Skidmore Scope Magazine Annual Edition for 2017

10 SCOPE ANNUAL 2017 Y E A R I N R E V I E W 2 0 1 7 HELP AT THE END Eighty percent of Americans receive end-of-life care from volunteers as well as health professionals. A summer fellowship offered jointly by Skidmore and Union colleges helps students build care-giving skills to support people as they die. Developed by Carol Weisse, Union College’s director of health professions, and Crystal Moore, a Skidmore social-work professor and associate dean of the faculty, the eight-week, full-time Community Action, Research, and Education program includes reading and study, but the centerpiece is hands-on service. Students are placed in end- of-life agencies to provide care from feeding and toileting to bathing and dressing. This summer, CARE “provided a chance for me to develop characteristics such as attentiveness and patience,” says Jason Bourdier ’18. “It is very difficult to accept the loss of strength that comes with illness and old age, especially in the presence of family and friends. One resident was distraught when I brought her juice in a ‘sippy cup.’” In another case, when a family member saw food left over and said, “You’re not feeding my mother,” two nutrition majors researched eating at the end of life and created a pamphlet for future use. Moore says the program draws in “students interested in social welfare, nursing, psychology . . . and they become passionate and motivated. It’s about being present in the face of suffering and about compassion, problem-solving, and ethics.” Elisa Smith ’18 reports, “This program inspired me to want to care for people. I think I touched residents in ways that heightened their ability to see beauty even while dy- ing.” When an artist with brain cancer sketched her, “it felt special to contribute to his creativity and to empower his sense of dignity.” In holding the hand of sleeping patient, she says, “I tried to make him feel respected and valued.” —Helen Edelman ’74 Top: Elisa Smith ’18 makes a bed at the Joan Nicole Prince Home. Bottom: Crystal Moore (center) meets with Union students Kristen St. Andrews and Sydney Keane in the Mary’s Haven kitchen. Erin Covey S E R V I C E