The final project of a fourth-year Brock University Recreation and Leisure Studies student lifted the spirits of residents from two Niagara healthcare facilities.

Jessica Penman spent the term splitting her time between the University, Tabor Manor in St. Catharines and the Outpatient Mental Health Unit in Welland. The time spent off-campus inspired her to coordinate a holiday card and ornament exchange between the two learning facilities.

“For many, the holidays are a time for kindness and generosity, but for those living in long-term care facilities or struggling with mental health issues, who are often the recipients of care, opportunities to do something nice for someone else can be limiting,” Penman said.

Interested in therapeutic recreation, Penman’s goal for this term was to take a lifespan approach to her studies and gain insight into the mental health needs of different populations in the Niagara community. This led her to enroll in a Brock University Leisure and Aging course held at Tabor Manor once a week.

The course is designed to teach students about aspects of leisure in the aging population in long-term care homes, as well as provide students with the opportunity to interact with residents for one hour a week to get first-hand insight into how they spend their leisure time.

“Each week we visited the same 32 residents on a specific floor at Tabor and would interact with whoever was up for a visit. This gave me the opportunity to get to know them and get a feel for what their ability levels are,” said Penman.

As part of her course work, Penman is also half way through 100 hours of a clinical placement at the Outpatient Mental Health Unit in Welland for the course Advanced Methods in Therapeutic Recreation.

As part of her final Leisure and Aging class assignment, Penman wanted to do something that both the residents of Tabor Manor and participants of the Outpatient Mental Health Unit could do to showcase their talents, strengths and abilities.

“Both of these populations are at risk of becoming isolated, withdrawn and unengaged from meaningful life activities. I came up with the idea of coordinating this exchange to help remind them they have the ability to make a positive difference in someone else’s life,” said Penman.

After garnering support from the administrators of both organizations and the other students in her group, it was decided there needed to be two different art-based activities that both populations could participate in without leaving their facilities.

The participants in the mental health unit made cards and the residents at Tabor manor made ornaments.

“While both groups knew they were making a gift for someone else, neither knew they would receive something in return,” said Penman.

This time of year can be difficult for both individuals struggling with illness and the elderly, said Niagara Health Recreation Therapist Lise Buliung.

“It seemed like a natural fit to have them support each other through our art programs and Jessica’s idea was a huge success. Our clients loved making and addressing their homemade cards with personal messages of hope and encouragement,” Buliung said.

“Creating gifts for the Welland Hospital Mental Health Outpatient program gave meaning and purpose to all participants. Receiving the cards in return was a very special surprise,” said Tabor Manor Chief Executive Officer Tim Siemens.

“My hope for this exchange was to provide an opportunity for the residents and participants to feel like they are fully capable of creating something meaningful and making someone else feel special through their generosity,” said Penman. “It was wonderful to see both groups so engaged and excited. Getting to see their faces when they learned someone had taken the time to make something for them in return was very rewarding.”

The popularity of this initiative has motivated participants in Welland to make an additional 30 inspirational cards to be gifted to individuals who may be admitted to hospital over the holidays due to symptoms of mental illness.

Penman will begin an internship in the spring at a Niagara Health site in St. Catharines.