26 August 2020 – Three activities were conducted at Ti-ratana Desa Petaling under The IMU Cares Help Ti-Ratana Residents Project 2020 with the theme Mental Health and Wellness. The activities were designed to address concerns that some of the residents seemed sad and stressed over the past few months due to the Movement Control Order that limited visits to the home. The activities for this visit were planned after the two previous visits on 28 May 2020 to address some clinical symptoms and issues and 1 July 2020 as a follow up and monitoring of the residents’ health.
| Activities | |
|---|---|
| Sunlight and Exercise Therapy | The residents and caregivers were educated on the need for light exercises and exposure to sunlight to increase serotonin levels that improves their mental health. |
| Art Therapy | The residents were divided into four groups to work as teams to draw according to a theme, therefore cultivating task-oriented actions. Their drawings were then assessed and prizes were given to the winning group as a motivation for them to perform these simple tasks. |
| Music and Dance Therapy | This is aimed to improve social support, increase positive emotions as well as reduce fatigue and stress. |
The caregivers were advised to carry out these activities at least for an hour every two days to ensure sustainability and long-term positive impact on the residents’ mental health. 
This inter-professional interracial collaboration among the Schools in IMU meets the objective of creating a routine positive mental health environment through basic tasks and exercise for the residents and for the IMU staff to learn how to deliver these basic tasks and exercise programmes to encourage positive mental health.
The residents enjoyed each activity they participated in which included a vegetarian snack at the end of it. A feedback form was distributed at the end of the event which will be analysed after the fourth visit, but generally they felt that this was a commendable project which helped them to have a more positive emotion. The whole IMU Cares Help Ti-Ratana Residents Project 2020 is headed by Tan Seew Geek (Nursing) while this Mental Health project was led by Dr Juliet Mathew with the assistance of staff from Nursing (Tan Seew Geek and Yee Bit Lian), Community Medicine (Prof Dr Adlina Suleiman) and Psychology (Mrs Phoong aka Madam Tan Keat Hoon) at Ti-Ratana residency, Desa Petaling. They were joined by two external volunteers and four Ti-Ratana healthcare givers.
| Project Member | Department/School | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Tan Seew Geek | Nursing / School of Health Sciences | Overall Programme Leader – In charge of planning for activities, pre-visit checklist, arranging for transportation and preparing report on activities |
| Dr Juliet Mathew | Medical /Clinical Skills / School of Medicine | Project Leader – In charge of drawing competition, preparing prizes |
| Prof Dr Adlina Sulaiman | Community Medicine/School of Medicine | Team member – In charge of activities such as light exercise and singing and the smooth flow of activities, , arranging for food, preparing feedback / outcome report, preparing tokens and art supplies |
| Mrs Phoong aka Madam Tan Keat Hoon | Student Services | Translator and overseeing the smooth flow of activities |
| Yee Bit Lian | Nursing/School of Health Sciences | Translator and collection of data for outcome survey |
| Atifah binti Ridha Allah | External | Assist in activities and collect data for outcome survey |
| Nadiah binti Ridha Allah | External | Assist in activities and collect data for outcome survey |
Written by Prof Adlina Suleiman
Related article: IMU Cares Activities Aims to Create A Positive Mental Health Environment for Ti-Ratana Residents
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