Learning Journal 15

My project will be in studying the elderly, although not necessarily always interacting with them. I will be studying how Alzheimer's/dementia is viewed in Tongan society, and how their culture may affect that view. This will involve interviewing more than just patients with the disease or their family members. I will hopefully see if I can get a broad perspective from the young and middle-aged as well. I hope to, however, visit patients and conduct particpant observation while in their homes. I will definitely see if I can speak with the patients themselves if given the opportunity, however it would not be in a formal interviewing setting, just little observational questions. I also hope to study to some degree how they are taken care of (the patients I mean) by their families. I want to see if their are Tongan remedies and how effective they are.

Right now I participate with First Choice as hospice volunteer here in Provo/Orem. Basically this means I get to sit, talk with, and entertain elderly individuals who are close to passing in order to give their families a break for a couple of hours. Many of the patients with First Choice have alzheimers to some degree, and I have had the opportunity of witnessing first hand the disease. I know for a fact that it is different for an outsider looking in, I don't have a history with them, a past filled with memories that they no longer can remember with me. But I can see the toll it takes on family members and loved ones. I want to see if it is similar in Tonga.

In fact, I have the chance tomorrow morning to volunteer and sit with an elderly lady for a few hours. The experience I am recieving as a hospice volunteer I believe to be invaluable for my ability to speak with elderly indivduals in the field. I still hope to find a volunteering opportunity possible at a clinic in whichever island I end up on, and plan to do whatever I can to set that up prior to leaving. The more my project develops, the more excited I get about going to and researching in Tonga.