Calhoun takes over unique opportunity at Village House
When her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Karen Calhoun knew it was time for a career change. After a career as a successful software developer, she went back to school to work on a degree in gerontology
— moving from the West Coast to Springfield, Mo.
Not everyone knows what gerontology is, she said. It’s not a medical degree, like geriatrics. She describes her job as a social worker for older people.
She bought a home in Bella Vista while she was still in school, and then renovated it before she went job hunting. While she knew that Bella Vista has an aging population, she didn’t realize there was a career opportunity just down the street.
Calhoun started at Village House as a volunteer, but when she was preparing to look for a paid job, Village House had an opening. Calhoun is now the life enrichment coordinator for Village House, an adult care facility.
“It’s not about money,” she explained. “Alzheimer’s taught me a valuable lesson. There are things that money can’t buy.”
Her mother died of complications from Alzheimer’s and Calhoun now knows that her mother never had the very best care. She wants to change that for others with the disease.
“We can counteract the negatives of the disease with some positives,” she said. By working with all five senses, she can remind her clients of their former lives and sometimes they’ll tell her about them. She gave coffee beans to a woman who has seldom spoke.
The first words the woman had spoken in weeks was, “I love coffee in the mornings.”
Odors are conversation starters and that allows Calhoun to get to know her clients. She uses that knowledge to plan armchair travel for the group.
Their first trip will be Arkansas via a You Tube video. You can find video of any destination you need on You Tube, she said. After Arkansas, she plans a trip to the farm since many of her clients spent their lives farming.
It’s impossible to keep Alzheimer’s from progressing, Calhoun concedes, but keeping patients engaged may slow it down a little, she said.
It also makes her clients happier.
She introduced some of her clients to computers via an inexpensive tablet.
“They can all take selfies,” she said. When she has
them compose a photograph, they often surprise her with an unexpected perspective.
Village House could only afford a few tablets, so Calhoun is hoping the community will donate a few more. There are programs written for cognitive disorders with exercises like matching a picture with a word.
She knows the Village House clients will enjoy those.
When she tells her clients they’re using a computer, it helps their self-esteem, she explained. One woman couldn’t wait to tell her daughter that she had
mastered the use of a computer.
Inter-generational activities may also be coming to Village House. Young children often get along well with Alzheimer’s patients. They don’t have any expectations.
“The men still like to lead and the women still like to nurture and help,” Calhoun said. An activity that lets the clients help children makes everyone feel better.
“I understand what people are feeling when they leave their loved ones here,” Calhoun said. She wants the families of her clients to know they are happy and well cared for at
Village House.
People think it’s depressing to work in adult care, Calhoun said, but it’s not.
“Every day we are smiling,” she said. “They can all smile or give you a look. They communicate.”