Introduction
Older adults are a very knowledgeable population and have had a lot of life experiences. As people age, things start to change physically, mentally, and socially. It’s important to understand the process of aging, so that older adults can be taken care of properly. I interviewed P.R. who is a 71-year-old male that lives alone in his home. P.R. is a retired coal miner, and is currently living off his social security and savings. He lives close to both his daughter and son, who frequently help him out with things that are needed. P.R. was able to give me a lot of insight about specific challenges that he has experienced in his life that is associated with aging. I will be discussing challenges that P.R experienced physically, mentally,
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P.R. opened a lot about the emotional challenges that he has suffered through. He stated that his wife divorced him after 49 years of marriage. This was one of the hardest things that he had to go through. He stated that “it’s hard to let someone go when you still love them”. Other challenges that he has been through mentally are losing some of his good friends and family members.
Social Challenges I feel like one of the biggest challenges socially is being alone. P.R. mentioned that since the divorce he feels very lonely in his big house. He mentioned that it’s hard to get out and about when there is no one to go with. Although P.R. feels alone most of the time he stated that he forces himself to go out and be social with his friends. He really enjoys watching sports events so he goes to the local high school and watches football and basketball.
Financial Challenges P.R. hasn’t struggled much with financial problems associated with aging. He mentioned that he is a big saver and has a lot of money in his savings to help him if he needs it. The only real challenge that he has had with financial problems is paying for medical bills and giving money to his wife. When his wife left, him he had to give half of his earnings to her due to the divorce. He stated that this really upset him because he felt like she was taking away what he
On the night of Saturday, February 1, 2014, I sat down with my grandfather, David Latta, to conduct an interview with him. He currently lives in Clarkston, Michigan, in the newly refurbished basement in my mother's house, along with my step-father, sister, and her son. One could say that my mother's household is quite the crowded nest, with four generation living under one roof. The perspective my grandfather obtains from living in such an atmosphere, is not only something I kept in mind while conducting this interview, but something that guided my questions.
The focus of this paper is to provide a better understanding of an older adult’s community health concerns. For the purpose of this assignment I will be changing my participants name to Sally in order to protect her privacy. The construction of this interview was intended to be as informal as possible. The interview took place in small coffee shop called “The Coffee House” located Tulsa, Oklahoma. The interview was at a small coffee shop because the participant was familiar with it. My hope was that these familiarities would make the participant feel more relaxed about the interview process. The
For all teens, the transition into adulthood is generally seen as a challenging and scary process. For teens diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as well as their caregivers, this transition is often more complicated. The period of transition for individuals with ASD into adulthood is intensely more challenging due to their “unique characteristics, the lack of services that address the special needs of such individuals in adulthood, and the expectations of society for a typical path to adulthood in the face of atypical problems” (Geller and Greenberg, 2009, pg. 93). Without the necessary resources to transition, teens with ASD find themselves unprepared for life at work, in college, or community living. Through this paper, the reader will obtain knowledge in regards to what ASD is, the barriers it yields concerning the transition into adulthood, and the effects it has on the individual as well
The older person that I interviewed was my great-grandfather, Kay Wilson. He is eighty-three years old and is currently retired, living at home. Wilson was born on February 27, 1934 and raised in Sylacauga, AL by his mother. His father was not active in his life, but his grandparents were his main caretakers growing up.
Prominent musician, Celine Dion, once said, “There’s no such thing is aging, but maturing and knowledge. It’s beautiful, I call that beauty.” To many, growing old is just a natural, beautiful part of life. It is inevitable. It is inescapable. The functionalist perspective of sociology states that the elderly perform a function in order to keep society running with ease. Functionalists focus on the disengagement theory and how people tend to disengage from society as they approach death. Symbolic interactionists focus on how environmental factors and relationships with others affect the aging experience, focusing on the activity theory and the continuity theory (Carl, 2011, p. 220). Conflict theorists focus on the discrepancies that arise between different age groups. They also focus on the economical side of aging and the issues that may arise due to an active elderly population (Carl, 2011, p. 221).
The life expectancy of aging adults has increased therefore; the need for counseling psychologist to provide services to this population has become more prevalent now than ever before. Due to physical and psychological decline, dependency issues, unexpected loss of employment, societal consequences and death are all challenges that older adults face throughout the aging process. This chapter highlights the growing issues that older adults often face.
The focus of this paper is to compare and contrast a well elder and a frail elder while using Occupational Therapy Practice Framework language. For this assignment I chose to conduct a semi structured interview using the Canadian Occupational performance Measure (COPM) to gather information about my chosen elders perceived problems and priorities. For this assignment I will be using pseudonyms in order to protect the privacy of both individuals.
Aging is universal and it is a process that everyone has to go through. The only difference is that everyone goes through this process at their own pace influenced by factors that will be discussed later on in this paper. When we think about factors that have an influence on older adults and how their life may be affected, we must consider the different social institutions while analyzing influences from social factors, cultural factors, and personal values. Abuse to older adults, stereotyping and informal care and technological advancements that affect older adults are the three topics that will be discussed in this reflection. Furthermore, will connect the three topics I have chosen to the knowledge that I have gained from my interaction
An interview was arranged with an older adult to discuss issues related to aging. The interview was designed to gain appreciation and understanding of an older adult. One theory of aging came into mind when I thought about this topic. Erik Erikson Life-Course and Personality Development theory, “Erikson described the task of old age as balancing the search for integrity and wholeness with a sense of despair.” NS is the older adult that I conducted the interview with. I’ve decided to pick NS to interview because she is very positive about life and her age. Everything that I have come across about aging is negative such as depression, isolation, and illness.
The older adult interviewed for the purpose of this assignment was Alice Margaret Cox, the interviewers grandmother. Alice was born on February 17th, 1932 in Brown County, Minnesota. Alice was the daughter of Rose Veldman and had three brothers and three sisters. In 1942, Hikel Veldman, after marrying Rose, legally adopted Alice and her six siblings. He brought four children of his own, making a family of 13. After the family was adopted, the majority of their childhood to early adult life was spent living in Hollandale, Minnesota. Alice spent the majority of her life farming and now helps out part time at a family owned thrift store. Alice currently resides in Lake City Minnesota, in her home of twenty plus years. Only four of the eleven
There are many complications that can arise as one ages. As stated in the Aging Concepts and Controversies (2012) book, there are basically two worlds of aging; the ill-derly and the well-derly. While those that are well are able to take care of themselves or need very little help to perform their daily activities; those that are ill most likely we need to have some form of long-term care. As stated earlier, when looking at care options for older adults, there are two forms of care that many people try to decide between. The first option is home care. In this form of long-term care, the elder person is looked after by a spouse, family member such as a child or grandchild, or a close family friend. The other type of long-term care is nursing home or institutionalized care, where the elderly person is taking care of by professionals and lives in the facility where they are being taken care of. Many times it is not easy to decide which type of care will be best, it depends on many factors, such as the cost, level of care needed, and many other factors. Using this paper, I like to briefly look a...
This paper is going to discuss the life of A.A, a dear friend of my mother in law's. I interviewed him with the help of his wife. I was able to listen while they told me all about his life, including many great memories and also many sad ones. The reason for this interview was to spend time with an elderly person and ask questions about their life and health.
Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging.
Becoming an adult, also known as young adulthood, is a very crucial stage in one’s life. This is the climax of physical and health processes. This is the point in life when we make plans of our futures. It is the time when we think of what life will be like as an adult and make plans for the future. Most importantly, it is when we lay the starting point for developmental changes that we will undergo throughout our lives. An adult is a person who is fully grown or developed. Some people believe that you become an adult when you are 18 years old, other believe you are an adult when you can legally buy and consume alcohol, that is, at age 21 in the United States. Others believe that you are an adult when you are supporting yourself
According to Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren in Art History some artists of the Hellenistic period portrayed the world as they saw it, by representing people from every level of society. (Stokstad and Cothren, 2014). An example is a sculpture which is referred to as “the old woman”, produced by an unknown artist. This sculpture is not from Greek myth but instead is a portrayal of an elderly woman of the era. The marble statue of an old woman was originated in the late second century BC and is a perfect depiction of daily life in ancient Greece due to the beauty of its intricate detail and the artists portrayal of a member of society.