Independent Blog

For this post, I wanted to share one of my most valuable sources for my research so far.

My mentor, Nina, is actually the one who turned me on to this site called PubMed. Basically, this website is a search engine for biomedical literature. It consists of over 24 million sources from online books, MEDLINE, and life science journals.

This source has been extremely helpful to my growing pile of research. I trust this source not only because my mentor suggested it and said that BMGC uses it as a resource, but also because it is created and maintained by The National Center for Biotechnology Information located within the National Institutes of Health. PubMed has helped me understand more about my topic, as well as give me insight to other techniques used for fall prevention.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

Blog 6: Second Interview Preparation

1. Who is your mentor and where do they work?

My mentor is Nina Withrington. She works at The Blue Marble Game Co.

2.What five questions will you ask them about their background?

• How did you first get interested in PT?
• Where did you study to become a PT?
• What was(were) your major(s)?
• Did you do any addition preparation for this field?
• Where did you work before?
• How did you find out about the BMGC?
• What is your job here at Blue Marble?

Blog 5: Mentorship Reflection

1. Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship.

My mom is a real estate agent and as a result of that, she meets a lot of interesting people. When she was asking me what I thought I might do my senior project on last year and I mentioned physical therapy, one of her clients popped into her head. She told me about her client, Sheryl Flynn, and the Blue Marble Game Company and what they do there. I thought that it would be a really cool and fun learning experience, so I looked into it some more. And that is where I ended up doing my mentorship.

2. What has been your most important article you have read so far and why?

The most important article I have read so far is "Prevention of Falls in the Elderly" by Dr. Laurence Knott. The reason being, this article provides a large amount of information on falls. It talks about the risk of falls, injury, the impact of medication, as well as many other facts and insights as to why an elder may be at risk for falling. Along with all of this information, Dr. Knott provides statistics to show that there has been research done instead of him just giving an opinion.

Independent Blog

There are two way I can go with this project. I can do the brain injury aspect of it, or I can do the fall prevention aspect of it.

1. There are two games in the brain injury category. One is called RESET, and the other is called Treasure of Bell Island. Both are to help the patients recover from a previous brain injury. The games evaluate the patients' attention, memory, visual perception, executive function. The mini games within these games test these different brain functions. By doing them over and practicing makes those skills improve, therefore, recovering their injury.
2. The fall prevention game is call Zoezi Park. This game can be played at their home under the instruction of a clinician. There is an xBox Kinect version and a tablet version, but both perform equally. In Zoezi Park, the patient performs simple exercises to build up muscle strength. By building up this strength, it decreases the chances of them falling.

For all of these games, when they are completed and work fully, during play, there will be information sent to a data base. Every player has their own login/password and their information is recorded throughout playing. This is so that their doctors can see their improvement and monitor their progress. This data base is called Deep Ocean.

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

1. I plan to interview Sheryl Flynn. She is the CEO of the Blue Marble Game Company, where I mentor. Her husband and she basically started the company, so I would like to interview her because she knows about everything that goes on.

2. Questions:

• How did she come up with the main idea/foundation of the BMGC?
• What do you believe the best way to prevent falling in elderly people is? Why?
• How does Zeozi Park prevent falling in elders?
• How big of a role, do you think, is this game going to play in the future medical world?/Do you think it someday will be?
• What was the most valuable place you went that led you here?

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Working EQ

1. Topic: Elderly Care

2. What is the most effective way to keep the elderly safe, yet still have them able to accomplish daily tasks?

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship Component

1. Hours log:

Summer Mentorship Log

2. Contact name and number for volunteering:

Sheryl Flynn: (626)296-6400

3. What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of experience? List them.

• What is the best way to prevent falls for elderly people?
• Why is this solution one of the better solutions to fall prevention?
• How did they come up with this idea?
• When will this method be put into effect/be ready for the public?
• How much more can this method be expanded upon?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

I learned why fall prevention for older people is really important to society. Since a fall basically marks a downward spiral of many health issues for elders, preventing that fall and prolonging the inevitable greatly contributes to society. By preventing these falls, we have a wider range of people that should live longer.

5. What is you senior project topic going to be? How did what you did help you choose a topic? Explain.

My senior project is going to be fall prevention. Seeing what they do at the Blue Marble Game Co. showed me why what they do is so important. Since the baby boomer generation is coming up, this way of preventing falls is super creative and is a fun and effective way to help the older generations. I saw how important this is, and I want to learn more and help out as much as I can throughout the course of this school year.