Barbara Garret

Contents:

Newspaper article regarding her book.

Location: Vertical Files at B.S. Ricks Memorial

Library of the Yazoo Library Association | 310N. Main Street, Yazoo City, Mississippi 39194

r file;• *»

The Golden YearsA reader service of The Yazoo Herald Saturday, May 28, 1994 - I B

Yazooan

shares her

insightsBook labor of love

for Barbara Garrett

Dr. Barbara Garrett now can say shesomething in common with Zig Ziglar and Willie Morris.

They're all native Yazooans who have written books.

It is unlikely her venture will earn a spot onany list of best sellers or in Morris' case aPulitzer prize, but she is proud nonetheless.Nonverbal Interaction with Adult Clients:

Strategies for Caregivers was published inFebruary by Therapy Skill Builders of Tucson,Ariz.

The book was a labor of love for Garrett, whoInnsi spent years researching nonverbal communication.

She says people send and receive importantmessages every day without exchanging asingle word.Such nonverbal communication can often

speak volumes to those who are ill, but in herresearch Garrett found that healthcare providers and those who care for loved onesusually know very little about this importantmeans of conveying messages.Professionals are required to ̂ e only one

communications course in fulfilling degree requirements and many instructors tend to skipover the chapters on nonverbal communication, she said.That's why Garrett, professor emeritus of

health and kinesiology at Mississippi University for Women, decided to write a book on thesubject for both professionals and laymen."I hope the material is presented in a way

that is interesting," she said in a telephone interview from her Columbus home. "I want it tobe useful."She became increasingly aware of the impor

tance of such nonverbal communication whileDursuing her bachelor of science degree at"The W " conducting research for her doctoralthpsis serving as the chief physical therapist, i-Lp University of Alabama Medical Center,

ficWng 24 ye^s in the MUW Division ofHealth and Kinesiology, and observing op-^^nts during 13 years as the MUW tennis"sh^says it is a subject that has been of in-

4. much of her life, perhaps datingblick I a^TncTdent while she was in the fifthgrade at Main Street Sch^^ ^be short in stature, waswho happened particular

standing "g j.ooni as usual,"

Qi

Dr. Barbara Garrett is author of 'Nonverbal Interaction with Clients'She hopes it will aid both professionals ®"'"aymen in delivery of care

"We were singing one day and the teacher,who happened to be short in stature, wasstanding right next to me on this particularday, not at the front of the room as usual,"Garrett said of an illustration she uses in herlectures. "I was singing at the top of my lungs.

The teacher told me to quit singing."And I literally quit singing. I was left with

the thought that something was wrong withmy voice. It was 14 years later before I sangagain. Had she said 'quit singing so loudfy,' adifferent message would have been conveyed."The reality of how heavily the elderly - par

ticularly those with illnesses, physical handicaps or sensoiy deficits ~ rely on nonverbsilcommunication really hit home with her in1987 when she became sole caregivier for hermother, whose Alzheimer's disease had progressed to such a point that Garrett had toplace her in a care facility."I would leave the home aware of the many

patients' messages being missed and howmany negative messages were being given,"she recalled. "But I also realized that most ofthe negative messages weren't being conveyeddeliberately but were the result of a lack of

Dr. Barbara Garrett is author of'Nonverbal Interaction with Clients'She hopes it will aid both professionals and laymen in delivery of care

knowledge about all the dimensions of nonverbal communications."

Her experiences with her mother promptedGarrett to learn all she could about communicating with those with Alzheimer's.It was during this period that she conceived

the idea of writing a book on nonverbal communication " one that not only could be usedas a textbook for practitioners in health care,but also would be helpful and easily understandable for family members who serve ascaregivers for older people.Statistics show that at any one time only

about five percent of the nation's elderly are innursing homes, meaning 80-95 percent arebeing cared for by family caregivers.Garrett took early retirement in 1991 to be

gin writing the book, which she entitled Withor Without Words. The publishing companylater changed the name.It took three years to complete the project.

Along the way, she acquired a collaborator

who is an expert in geriatrics - Neva F.Greenwald, associate professor and chair ofthe Physical Therapy Department in theSchool of Health Related Professions at theUniversity of Mississippi Medical Center.Students at MUW have long benefitted from

Garrett's knowledge of nonverbal communication. She has lectured nursing students onnonverbal commxmication and in the late19708 completed her doctoral requirementswith a study on nonverbal communicationthat included the development and use of atraining program."In my doctoral study, a training program

for identfication and awareness of nonverbalcommunication was developed for studentteachers at both MUW and Mississippi StateUniversity, who were later compared to students not receiving the training," she said.

"On a pupil perception questionnaire.

Continued on page SB

8B, THE YAZOO HERALD, SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1994

^azooan

elementary and high schoolstudents perceived the trainedteachers much more positivelythan the untrained ones."

: Strategies for Caregivers contains some of the materialsand exercises she developedwith the "W" students. Theresult is a book that opens theeyes and minds of readers.

The first part of the bookgives an overview of the essential elements of nonverbal com

munication and practicalstrategies that can be used ininteractions with adults. There

are chapters on message recep-

The second section includeseffective interaction techniquesfor adults affected by

tion, body movement, touch,paralanguage, physical characteristics, artifacts (likecrutches or wheelchairs), en-^ronment and time and theworking interplay of thesedimensions.

there is a problem they canrecognize it and do a better jobof communicating."

Alzheimer's disease, stroke,depression, Parkinson's disease, visual or hearing impair-ment, osteoarthritis,osteoprorosis and chronic obstructive lung disease.

The third section features ac

tivities — many that putparticipants in the shoes of theadult client ~ which can beused for expanding and rein

forcing the knowledge of individuals and groups and are appropriate for universityclasses, in-service educationand seminars.

With a world population tiatis living longer - by 2030 sohe64.5 million Americans will beage 65 or older - Garrelt'swork has already attracted rational and international attention, even before the publication of her book in February.

"So many factors influenceour perceptions," she said."The book is a teaching tool tomake caregivers aware that if

Continued from page IB

and has just been reprinted inIssues on Aging published bythe Section on Geriatrics of theAmerican Phjrsical TheraphyAssociation.

Garrett is a 1952 graduate ofYazoo City High School, whereshe was a member of theschool's 1950 state

championship girls basketball

At the 1993 annual meetingof the American Society onAging in Chicago, she andGreenwald were asked to present a workshop on "Show YouCare: Improve Your NonverbalCommunication Skills."

team. She received a physicaltherapy certificate degree fromDuke University and amaster's in education and adocotrate in educationalleadership from MississippiState University.

Their article on "The Value ofCommunication Skills in Carefor the Aging" appeared in theMay 1993 issue of BOLD, thequarterly journal of the International Institute on Aging

For a copy of Dr. Garrett'sbook, write Therapy SkillBuilders, P.O. Box 42050-BTS,Tucson, AZ 85733. The catalognumber is 4723-BTS. Cost $42.