The Importance Of Volunteering At Pembina Place Personal Care Home

Older adults have always played an important role in my life, which has led me to have a positive outlook on old age. When I think of old age, I see a wise individual who is eager to spend time with family and friends and enjoys giving back to the community in their free time. This is view is largely shaped by my grandparents, who each at different levels of physical decline, are still very active in the community. In recent years I have had the privilege of working and volunteering at Pembina Place Personal Care Home. This experience has exposed me to individuals who are further declined than my grandparents, and who are involved in little to no outside community activities. Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s were very common within the PCH I was working in. Interestingly, the residents of the care home did not shift my view of old age in a negative way. Instead, their willingness to engage in whatever ways they could, from sharing advice, telling stories, singing songs and eagerness to take part in activities enhanced …show more content…
This fear has developed only in the last few years, as I have witnessed many residents at Pembina Place Personal Care Home experiencing extreme loneliness. Many of the people I got to know saw their family only once a year, or every few years since there was so much geographic distance between them. Other residents who never had children, were the last remaining of their siblings or friends. The greatest loneliness I saw in the PCH was when a resident would lose their husband or wife, someone who they have lived their life with for so many decades. In my experience, no amount of recreational programming was enough to fill the need for relationships that these residents felt. As an individual who finds great joy in visiting with friends and family, I would find life extremely difficult if I would need to go on without