SRU recreational therapy students partner with older adults to hone phone skills

Nov. 25, 2024

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Talking on the phone has become a lost art. A class at Slippery Rock University is helping students develop phone skills, all while establishing connections with older adults from the local community.

"As younger people, our mode of communication is usually texting," said Alexis Woods, a senior recreational therapy major from Kane. "Our professor wanted us to do something where we could learn how to better talk with people on the phone."

Woods is one of more than 30 students in a Recreational Therapy for Older Adults class taught by Betsy Kemeny, professor of recreational therapy. Kemeny partnered with the Butler County Area Agency on Aging to match each student in the class with an older adult from the community as part of a program called "Phone Pals."

"Our intent is to help our students meet their learning goals as health professionals," Kemeny said. "One of those goals is to learn how to improve communication on the phone. They discuss health promotion topics, so the participants benefit as well, and everyone has been very receptive to this program."

Claudia Trusel, 68, of Slippery Rock was paired with Woods, 23, and the two bonded immediately.

"I look forward to hearing from Lexi about how she was doing and her situation at her stage of life," said Trusel. "I compare it to what I was like at her age and it's interesting to see. We

share a lot of things in common."

Kemeny said that another goal of the Phone Pals program is to confront ageism by having students see their commonalities with older adults.

"By getting to know an individual who is older, you are less likely to categorize all older adults the same way," Kemeny said.

In addition to using prompts recommended by Kemeny, Woods talked to Trusel about their similar tastes in music and how Woods is buying a home at the same age Trusel was when she became a homeowner. Woods also has Trusel reminisce, which is an activity that recreational therapists conduct to increase well-being for older adults.

The students meet their phone pal in person to conduct an initial assessment at a local senior center. These conversations could easily be conducted in-person, but there are certain nuances when people talk on the phone.

"Not seeing them face-to-face can be challenging at times," said Riley Kukla, a senior recreational therapy major from Philipsburg. "There's a lot more etiquette to it because they don't have some of the facial cues to know if I'm paying attention or how I react to what they are saying. And when you're talking to them, you have to build rapport and use language that they clearly understand because you don't have some of that nonverbal communication."

Kukla went the entire semester without meeting her phone pal, Sandy, in person, but they developed a relationship entirely through phone conversations.

"It was something we both looked forward to during the week," Kukla said. "We really enjoy the intergenerational experience. They like hearing from us and about our lives, but also learning stuff about their lives."

Kukla worked with Sandy on reminiscence activities, talking about her favorite vacation destinations or how she used to celebrate Halloween, but she also worked with Sandy on stress reduction exercise such as deep breathing.

"I enjoy the relationship but it's also nice to work with my major and the things that I'm able to implement into a phone call with a potential client," Kukla said. "A lot of the students are entering fields where they might have to conduct telehealth appointments, which is more common since the pandemic."

Kukla said starting and ending calls can be awkward and unnatural, while Woods experienced aspects of phone calls that younger people have a harder time confronting.

"A lot of the times, people could get bothered by a phone call," Woods said. "I text my friends, 'Hey, can I call you real quick?' But with Claudia, you just pick up the phone and call."

To younger people, phone calls seem more urgent, as if an unscheduled call means there's an emergency.

"Just call," Trusel said. "If I'm home, I'll answer. It kind of intrigued me that she wanted to text me before she called."

Woods found that her phone calls with Trusel were less transactional than text messages. She even wound up talking to her for more than two hours without realizing how much time had passed and the two talked more often than the assigned four hours total, sometimes even three times per week.

"We'll start by talking about something and then kind of go off on a tangent about something else," Woods said. "That leads to some really interesting conversations that you would not otherwise have."

"You just have to be a good listener," Trusel said. "If they're going to be working with the older folks, you have to be comfortable talking on the telephone. You just get so much more because you get inflection, and you can tell in their voice whether it's sarcasm or something serious."

Woods took the experience serious enough to want to change her career goals. After initially wanting to work with children with autism spectrum disorder, she has since applied to work as recreational therapist at multiple senior care centers.

"This has changed my entire perspective on what I want to do with my future," Woods said. "I was a little intimidated by working with older adults, not because they're scary or anything negative, but I was just so set on working with kids that I let this population go to the back of my mind.

"Being in this class has shown me that I am more than capable, and it comes easier to me than I thought."

More information about the recreational therapy program at SRU is available on the department's webpage.

MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Zackal | 724.738.4854 |  [email protected]