews served to gather information regarding both the service-providers’ observations and the experiences of the service-receivers. The findings are as follows: (1) In terms of the planning and implementation of leisure activities: The arrangement of activities is still based on the past practice of offering artistic courses, and that this process often neglects the service-receivers’ individual interests and needs. Arranging leisure activities based on the work hours has resulted in a lack of planning leisure activities during evenings and holidays. Restrictions due to safety concerns also limit the range of activities provided. Although the important role fitness activities play in the service-receivers’ lives and well-being is understood, TENI’s fitness activities still lack purposive integration and planning. The arrangement of certain leisure activities is still at a rather superficial level of implementation. The efforts of TENI to help the service-receivers become more involved in their community also face structural restrictions such as manpower and safety.(2) In terms of the service-receivers’ participation and their experience of the leisure activities: In their leisure-related willingness and process, the service-receivers have different levels of freedom-to-choose and enjoy the experience of independent decision. The leisure activities are designed to increase the frequency of interpersonal activities and improve their sense of orientation and connection in the service-receivers’ daily routines. Listening to the radio is a leisure activity popular among the service-receivers and also functions as an important “companion.”(3) In terms of the institution’s culture and environment: The safety of TENI’s service-receivers, while engaged in daily routines and leisure activities, is an overriding concern. Safety-related demands may affect the service-providers’ attitude toward their implementation of leisure activities as well as the quality of the service-receivers’ participation in leisure activities. The efforts of the service-providers to create a conducive atmosphere and an engaging spatial arrangement for an activity improve the quality and level of the service-receivers’ participation. TENI is fortunate to have excellent facilities for meeting the leisure and nursing needs of aging individuals. With a well-designed program that utilizes these resources, TENI can establish a leisure/nursing model, based on local characteristics, that provides advantageous physical, mental and emotional stimulation.
A few suggestions were derived from the findings: (1) Design leisure activities of different levels of difficulty based on service-receivers’ individual fitness and needs, and ensure that the requisite staffing is provided to implement the activity. (2) By appropriately adjusting the schedules or staffing, establish a discussion mechanism among activity-leaders in order to instantly review service-receivers’ participation and improve the process and implementation of activities. (3) Establish a standardized recording system for activity and relevant services monitoring and use it as reference for planning services. (4) Incorporate service-receivers’ context of life and local culture in the design of leisure activities. (5) Provide a recognized process by which service-receivers leisure requests are integrated with a dedicated team providers’ professional opinions on how leisure activities should be planned, designed, and implemented in order to improve the quality of service- receivers’ participation.(6) Help service-providers discover the fun, meaning and rewards of their work through team dialogue and professional development seminars, encourage more professionals to get involved, and constantly strive to provide better services through ongoing service-receiver/provider feedback.
Subjects
education and nursing institution
aging people with intellectual disabilities
participation in leisure
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-99-R94330014-1.pdf
Size
23.53 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):aee22636d5288db12e346ace064483aa