Friday, July 18, 2003 | 5:51 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION
July 19, 2003
Gadabout (GAD-a-bout) n. -- An individual who roves about seeking amusement and social activity.
For the more than 2,000 Nevadans who suffer head or brain injuries every year the search for amusement and social activity can be difficult.
To meet that need, the Salvation Army's Henderson chapter and the city's Parks and Recreation Inclusion Services offer those with these injuries a way to get out and socialize in their community.
They created the Gadabout Program, a one-year-old project designed to aid those who suffered a brain or head trauma get back into the community, Amanda McGowen, recreation coordinator for the Henderson Parks and Recreation Department, said.
Gadabout clients are mostly adults who have suffered a closed-head brain injury, such a stroke or an accident that doesn't crack the skull. They are referred to the program from rehabilitation centers such as Nevada Community Enrichment Program, Bill Sampson director of the Henderson Salvation Army's Adult Day Care, said.
The program was named Gadabout to reflect its out-and-about activities, he said.
Pairing Henderson Parks and Recreation Department resources with the Salvation Army's clientele, the program offers two outings a month to places such as Lake Mead to feed the fish, the movies or the mall, Sampson said.
This month's trips included bowling July 8 at Terrible's Town. It will be followed by shopping Tuesday at the Galleria at Sunset mall. Outings always occur on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Attendance for trips varies ranging from seven to 20 participants.
The program offers "individuals an opportunity to interact with the community at large," Sampson said. He said it also aids the rehabilitation process by boosting the participants' feelings of self-worth.
It gives clients "a chance to get out and talk to people. To do different things," Susan Schwab, Salvation Army activities coordinator, added.
Cognitive and psychological consequences can follow brain injuries, inhibiting an individual from returning to their previous lifestyle, Bob Hogan, program director of Nevada Community Enrichment Program, said.
Rehabilitation programs, in the short term, try to help people regain lost skills wherever possible and when that is not possible, rehabilitation teaches people to compensate, said Hogan, who has worked with brain injury patients for 25 years.
In the long term outside programs such as Gadabout can benefit one- alf to one-third of Nevada Community Enrichment patients, Hogan said.
He said such programs offer people access to the community and a chance to work on lost social skills.
These programs offer participants structure and a "support group of people who understand what they are going through and what they will go through," Hogan added.
Gadabout trips usually cost about $10 but vary depending on the outing, Schwab said. For activities such as bowling, the clients pay for the game but the program will provide lunch, she added.
The Salvation Army, with the advice of Gadabout participants, decide where the group will go, and the Parks and Recreation Department provides transportation and advertising for the outing.
The Gadabout program came into fruition after McGowen and Sampson discussed its possibility at a convention they both attended. Their talk began to focus on a similar Las Vegas program, called Heading On, and how that concept could apply to Henderson residents who could not easily get into Las Vegas for those meetings, Sampson said.
McGowen, who holds a master's degree in therapeutic recreation, said the program went from casual discussion to realization because "it was something we could make happen."
Las Vegas' Heading On program differs slightly from Henderson's Gadabouts. Participants meet every Tuesday night and plan a calendar for what they want to do, Jana Salisbury, senior adaptive recreation leader, said. She added part of the program is allowing individuals to make those decisions.
She said it offers people a social network they might not otherwise have.
"They really like it. It's social and you see your participants come back week after week," Salisbury said.
Before Gadabouts, Sampson said he had some middle-aged individuals with brain injuries attending his Adult Day Care program, but it is designed for the Salvation Army's senior clientele. As part of their therapy, Sampson said, the younger recovering patients were given responsibility helping volunteers care for the elderly.
"It gives them the feeling of being needed," he said. Now they help volunteers and take their own outings.
For more information, call (702) 565-3453.
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