AHS professor and students train home care aides in body mechanics
OT clinical associate professor Jenica Lee, together with more than 30 occupational therapy and physical therapy students, taught home health care aides body mechanics and safe transferring practices in partnership with the Chinese American Service League.
Over the course of four evenings in October, approximately 450 home care aides fulfilled Illinois Department of Aging training requirements by watching safety demonstrations and participating in practice stations supervised by Lee and the student volunteers.
In addition to facilitating the hands-on training, students also received valuable experience working with diverse populations.
“Most of the caregivers at this event did not speak English,” Lee said, “so it gave students the opportunity to practice using alternative communication strategies, providing feedback and collaborating with translators, which are valuable skills in real-world settings.”
Body mechanics and transfer trainings were held yearly at the Chinese American Service League until the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. This year’s workshop was the first time Lee has been back to lead in-person training since before the pandemic.
“It was great to see how engaged the caregivers were in relearning these essential skills,” Lee said.
The material was also updated with a new focus: addressing unique challenges faced by caregivers of adults with dementia.
"We placed a strong emphasis on communication strategies tailored for dementia care,” Lee said. “For instance, we encouraged caregivers to use simpler instructions and integrate more non-verbal communication, such as gestures, to improve clarity.”
Participating students in occupational therapy were Elnaz Alimi, Kelly Dunphy, Aileen Velasquez, Kathryn Smith, Bren Guerrero, Natalie McCormack, Elizabeth Hume, Joe Talbot, Janaki Patel, Kyle McPherron, Jeremy Manlapaz, Monica Moy, Sara Gonzales, Samra Habeeb, Shahzeen Qureshi, Hannah Wang, Keya Patel, Feba Elayadom, Lejla Jakupovic, Rachel Montoya, Jazmin Villanueva, Casey Cushing and Peyton Hockett.
Participating students in physical therapy were Mattie Greenblatt, Charlie Lobdell, Roberto Avalos-Mora, Swaranka Deshmukh, Rudri Purohit, Kristy Wcisel, Daniel Rogowski, Ashley Bravo, Chris Travlos and Jessie Li.