What did you do when you volunteered in a geriatrics center?

[deleted947805]

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[seanm028]

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[ctvlf6]

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Do you mean a nursing home/assisted living facility or a senior center?

I did all of my non-clinical volunteering with a local senior center and it was a blast. I would help serve/clean-up lunch, lead bingo and other games, chat with the seniors, and just help out with whatever. I eventually started my own ballroom dancing class there for 65+ and it was really fun. Once you’re familiar with the staff starting your own class/project is really fun at senior centers. Crafting, knitting, book clubs, discussion groups, puzzle groups, etc! It’s a great way to show some initiative/leadership in your EC’s with little to no startup costs/effort.

Volunteering at an assisted living home can be similar to volunteering at a senior center if you’re on more of the activity/leisure/food side of things.

Volunteering at a nursing home will probably be more like answering call lights (depending on policy), taking food orders, walking with/talking to residents, helping out with random tasks, etc. kind of like hospital volunteering.

 

[deleted947805]

Do you mean a nursing home/assisted living facility or a senior center?

I did all of my non-clinical volunteering with a local senior center and it was a blast. I would help serve/clean-up lunch, lead bingo and other games, chat with the seniors, and just help out with whatever. I eventually started my own ballroom dancing class there for 65+ and it was really fun. Once you’re familiar with the staff starting your own class/project is really fun at senior centers. Crafting, knitting, book clubs, discussion groups, puzzle groups, etc! It’s a great way to show some initiative/leadership in your EC’s with little to no startup costs/effort.

Volunteering at an assisted living home can be similar to volunteering at a senior center if you’re on more of the activity/leisure/food side of things.

Volunteering at a nursing home will probably be more like answering call lights (depending on policy), taking food orders, walking with/talking to residents, helping out with random tasks, etc. kind of like hospital volunteering.

Is volunteering in a nursing home full of nurses a clinical or nonclinical volunteering? I want to know what you put on your application and how ADCOMS viewed it.

 

[ctvlf6]

Is volunteering in a nursing home full of nurses a clinical or nonclinical volunteering? I want to know what you put on your application and how ADCOMS viewed it.

That would be clinical.

To oversimplify it:
If you can smell the patient, it’s clinical.

 

[deleted967981]

Anything from sitting by a bedside reading or talking to a patient to running bingo for more independent residents. Geriatrics is fun and the residents are usually delighted to see new faces.

 

[LizzyM]

The big question with geriatrics is "who is a patient"? If you are at a "senior center" the people are seniors and they might be members of the center or have some other title but it is not "patient". Nursing homes that provide custodial services for people who are unable to live independently due to disabilities are not necessarily patients if what they are receiving is room and board and recreational services. They might be receiving nursing services such as medications and help with colostomy bag etc for a few minutes per day but for the most part, they would be considered "residents" not patients.
If they are receiving intensive therapy (speech, occupational and physical therapy, for example) and 14 medications on a complex schedule and you are somehow involved in some of those services then you might say that you are working with "patients".

I generally suggest that you call it non-clinical and let the adcom bump it up in their minds if they are so inclined rather than call it clinical and have a adcom member who thinks that you are stretching something to be clinical when it is not. Nonetheless, working with the elderly is highly valued by many adcoms and rather refreshingly different given the number of applicants we see who work with kids.

 

[deleted947805]

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Seriously?

 

[seanm028]

Seriously?

Your post was very vague; I was hoping for some more details. I've never heard the term "geriatrics center", so unless it's some sort of regional phrase, the title is confusing. And by "What did you do", are you referring to day-to-day responsibilities? How it was described on the AMCAS? Something else? I clicked on your post hoping there would be some context or some elaboration, but all I found was "."

In general, I would highly suggest expounding a little bit of you're hoping to get useful respondes.

 

[LizzyM]

I volunteer at senior healthcare center as a part of my hospice volunteering. I visit the patients to see how they are doing, if they want anyone to talk to, or to help them move from one area to the next. I also report to the nurses or other healthcare professionals if there is something out of the ordinary happening with regards to the patient's health. I also write reports that detail my observations which may be helpful for the staff with regards to things such as function. The patients here sometimes feel stuck and alone. Sometimes there is a hall that has a foul stench, or a hall that has an elderly woman who refuses to tie her gown together. A lot of them have terminal conditions and are bedridden. So I believe this would be clinical experience working with seniors.

I would just call the volunteer coordinator to see what specific tasks you will be doing since it can probably vary.

Those seniors happen to be hospice patients, no? So they are patients. It is different from people who are just living communally in retirement with meals and housekeeping provided.