Kind words from residents

Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News:

Kind words from residents

At a conference last week, I remarked to my audience of recreation therapists, “None of us went into this field for the money — we did it for the juice.” And by “the juice,” I mean the good feeling we get from helping seniors and the nice things they say to us in return.

This is why your employees stay, despite everything else.

To get us in the spirit of gratitude for Thanksgiving, I’ve included a sample of comments made by residents to their psychologists. (I solicited material from my colleagues in my favorite shrinky organization, Psychologists in Long-Term Care. I actually heard some of them at work myself, but I’m not gonna tell you which ones.)

• “Without you, I’m like a ship without a rudder.”

• “Girl, I am so happy to see you. I love your smiling face. You help me so much when you come. I don’t feel so crazy.”

• “Thank you for listening to me & not giving up on me.” (Written on a “Wow!” card.)

• “I know you understand. I’m not crazy, but sometimes I feel like I am. My family doesn’t get it and the girls here don’t have time to talk to me.” (LTC Alzheimer’s resident with pain issues.)

• “You help me to look at my life here in a way that my family, friends, and nursing staff can’t.”

• “You don’t know how much it helps to have someone come in and listen and talk to me! I’ve just felt lost. I know I forget things, but since you’ve been coming, it seems like I’m less befuddled!” (LTC resident with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.)

For the entire article, visit:

Kind words from residents