Media Project: The Tee Tree

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Preface

My media project was on a case study about Paula who had Parkinson's disease. The item that I was assigned to work with was a golf tee.

Paula is 76 years old and was diagnosed with Parkinson's at age 69. She is a retired professor who spent most of her time at the computer in her home office. After being moved to a skilled nursing facility, Paula misses her husband and having communication with her friends online. Paula has decreased visual acuity due to her cataracts and had low gross and fine motor coordination. However, she is very independent and strong-willed and doesn't enjoy "boring" activities. 

Parkinson's is a chronic, neurodegenerative disease that affects the neurons within the brain that produce dopamine. With significantly decreased dopamine amounts, comes increased muscle tone. This further results in debilitating symptoms such as tremors, bradykinesia (slowness of movement), rigidity (muscles inability to relax), and postural instability. 


Some of Paula's personal goals are:
  • Interacting with her former colleagues and friends online
  • Reestablishing access within her community
  • Maintaining her current relationship with her husband


The Tee Tree blueprint 

The Tee Tree
I created an activity that I believe would address the following of Paula's concerns: visual acuity and fine motor skills. By improving her visual acuity, it would be easier for her to navigate within her community, and increasing her fine motor skills will help her to communicate online with her friends. This activity is called the "Tee Tree". I poked several different colored golf tees through a paper towel roll to create a tree-like instrument. Next, I painted several different-sized tool nuts that correspond with the colors of the tees. I chose to paint the nuts bright colors due to her cataracts and decreased visual acuity.  


Objective 

The object of this exercise is to place a tool nut onto the corresponding color golf tee. Doing this takes focus and precision which then will increase her hand strength and fine motor function. It will also increase her eye strength and slow the progression of her cataracts. It is also a good matching test that will help with cognition and memory. The increased fine motor and hand function will help her to be able to type emails to her colleagues and the visual acuity exercises will help increase her likelihood of being in her community again. Also, the memory and cognition exercises will help her remember important aspects about her husband and improve/maintain their relationship. 

outcome 


My "Tee Tree" turned out exactly how I wanted it. I found many different-sized bolts and washers. As you can see, there is a variety of difficulty as well. For example, the light pink or teal washer and the white or purple bolt will be the most difficult while the teal bolt and the yellow washer would be the easiest. 

This project was inspired by the iconic "Joe's Liquor" sign in Midtown, Memphis. 


Here is a version of the handout I had at the Innovation Showcase.








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