Running head:OLDER ADULT INTERVIEW Older Adult Interview Name of the Student Name of the University Author Note
1OLDER ADULT INTERVIEW Introduction of the Interviewee My Interviewee (Mrs. X) is a 78 years old woman. She is an African American female who is widowed after 60 years of marriage. Her husband was a war veteran and she was a housewife. Both her sons lives out of the city and comes to visit her once a month. She has a maidservant who performs the household activities. She was married at the age 18 and that preventing her completing higher education. Her financial status is satisfactory as her receives family pension. Session 1 Circumstances surrounding the interview The interview was scheduled at 10 am in the morning, taking the informed consent from Mrs. X. I also gave her a call the night before the interview in order to provide her a reminder and she said she is aware of it. Mrs. X opted to conduct the interview at her home and thus her home was selected as the interview venue. I reached her home at 10 am sharp and I rang her doorbell. After standing for 10 minutes when no response came from inside then I rang the bell once again and then a thin voice came, “coming”. After 5 minutes, Mrs. X opened the door. I found her a tall lean woman with uncombed hair and wearing a pale housecoat. Although she was holding her walking stick in her hands, she was facing difficulty in maintaining her body balance. While opening the she said, “Sorry I kept you waiting but my maidservant is no leave today and due to my knee pain and poor eyesight, my mobility is restricted”. I said, “Not a problem”. She directed me to the dining room where the interview is to be scheduled. I found the room disorganized with things loitering here and there. When Mrs. X settled down in her chair, I started the interview with her consent and switched on the audio recorded. Through the interview, I found the Mrs. X is facing difficulty in recollecting
2OLDER ADULT INTERVIEW her thoughts and at times her sentences lacked linkage. Her frequently urge to urinate interrupted the interview process. Interview for Session 1 Given in the Appendix Section Interview summary In the interview summary, I can be highlighted that Mr. X is lonely and she misses her husband. She also tends to forget things and have several physiological complications. These prevent her from performing activities of her choice. She is not technologically advanced. She also suffers from lack of confidence due to her looks and current lifestyle. Talking and playing with her grandchildren makes her happy. Integration of concepts The main concept, which was highlighted in this interview, wasaging and loneliness. AccordingtoCourtinandKnapp(2017),lonelinessandsocialisolationresultsfrom numerous adverse health consequences. Steptoe et al. (2013) further stated that loneliness further increases the vulnerability of poor health conditions. Loneliness affects mobility and this might be the reason behind the decrease in the motor function of Mrs. X apart from the obvious reason of dementia. The study conducted by Courtin and Knapp (2017), highlighted that among the cognitive normal senior citizens who were tested per year, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia was twice among the lonely elderly adults in comparison to those who were not lonely. Loneliness cause depression and disrupts the synergy of health and well-being.
3OLDER ADULT INTERVIEW Another concept which was that can be highlighted from the interview is decline in life satisfaction with ageing. From the interview, it is clear that Mr. X is unsatisfied with her life, be it for her looks, her health related conditions, inability to perform daily living activities or inability to perform her hobbies. The study conducted by Maher and Conroy (2015) revealed that health and economic conditions are main predictors of life satisfaction. In case of Mr. X, her health condition was declining but her economic condition was stable. Her ailing health condition resulted in decline in the level of life satisfaction. Personal feelings from the interview It is difficult to say about the relationship and the intimacy status that I have developed with Mr. X. However, if I was asked to share the impression of my first interview then I would like to highlight that I felt Sorry for Mrs. X. She was lonely in spite of having a family. Lack of proper self-care and assistance coming from the family members have prevented her from aging healthy. Moreover, lack of companionship is the reason behind her loneliness. The sense of loneliness or feeling alone have decreased her satisfaction in life and making her more reluctant to take initiatives in healthy living activities. I feel that at some point of time people will gradually lose their neat and dear ones as human are mortal. But life goes on and it is our responsibility to take proper self-care to lead to healthy lifeboth physically and mentally.
4OLDER ADULT INTERVIEW Session 2 Introduction of Interviewee During the next semester, when I came to visit Mr. X, I found her more fresh and rejuvenating. She had her hair neatly combed and wearing a nice housecoat. She also greeted me with a smile offered me snacks. She told her maid helped her to dress for the interview and she asked her maid to maid snacks for me. I realized that I left a good impression upon her during my last visit. However, the forgetfulness of Mrs. X was same as before and she was speaking softly. Interview Session 2 Given in appendix Interview Summary In the summary of the interview, it can be said that childhood of Mrs. X was filled will abuse, bullying and racisms due to her aboriginal origin. Her constant victimization and early marriage ceased her marriage in the mid-way. From the summary of the interview, it can also be said that Mrs. X was a strong women, full with confidence. She single handedly managed her family during the turmoil like when her husband was sick. She was well known for her handcrafts. However, as she aged her physical strength decreased and so is her emotional strength. She lost her self-confidence. She lack concept of healthy aging. Integration of concepts The concepts that can be clearly highlighted in this interview includelack of proper knowledge about healthy ageing. According to Marsman et al. (2018), the majority of the older adults lack proper knowledge about healthy aging. In case of Mrs. X she has not clear prospective to keep herself mentally and physically healthy. Marsman et al. (2018) are of the
5OLDER ADULT INTERVIEW opinion that person centered care with focus on the concept of healthy ageing and emphasis on the need on the intrinsic capacity of an individual is instrumental to healthy aging. Healthy aging affects mental and physical healthy positively. In relation to healthy aging, Hamer, Lavoie and Bacon (2014) argued that healthy consumption of nutritional food, performance to mild to moderate physical activity along with performing hobbies of choice (to overcome stress) are three principal parameters of healthy aging. However, proper educations to the older adults are required to be undertaken in order to make them aware about healthy aging. Hamer, Lavoie and Bacon (2014) emphasized on manual assistance in order to help the older adults to take comprehensive steps in healthy ageing. Marciniak et al., (2014) stated that daily meditation helps in the promotion of the cognitive function, which help in healthy aging. Another concept, which evolved from the interview, includesincrease in spiritual thoughts among the older adults. This similar concept was reflected in the experts of interview of Mrs. X. She stated that her physical and her emotional strength have decreased but her spiritual mindset has again a new in sight during the course of time. According to Shukla (2015), aging is a part of natural life cycle of every human being. According to the theory of gerontology, the concept of positive aging deals with disease prevention, mental wellness in order to increase the quality of life. Prevention of occurrence of the disease among the older adults is somewhat complicated as the physical health becomes immune- compromised. Thus, the older adults concentrate over the mental well-being and this achieved through increase in the sense of spiritual thoughts. Dick (2014) further stated that spirituality has both direct and indirect influence over the physical and mental well-being. Understanding the individual’s perspective from the spiritual point of view is important, given under the context of issues of loss, physical illness and sense of mortality confronted among the older adults.
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