Grand Canyon University junior Raphaela Bravo never thought she would find herself sitting between two senior citizen women, her hands submerged in a tub of ice water, talking about men and tattoos.
The women, residents of Glencroft Center for Modern Aging in Glendale, mimicked the low pain threshold of the men who take part in the cold-hot treatments the center uses for neuropathy. “Ow, ow, ow!” they cried out with laughter.
Resident Barbara Lothrop points to her butterfly tattoo and the one of the baby and mama elephant that symbolizes her relationship with her son. The chit-chat is bonding through the pain of freezing your hands, but for Bravo and fellow GCU students, it opens up a new understanding of older generations that will help them in their professions.
It’s part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Changing Lives Outreach, which this year expanded beyond GCU student volunteers in behavioral health fields helping in area schools to working with senior citizens.
Bravo’s focus in her social work major always zeroed in on helping children. The Brazil native said she was “mostly running from my problems” six years ago when she moved to the U.S. to be an au pair in New York and Washington states.
“When I think about everything I went through as a kid, if I had someone to support me through that stage of my life, or even just to talk with me, I think it would be better the way I process things as I got older. So I think it’s an important job, and I want to have that impact on someone’s life,” she said.
“But I never thought of working with older people. I just wanted to try something different. When I got there, I realized they need a lot of help. They just need someone to talk to.”
In group sessions, she heard of the death of spouses, dealing with dementia or fellow residence friends going to the hospital. They talked of the past and a waning sense of purpose.
“Everyone needs help at some point in life,” Bravo said.
Heather Emert, program manager of social work and Changing Lives Outreach coordinator, said some of the 66 volunteers in the program serve at five outlets for the elderly, which also includes Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul and other care facilities.
“I think they are getting a new perspective of people, hearing the stories of people of different backgrounds and ages,” Emert said.
The impression of a sad and gray time of life is also countered at places such as Glencroft. The continuous care community of some 900 residents, ranging from independent and assisted living to skilled nursing and memory care, sits on 40 acres and includes facilities to advance its mind-body-spirit approach to aging.
“Our DNA and GCU’s is so similar,” said Steve Heller, a 1998 GCU graduate who touts the incorporation of faith and wellness he helped bring to Glencroft six years ago as vice president and director of operations.
Students from other universities who intern or volunteer there have a different academic lens, he said, “and GCU students say, ‘I want to love on those people’s hearts.’ And I love that.”
GCU nursing students also have worked at the facility, but this new avenue of behavioral health has opened a whole new avenue.
“They are on fire with our residents. They can sit down and unpack their lives,” he said.
He enjoys watching students go from thinking, “I didn’t know seniors had a heartbeat,” to learning from them, and residents like helping them to be better students.
“We’ve got a lot of life to unpack,” said Lothrop, her hands in ice, surrounded by Bravo and psychology major Penelope Kieborz.
“I learn so much about random things from them, even if it’s not about psychology. I learn about Phoenix and how it was before, and how much hotter it is today,” Kieborz said. “I think it helps to practice just talking to people. The little stuff then turns into big stuff, and it’s good to learn how to make the transition.”
Lothrop said the students are eager to learn, but more so “inquisitive and interested.”
Another resident pipes up: “We tell them what we think. We’re pretty blunt,” Marlene Christian said.
So much so that the first days at the facility a couple of months ago, a student was in tears. Some seniors can not only be blunt but occasionally angry because they are in pain, Heller said. Already, students have learned to not be offended and roll with the punches.
The students are also introduced to ZoeLife, Glencroft’s blend of holistic wellness and community engagement. Numerous activities, such as that morning’s turkey toss, are one part of it, as is a full exercise facility for physical health, group sessions for emotional health, meditation and yoga, and grant-funded research on alternative treatments.
One room includes what Heller says is one of the Valley’s largest panels of red infrared and LED lights that residents stand before, part of their study on its effects on depression, sleep, gut health and other outcomes. Glencroft also is studying the affects of a machine that delivers an electrical impulse to stimulate the nervous system, mitochondria and cell repair.
The facility is expected to be a site next year for one of Amazon founder Jeff Bezo’s preschools, Bezos Academy.
“What we are working on is that intergenerational vibe,” Heller said.
Junior Paige Onder has found it eye-opening.
Her first impression of a senior living facility is that it would be like the nursing facility her grandmother moved into and died at within six months.
“This is backward. They go there to get better,” she said. “It stuck out to me. They have a focus on keeping them active, moving and social, even down to what they feed them.”
She says seniors are the most forgotten segment of the population but one that is growing. “For me, it’s getting ahead of that. I’m a psychologist, how am I going to help them?”
For Bravo, the answers are becoming clearer, even as she took the goading of seniors to join them in sticking her hands in ice water.
“I’ll do it,” she said.
Sitting there with frozen hands, she went beyond emotional support to learn what they were feeling.
“It’s really changed my perspective,” she said of her Glencroft volunteer work. “Now I’m leaning toward working with older communities.”
Grand Canyon University senior writer Mike Kilen can be reached at [email protected]
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