Learning Journal 32

I have been reading up a bit about the local hospital on Vava'u island. Price Wellington Ngu Hospital is located in Neiafu Vava'u and is a small hospital consisting of only about two doctors and eight nurses. There are approximately 40 beds that these doctors and nurses see to on a regular basis along with obstretics, gynaecology, pediatrics, general medicine, and surgical units.

I hope to complement my field study in Tonga with the opportunity to volunteer at Prince Wellington Ngu Hospital. As a prospective medical school student, the experience that Tonga will bring me will be invaluable to my future medical career. I have decided that I will be extremely happy to volunteer in whatever capacity they need me. I have been thinking about the best way to go about obtaining this volunteering opportunity, and have looked online to see if I can find a contact email or something but have not succeeded.

I am thinking that after arriving in Tonga I can visit the hospital in person and offer myself as a volunteer if they need or could use me at all. I will also ask if I would be able to shadow them during procedures, this would be following the building of rapport of course. I don't necessarily foresee my being turned down, but if I am, the world moves on.

Learning Journal 31

We discussed the different phases of culture shock in class on Monday, and those included the honeymoon phase, aggression and rejection, isolation and frustration, and finally acceptance and adaptation. Not all people will experience all phases of culture shock in that order or even experience all phases of culture shock at all. I think it is important to recognize what culture shock is, and how you as an individual are most likely to react to it. Then you can do you best to overcome and defeat culture shock, as well as be less of a burden on the group members and people you are living with.

More than likely I feel that I will experience the honeymoon phase, that being when everything is new and special and awesome. Following that I feel that I may experience a phase in which I may feel homesick or lonely or that the things of Tonga are annoying. I will do my absolute best to not allow culture shock to rule my attitude and decisions. One of my favorite quotes is by Victor Frankl, and it's that "the last of human freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given set of circumstances." Culture shock will inevitably be a factor in my field study experience in Tonga, in fact it is to be expected. And though it may affect me, and don't have to allow it to affect the moods of those around me. I can choose whichever attitude I wish, and I choose to be positive. To recognize that I am in a foreign place, that it is for only three months, that it will end, and that I will learn so much from it. I look forward to the experiences that culture brings and what I will learn about myself as a result of those experiences.

Learning Journal 30

It's been a little while, but I'm back. Anyhow, a few weeks ago I found out that the King of Tonga had passed away. I didn't intially realize quite what this meant for me as I will be traveling there next month. I learned that in Tonga, when the King passes, the whole country is to be in mourning for three months. That means that, upon my arrival in Tonga, the country will only have gone through the first month and a half of that mourning period. I will get the opportunity to experience the last month and a half of mourning with them all. I believe this will be a really fascinating cultural experience and I intend to respect it 100%. I also think it will be very interesting to learn how closely people follow the guidelines and rules for the mourning months. Some of these rules or 'encouragements' I guess, are to wear black often. Music and celebrations are also discouraged for those three months as well. I plan on making sure I have some black to wear.

With only one month left and my project being reviewed by the Institutional Review Board, I am working on preparing myself mentally for the new culture of Tonga. I will be living in a new place, with a new culture where I will know relatively no one. Last week in one of our classes we discussed challenges that people face while in the field. Amongst those mentioned were that often times people will wake up and feel lonely, sad, and question what they are doing in this foreign place thousans of miles from home. In order to avoid this type of thinking I will make lists of what I love about Tonga and its people. I will ask many questions and learn all that I can about the people and their traditions. I will be a student of their culture, and soak in everything I can for the three months that I am there. I hope to leave a good rapport behind for future students planning on conducting field studies in Tonga as well.

Learning Journal 25

Earlier this week we had to submit our IRB proposals to be reviewed. It wasn't easy, but I think in the end the final draft was pretty decent. I had had it reviewed mulitple times by different peolpe, and though it's not perfect, it is a lot better than the original draft. One of the main problems I encountered with my proposal was a lack of a good focus. My ideas were far too many, I had listed six or seven 'questions' that could be turned into full blown projects all thier own. I had to be reminded that I will only be in Tonga for three months, and that I can take a look at all the other topics I included but that there would be no possible way to really give them justice. In the end, I have chosen to focus on the Tongan perceptions of aging and the elderly with an emphasis on how they view Alzheimer's disease. When interviewing people I can ask about different things, but the main point is to focus on their perceptions.

Also, because I am donig a general observational study on perceptions of aging and of Alzheimer's disease, that essentially elimates the difficulty of working with a vulnerable population because I will not be working with Alzheimer's patients at all. Slight interactions may occur but I will not be interveiwing or studying them. The topics of aging and Alzheimer's can still get sensitive but not to the same degree. This whole research project is coming to life more than ever before and really beginning to seem real. Now I will just cross my fingers and hope the Institutional Review Board passes my project (even accepting it with changes would be perfectly okay with me).

Learning Journal 24

Whenever I am approached by strangers with whom I know nothing about, I am often very reluctant to give personal or sensitive information about myself. It is only after knowing someone for a while, trusting them, that I feel comfortable with that sort of release of information. With the people of Tonga, this would be no different. I can't expect everyone to be super willing to answer my questions or be comfortable with my presence when I know that in a reversed situation I probably wouldn't be either. This leads then to the building of rapport. When I am in Tonga, the first and foremost task is going to be the buidling of rapport within the communtiy I am in. It will probably take multiple weeks until I will be at a level with people to really begin meaningful interviews and studies.

My topic tends to be much more sensitive to people, and for good reason. This means that it will most likely take much longer for me to be at a place in the community where they feel comfortable enough with me to share information. Patience will be important. I think that it is important to remember that, with only three months there, the project shouldn't be rushed. It's more important to be on good standing within the community than to get a few answers to questions. The people are ulitmately more important.

Learning Journal 23

We have been continuing to work on and improve our IRB proposals in class this past week. I finished a first draft of it last week and am currently working on updating that draft this week. The whole IRB process has been an eye opener to me of what I have and don't have figured out for my project. In terms of conducting the research, different methods, and interviews.

I've been learning about interviews and the different kinds that exist, structured, semi-structured, or super casual conversations. For my project I think that semi-structured interveiws are going to be the best course of action. I can talk to people with general ideas set up, some probing questions, and then let the interview go where it will. I also learned about a new method known as freelisting. This is where I would ask the interviewee to list all things that come to mind when I say a certain word/phrase. For example, Alzheimers. Then, based on what they answer, I would ask why they put certain things in order to delve into what they thinking because most people aren't concerned or usually thinking much about subjects such as Alzheimers on a regular basis.

Another method that could prove pretty useful would be that of focus groups. If I were able to find enough caregivers who were willing to participate in a focus group for me, then I believe that could potentially be an invaluable source of information. I would let the people in the group discuss things, ask the right questions to get them talking myself, then sit back and listen. I believe I could learn a lot from something like that.

Learning Journal 22

There are approximately seven weeks until this semester (including finals) is officially over. Tack on anothe couple weeks beyond that and it will be time to go to Tonga. That's not a lot of time which means I 've gotta really get going on my project proposal, faculty mentor, and all that is involved with my field study. This week is going to be a little crazy in terms of everything needing to be done for my field study proposal. We are working on getting the IRB proposal done, course contracts are due by Friday and sections of the proposal are rapidly being due.

The IRB proposal is something that, because of my project, I need to really spend some quality time detailing and making very clear. I will be working with a vulnerable population, that being the cognitively impaired (Alzheimer's/dementia patients), and therefore need to be very careful and sensitive about how I go about and conduct my research. This is essentially the purpose of the IRB and I definitely want approval.

I'm currently working on my course contracts, due by Friday. There is a maximum of 9 credits allowed to take while in the field, three of which are involved in the IAS course. That leaves another 6 credits for me to fill. I have been hoping to take courses that will fulfill requirements for my gerontology minor, such as intership credit. I hope to take three credits of internship credit, followed by a course offered by my primary faculty mentor. The only issue thus far is that I don't quite yet have a faculty mentor. I will be meeting on Tuesday with one Lorilla Hawkins who is the coordinator for gerontology interships as well as the teacher of the course I would like to take in the field if possible. I am really crossing my fingers that all goes well with her and that I will be able to complete my course contracts by Friday.

I have been working on my proposal, but not nearly putting in the effort that I should be at this point. My plan for this week is to rewrite my Literature Review, because I now feel that I have a better grasp on what I need to put into it and how to go abou that. I am excited to really start making progress on my project and all involved with it. It truly brings this field study to life.