Philip Y. Kao PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

and no book could offer her any substitute. As the weeks passed, I came to sit with her
and wheeled her around the campus for short jaunts. The recreation department
assigned and scheduled volunteers to particular residents based on an initial
assessment of personality fit, interests and gender.
As a volunteer, I worked with two middle-aged women volunteers, and two high-school
students who spent a few hours on Sunday afternoons visiting residents and playing
bingo. I wanted to get acquainted with the CCRC fairly quickly and spent about six hours
everyday during the initial phase of my fieldwork research at Tacoma Pastures. The
recreation team consisted of four fulltime staff members, including a recreation
department director in charge of work schedules and other administrative tasks. During
the time I was at Tacoma Pastures no one in the recreation department held any
professional certifications. Three of the four staff members were college educated; one
of the more charismatic members of the recreation team did not possess a college
degree. 16
Not only did I spend time visiting the health and rehabilitation centre residents in their
rooms and talking with them on such topics as the weather, how they were feeling that
day, their views on the food at Tacoma Pastures, and various TV programmes, I also
accompanied residents outside for short walks. For residents in wheelchairs who
wanted to smoke, I brought them outside to the designated smoking section, and helped
them put on their mandatory fireproof white bibs. Some of my other chores included
helping the recreation team set up various events and parties. At first, I was in charge of
setting up the CD and video player for music and movie hours. Later on, I was allowed to
run small events and activities on my own, freeing up some time for the recreation staff
to get to some of their neglected paperwork. Before long, I assumed the position of
calling bingo twice a week. Other tasks which I did as a volunteer included going from
room to room to get people interested in attending the various events, and transferring
people to and from these events. Because volunteers are not allowed to physically
16 Just one month after I left the field, I found out that Mariam, a recreation staff
member, was let go after five years of service, because they were hiring a new staff
manager to head up the revamped Recreational Therapy section. This new hire was a
Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS). She led the rest of the team, and
everyone soon acquired similar certifications. Today, Tacoma Pastures boasts of having
three fulltime CTRS recreational therapists.
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