Practicum Reflective Essay

For practicum II this semester, I accepted a placement at the Pulaski County Alzheimer’s Respite Center in Somerset, Kentucky. My position included assisting Alzheimer’s patients in group activities, and in functions of daily living. This was a small facility with only six employees total and less than twenty clients attending daily. This agency used a social model of care only so medication were not dispensed on site, and the clients were mostly mobile requiring only a one-person assist. Lunch and an afternoon snack were both provided alone with group activities for the clients throughout the day. This was a new field for me offering many new experiences. Due to having classes every day this semester, I was only able to spend two afternoons
Ms. Karen, the assistant director, started me off with orientation and training and then continued to meet with me through my time with the facility. She took several hours to go over the management functions of the facility with me and walked me through a new client application process. Ms. Karen also sat down with me to go over my case study offering to pull the particular clients charts in order to give me more detailed information. It was an honor to be able to work with this group. Their individual passion and dedication shows through in their
This training was conducted by the National Alzheimer’s Association, and it was also open to the public. There were several caregivers that attended this training. As I listened to their daily struggles in caring for their loved ones, I began to truly appreciate what the respite center is offering to clients and to their families. This disease is tough not only on the client, but also on all those that love and care for them. I count it a blessing to be allowed to work alongside these staff members who are working toward a great cause for the last few