Proposal

__Project__ Description of your intended project: For my project I will be volunteering at the Abington Memorial Hospital, in the Physical Therapy Department. More specifically I will be on one of the main Physical Therapy gyms. The manager of the Volunteer resources center is who I have been in contact with for the most part as of yet. But as soon as I send in my credentials and get everything sorted out in the hospital, I will be working one day a week for 3 hours; my mentor is LeTerah S. Brown, P.T. However, as the location of my volunteer is very accredited hospital (emphasis on //hospital//) I cannot and __will not__ provide anything that gives away patient information. No names, no files, nothing. I am allowed to refer to patients that I have had experiences with, so long as any specific information does not get passed along.

Project Outcome or Goal: What I intend to get out of all this is an experience for my desired career in life, also an educational purpose imposed on myself. I want to make sure that this is what I want to do with my life. I don’t want to just start something simply because I am interested in it. Interest is key, but it is not everything. By taking the time to actually learn about the practice and what goes into a day-to-day life as a Physical Therapists really influences my long-term decision. I really feel that by doing this on community-based purposes that as well as gaining an education for myself, I am learning to help others get better or to heal as best as one can. By being new to it all I can only expect to be faced with difficult obstacles, but I like the idea that I will be faced with them now and be predisposed to any mild circumstances that may seem scary to me in the future.

Project Completion Strategies: How will I go about completing my project? Well, I expect to be going in every once a week, on my scheduled time and date, for as long as they need me. I’ll only be going in for 2 ½ hours, but there is plenty of time within that slot for experience to be gained. This project focuses on just one semester. Yet with my volunteering, I am expected to serve for a year. So when this project ends, I will still continue with my volunteering.

Project Resources and Materials: I will need time and patience and a mentor. Time I have by assignment. Patience is something I will have to work on, but if it’s for other people I’m sure I will be able to handle it. As for a mentor, that has yet to be decided upon my commencing the volunteer duties assigned to me – after I get all my paperwork back in. For this project I will also need some type of journal or notebook and a writing utensil. These objects will be useful to me for when I need to record my hours for personal purposes; or if I want to scribble down any notes or things I learned that day. But also to just keep track of everything I do during my duties. I’ll also need a uniform. The hospital provides that, and identification that makes me stand out from the rest of the workers in the hospital – no matter their stature there. In addition to that, I will need my camera to take pictures of what I can (remember everything is considered private matters and I will not be able to photograph patients and such) and perhaps record some personal clips – vlogs.

__Research__ Description of the topic of your research and why you chose it: My research project will center around the **moods** of the patients while they receive their medical treatment. You know the saying "Having a positive attitude will help you succeed!" Well, it's not always true. Especially for patients who are enduring hospital treatment. It takes patience, but patience runs low. Especially on people who've spent a lot of time doing the same thing over and over. This act of repetition can wear a person thin. My research will cover the broad spectrum of moods, from the benevolent, kind patients, to ones who are ready to give it all up. But my pinpoint subject is the topic of fear. Fear lives in patients who are afraid to take that first step, or to even get up off their chair. Why? Because they do not want to fall again. This fear of falling can be heavily weighed upon their impact on treatment. If they don’t ever get up off their chair, how can a physical therapist assess their improvements? Or even help them to improve? There are a lot of psychological factors that tie into physical therapy. Fear happens to be a big one. I chose this topic because it is something I think it's very important to understand, even if it is such an obvious thing. But sometimes interpreting moods isn't that obvious! And sometimes drawing attention to it is not the best solution. (This is under construction) - Assess the way Physical Therapists deal with patients.

Essential Question: How do emotions impact patient success in physical therapy?

Prior Experience: Yes, I volunteered at the physical department at one of the gyms in the Abington Memorial Hospital over the summer (July-August). But this volunteer program that I’ve gotten into is much more rigorous and official.

Research Benefits: It'll help me, and possibly future volunteers, to better understand the effects of the moods and how to go about facilitating it.

Potential Sources: They are posted in my Annotated Bibliography section.