Hello everyone.  In case you did not notice, my name is Christie Hedman.  I am a junior at Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia.  I am a Pre Occupational Therapy major and hope to attend VCU next year.  *Wish me luck! =)*  I am involved in a few different organizations on campus.

The reason that I took the Psychology of Aging class is because I would ideally like to work with the elderly.  At the moment, I intern with a couple Occupational Therapists in Richmond and they happen to work in the nursing home section of Veteran's Hospital.  Let me tell you, those veteran's are the typical dirty, ole' men!  You should hear some of the jokes that they tell me!!!  They are so feisty!!  This experience at the nursing home is what made me decide that I wanted to work with the elderly.  I have learned a lot from the patients and have thoroughly enjoyed my time there!

One of the things that I have learned during my volunteer work at the Nursing Home is about the importance of pets to the patients.  There is a resident dog, Foxy, there and everyone lights up when they see her, even the nursing staff.

Have you ever considered the importance of pets to the elderly??
Did you know that pets help patients become more receptive to treatment and become more relaxed?
If not check out these web pages....
The Healing Power of Pets
http://www.seniors-site.com/pets/needpets.html
This page talks about how animals help combat loneliness in the elderly.  After a spouse dies, a pet may be all that person has.  Also, many elderly will choose to live with their pet than move to a more convenient location.

Pets are Magic
 http://www.keats.com/spr96puotinen.html
This is a great site!  it talks about how many nursing homes and other facilities are finally allowing animals to come in a visit with the patients and residents.  this enriches their lives and makes them feel better about themselves.  Alzheimer's patients will even reminiscence about when they had pets.  Also, the key factor that determines the likelihood of a coronary patient surviving is whether or not that have a pet.  Not only does pet visitation help the patients, it has also been shown that nursing homes with pets have a lower staff turnover than places without pets.

Assessment of the Effectiveness of a Pet Facilitated Therapy Program in a Nursing Home
http://arrs.envirolink.org/pyseta/sa/sa1.1/perelle.html
This is a study done in a Nursing Home in New York. There are TONS of statistics but what it boils down to is that pet therapy in nursing homes and similar institutions are very beneficial!   They had about 50 patients (although 18 left the facility) in the study and all of them had a positive reaction to the pet visitation.  The men had a more drastic improvement than did the women and the possible reason given is that the men were more withdrawn from the staff while the women were already very interactive with the staff.  After the study was concluded, the patients involved still showed improvement a month later.  This just goes to show you the power that pets have on our lives.

Ever heard of an Elderhostel?  Basically, it is a nonprofit organization that has school sessions for seniors (over 55) that last about a week.  They have all sorts of classes offered in a variety of topics.
To learn more about what an Elderhostel is, check out
Elderhostel: Adventures in Life Long Learning
http://www.elderhostel.org/

I live in Richmond and here is some information about the Elderhostels offered in that area.
The one offered at VCU is $425 for the week and this fee includes room and board.  some of the classes offered are Civil War History, Architecture, Art, Ecology, and Dancing.
To learn more.....
Elderhostel at Virginia Commonwealth University
http://views.vcu.edu/vcoa/elderhos.htm

If you or a loved one are more interested in the Wild Wild West and would like to stay on The Black Cat Ranch, here's the site for you!  Some of the courses here are Cowboy Poetry, Western Line Dancing and Hiking.
Elderhostel at Black Cat Guest Ranch
http://www.agt.net/public/bcranch/elderhst.htm
 

 Ever feel as though time is slipping away??? 
The elderly feel the same way sometimes. Would you like to get some good ideas about what you can do??
Check out this link and get some good ideas from other people!
Old Age
http://www.globalideasbank.org/old.html
This site has tons of great links!!  It has everything from having robots take care of your grandparents to providing massages for the elderly and having pictures of the elderly (while in their prime) by their bed.  You even get to rate the idea.

Here is a site that has tone of great information on any topic that you would like when it comes to the Elderly.
Senior Cyborg
http://online96.com/seniors/
 At this site, there is tons of links and information on aging, health and medicine, pets and the elderly, genealogy resources, elderly facilities, law listing, death and dying, and even classifieds!

Do you know what that Teke Warrior means?? It means that we are about to enter into some dangerous and scary areas!
We are about to learn about sexuality in old age!  Did you even contemplate that your grandparents even did anything???  Would you dare to ask??
In case you are not bold enough to ask or have your doubts, check out these web sites.
Here is a good site with lots of good information!
Web Guide: Intimacy
http://www.thirdage.com/intmcy/
It contains sites where you can ask professional therapists, i.e. Dr. Ruth. Get rid of those evil myths you may have had about seniors' sex life!  This site discusses the myths and the reality.  It includes survey results, academic information, and how to improve one's sex life!  The first page is just links, but the links themselves are wonderful.

One of the links is Sex and Aging
http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/soc/courses/soc3k3e/stuweb/scott/scottm4.htm
This specific link deals with the myths and the facts.

Another link from the previous web page is Sex and Senior Citizens
http://seniors-site.com/sex/index.html
This has all kinds of sites related to Seniors and their sexuality.  It talks about impotence, sexual transmitted diseases and contraceptives, it have statistics on sex and the elderly, and it even has some rather graphic stories.  But overall, this is a good site for people that have serious concerns about impotence or enjoying sex while in your golden years.
 

I would like to bring this amusing web page to a close with a little song and dance, so please click below.
Hampster Dance
http://www.hampsterdance.com/

I hope you enjoyed my first web page.  Thanks for your attention!