The theme of ‘seeing buddy as mentor’ is particularly relevant due to the
program’s objective. The researcher looked for references from students regarding what they were learning from their mentor. Results revealed that 30% of the students (n=8) made 47 mentor-teacher references in 32 or 30% of the student journals; therefore a majority did not make reference to this theme directly. However, this theme does not refer to what the students may have learned from the mentor more covertly; that is, from
the relationship and experience. Table 5 shows excerpts representative of the mentor theme.
Table 5. Theme 1: Seeing Buddy as Mentor
Chicago: Descriptions of what they are learning about the city. Many of the students are not from Chicago while many of their mentors have lived in Chicago for many years and were eager to show the student their home-town. Students found that they were getting an introduction to the city, its history, from the vantage point of someone who had lived in the city for sometimes 60-70 years.
“Overall, it was great to hear about the city from (my mentor). (My mentor) told me where she grew up, how things were different in the area about 30 years ago. She pointed out many small details about her neighborhood and the stores around the area. Even small details about architecture and when buildings were put up.”
(503_2009.11.22)
“(My mentor) told me a little about the history of the city and (his wife) told me a little about the architecture, especially about Frank Lloyd Wright.” (606_2010.11)
Physician Mentor: One medical student paired with a retired physician talked about how seriously his mentor was taking the mentoring role,
“I did notice that he often wanted to turn the conversation to talking about his work as a clinician. He is clearly very passionate about the work that he did and I think that he really misses it. At one point he even looked a little teary-eyed while he was talking about it. I think he is taking the role of being a mentor seriously because he tries to educate me about what he did as a physician every time we meet.” (605_2011.1.15)
Art History: Many of the mentors are very knowledgeable about art and a source of art education for the students, helping them to see things they might not have otherwise seen.
“It was interesting being there with (my mentor) because she was (or is) an artist. Especially when looking at some of the Gaugin’s.” (504_2009.11.5)
“(My mentor) is a wealth of knowledge about all art and I am thrilled to learn from him…I would like to go to more art museums with (my mentor) because I think he enjoys that and I don’t go on my own. I don’t feel like I get enough “culture” in medical school, so our art adventures are a wonderful break from science.” (609_2010.12.05) “At the museum, I was happy to see that (my mentor) was enjoying herself and we got some kicks out of figuring out some of the figurines. (My mentor) made an astute observation about them that I had missed, and I was pleasantly surprised, not because I didn’t expect that of (my mentor), but the surprise you feel when you see something that you didn’t see before.” (704_2012.1.28)
“As we looked at the paintings, (my mentor) would direct me to go look at them very close up and then to stand back and watch how the painting changed. I think he really enjoyed teaching me about the art since I did not know much…When he would look at the paintings, he would notice very unique things and have interesting perspectives.” (705_2012.1.8.)
“I learned a great deal from (my mentor) about art and she made me see artwork in a new light…She noticed little things in paintings when I hadn’t even thought to look.” (706_2011.10.14)
Life: A goal of the program is for students to better understand how persons with dementia are coping and living with their illness; however, persons with dementia also demonstrate how to live with the many transitions and losses they have experienced as in this student’s excerpt:
“I often wonder about how people transition through things in their lives that are such huge landmarks (marriage, divorce, etc), and (my mentor) really isn’t afraid or sheepish about talking about any of it. I really like that about him, and I learn so much about so many things with him.” (701_2011.12.16)
Civil Rights History: This excerpt is from a student paired with an African American woman who had been very active in the civil rights movement and had many stories to share of the time and the people she knew and met. Many of this student’s journals were filled with amazement at all he was learning first-hand from her.
“Her stories about growing up and her time during the Civil Rights movement made me glad that I was given the privilege and gift to hear about her vast experience. Here I was standing with someone who had actually lived through the movement that I had studied so many times in school and had seen the fruit of in the opportunities my friends had as minority students. What a wonderful opportunity to hear first-hand about it! I’m excited for future visits to learn more from her experience.” (704_2011.10.29)
Sports: Although lower in frequency, there were some student-mentor pairs who participated in sports activities together. The researcher has known students to swim together; one pair did hot yoga. This pair played tennis and the student improved her tennis game as a result.
“On the court, it quickly became apparent that (my mentor) was far better than me at tennis. Rather than have me struggle to keep up with him in a game, he immediately assumed a coaching role. This was really great to see because (my mentor) seemed very in his element. He has coached in the past and was even awarded state baseball coach of the year. As he instructed me on how to play tennis it was apparent why he won. He was patient and encouraging, and even though I was pretty bad at tennis, he made it fun.” (705_2012.3.3)
This theme of ‘seeing buddy as mentor’ reflects appreciation for the remaining skills and capacities in persons with dementia; that is, the ability to recall many events and facts from long ago. While they may not be able to balance a checkbook and are having trouble remembering recent events, the information that they have to teach their student is solidly within their grasp in their long-term memory, which is not affected by dementia in the early stages.