Student Designs Virtual Yoga Program: Zen Adaptations
This month’s student spotlight is doctoral student Laura-Ashley Jackson.
My name is Laura-Ashley Jackson, I am a third-year occupational therapy student at UT Health San Antonio. For my Doctoral Capstone Project, I partnered with Ashley Weirich at Arden Courts Promedica Memory Care of San Antonio, Texas to implement Zen Adaptations: A virtual adaptive yoga and meditation program that is curated for caregivers and persons living with dementia. Partners for this project include Caitlyn Garrison (200/500 Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher – ERYT) of Black Swan Yoga and Sara Masoud, MPH of Caring for the Caregiver. The purpose of this program is to provide and demonstrate the necessity for more holistic approaches toward caregiver programs with the vision of enhancing the quality of life and mind-body-spirit wellness in the San Antonio community and around the world.
I chose to develop a yoga and meditation program for my Doctoral Capstone Project to spotlight the significant role of spirituality among patients and families, which is an important piece of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain & Process. Spirituality is foundational to the provision of occupational therapy (OT) services, however, it is often neglected or not fully understood how to integrate into practice. I believe that yoga and meditation is a fun and relaxing way to promote both spirituality and overall functional wellness, especially among persons living with dementia and their caregivers.
As a future occupational therapist, I am inspired to provide holistic and client-centered care by encouraging mindfulness-based practices as part of the OT therapeutic process. This allows me the opportunity to help clients and their families find union between the mind-body-spirit connection along their journey toward more independence in activities of daily living and occupational performance. I believe that OT can support persons living with dementia to maintain their independence longer and can uphold what is still possible for individuals to accomplish even when experiencing the progressive cognitive impacts of the condition. Caregivers can also benefit from the OT therapeutic process by decreasing their stress, enhancing their independence, and supporting the independence of their care recipients.
Program Highlights:
- The Zen Adaptations program was offered as a resource to residents of Arden Courts Memory Care Center, Lakeside Nursing and Rehab Center, as well as caregivers and persons living with dementia in the community
- The program used a hybrid model where residents were engaged onsite alongside caregivers and individuals living with dementia logged in via Zoom
- This program was a student-led initiative that created and strengthened community-academic partnerships between UT Health San Antonio, Arden Courts Memory Care Center, and a certified yoga instructor
- The yoga instructor was trained in dementia friendly practices and has extensive experience working with survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury which informed her patient-centered approach in co-developing this program
- Among the first cohort of participants in March 2022, at least 3 caregivers were “regulars” that joined all or most of the four sessions.
- Caregivers and persons living with dementia joined from all over the world including Mexico City and the United Kingdom (UK).
- Zen Adaptations received positive feedback from caregivers and activity directors from other memory care facilities
- As the coordinator of this program, I enjoyed engaging with and modeling the yoga poses in-person for the residents at Arden Courts Memory Care Center
I’d like to add:
I am very grateful for the lovely relationships I have gained and the community partners that worked with me to make the development of Zen Adaptations possible. I hope to become a certified yoga instructor in the future and continue this program in my professional career as a licensed occupational therapist.
For fun, I love to travel and explore new places, spend quality time with family and friends, go camping and hiking with my boyfriend and labradoodle fur-baby Leo, and of course practice yoga and meditation!
Quotes from Participants:
“I was blessed to have joined the first two sessions. I loved the sessions I did get to attend. They were inspiring, encouraging and it got me to appreciate my surroundings and learn how to relax. Thank you for the time and effort you put into each session.”
-Mercedes G., Caregiver of PLWD
“Very nice program. The residents loved it when they were able to participate and had a positive outcome.”
-April C., Activity Director at Lakeside Nursing and Rehab