Interview a Senior Citizen

This required Portfolio assignment will give you experience observing and interacting with people outside of the classroom. It has been designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop skills, synthesize knowledge, and integrate learning in a real world setting. This assignment accomplishes that goal by challenging you to:

• conduct a semi-structured interview with an elderly individual

• analyze his/her responses in a systematic manner

• integrate this real-world experience with your knowledge of the aging process based on evidence from journal articles and other scholarly sources.

Read the following articles on the behavioral determinants of healthy aging. The full-text articles are available in the Week Five

Electronic Reserve Readings:

• Hartman-Stein, P. E., & Potkanowicz, E. S. (2003). Behavioral Determinants of Healthy Aging: Good News for the Baby Boomer Generation. Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 8(2), 127-146.

• Potkanowicz, E. S., Hartman-Stein, P., & Biermann, J. S. (2009). Behavioral Determinants of Health Aging Revisited: An Update on the Good News for the Baby Boomer Generation. Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 14(3), 11.

• Masotti, P. J., Fick, R., Johnson-Masotti, A., & MacLeod, S. (2006). Healthy naturally occurring retirement communities: A low-cost approach to facilitating healthy aging. American Journal of Public Health, 96 (7), 1164-1170.

Identify a senior citizen (age 65 or older) and schedule an hour to talk with him/her face to face. Be sure to tell the person that you are completing the interview as part of a class assignment and that the content of the interview is completely confidential (no names will be used). Conduct an informal interview, focusing on the participant's health and wellness.

When interviewing the individual, ask questions that correspond to the following categories:

Physical Activity

I asked about her exercise routines in the past? She stated she had a job as a Tool Maker for General Motors for 30 years.

Presently her physical activities are: yard work 3x's a week gardening and mowing the lawn; walking everyday (weather permitting); house work such as cooking, washing clothes, ironing etc.; and caregiver for her mother who has dementia/Alzheimer's disease which is her main job.

Mentally Stimulating Activities

I asked her she does to stay sharp? She answered puzzles such as Suduko (number game), Solitaire, Mahjong (card game), word search, Cryptoquip, word jumble. These activities are either done on her phone or newspaper. She also stated she reads the Bible and religious books. She has always did both past and present and it began at work. She did add that the one she did stop was crossword puzzles because she use to have a partner at work and they did those together.

Social support and Social Interactions

I asked her if she was married? She stated her husband of 40years past away last year on Memorial Day of a heart attack suddenly. She always had family support from her (2) children her oldest a son who is 39 years old and her second who is her daughter and she just turned 37 years old who comes over often to help with her and her grandmother (2) brothers and (1) sister as well as aunts/uncles/cousins both past and present. However in the past she socialized with co-workers but never out of work.

Meaningful Activities

What gives her life meaning? In the past she was involved in the church making food plates to sell to help raise money. She stated sometimes she would serve desserts, food, o drinks just depending. She did inform me though she quit this 5 years so after her mother got worse with Alzheimer's disease / dementia.

Recreational/Leisure Activities

I asked her what she likes to do for fun in her leisure time? She stated gardening is fun for her such as taking care of flowers and pulling weeds and power washing anything outside such as her sidewalk. She has always did this both past and present.

Living Environment

I asked her what her home environment is like? She still lives in her home that her husband and she purchased 21 years ago where she lives and takes care of her mother now. Her children come by daily to help with chores and grocery shopping as well.

Does she still drive? Yes, she still drives and gets around frequently with no problems, however she has always hated driving since she was young. I had that in common with her too!

Part I: Document the questions you asked and the participant's responses. This is your interview ‘transcript' which will be turned in along with your reflective paper.

Part II: Write a 1,000-word reflective paper based on the interview. In your paper, include a discussion on the following points:

• Most notable aspects of the interview: What topics did your interviewee respond most strongly to and why?

• Most surprising aspects of the interview: Did any of the interviewee's responses surprise you? Explain.

• A commentary about the participant's overall functioning: Use the information from the required readings to make a general assessment of the participant's health and well-being. Would you use the term ‘healthy aging' to describe the participant? Why or why not? What is he/she doing well? What areas could use improvement? What suggestions would you make, based on your knowledge of the determinants of healthy aging?

• A discussion of what you learned from this experience.

Use the literature in gerontology, wisdom, and successful aging to supplement your paper and support your points. Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines and be sure to cite your sources in a reference section at the end of your paper.