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

eading the files, I returned the files to Macy’s desk, but not before seeing two small
plaques she had framed on top of her computer. The first plaque read, ‘Immature Love: I
love you cause I need you/Mature Love: I need you cause I love you.’ The other one
read: ‘People put up walls not to keep people out but to see who cares enough to break
‘em down.’
In another episode, Macy said to Harry, an African-American resident in the health and
rehabilitation centre who suffered a speech impediment from a recent stroke, “We want
you to be more active so that you feel better. What groups would you like to be in or
things you wanna do?” Macy was sitting next to someone who looked to be like an
auditor for the state or a contract worker. This woman said to Harry, “I will work with
you two days a week. Is this okay?” Harry acknowledged what she was saying, and only
nodded gently and somewhat reluctantly with his eyes. This other woman, who was
dressed in a business suit, was actually conducting some kind of medical state survey.
She was busy typing on a laptop, while she was talking to Harry. She looked up from her
typing and said to Harry, “We want to see you get initiated in things. To be active.” Macy
left the room, and I remained there sitting at the table with another resident while the
survey woman pulled back from her laptop and stood rather abruptly. As she got up and
left, she looked back again, and walked towards Harry wheeling him out of the sun. She
said, “Oops, I didn’t even realise you were in the sun.”
In addition to my time in the health and rehabilitation centre, I also spent a little time
volunteering on the third floor, where many of the residents with dementia and
Alzheimer’s lived. About two months into my fieldwork, Nathan took me up to the third
floor, also known in Tacoma Pastures as Memory Care, to visit some of the residents. We
headed down one corridor, but we could not locate any of the caregivers. All of the
residents were in their rooms, but Nathan thought we needed to find Jared first, the
other recreation staff member who worked exclusively with Memory Care residents. We
headed down another corridor and peered through the security locked double doors.
Jared was already in there, and I joined him. Jared introduced me to some of the
residents who were sitting in the common living area. The television was on, but no one
was watching. I talked to four women and remembered thinking that they were very
friendly, and quite sharp. I did not know what to expect, because this was my first time
encountering anyone diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The residents kept asking me where I
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