Reflection Paper on Interviewing an Older Adult about Aging

Reflection Paper

Contents
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................3
Reflection.............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................11
Appendix............................................................................................................................................12
Interview Questions.........................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Reflection in academic writing can help an individual to analyse their learnings from
their experience of an event. It can be stated that a reflection not only helps in developing
new skills as well as enhance their existing knowledge (Diehl, Smyer and Mehrotra, 2020). It
is important for an individual to take into account the different experiences as well as
learnings so that they can enhance their overall efficiency as well as the skills. This further
helps in enhancing the overall performance as well as knowledge of the individual. The
respective report includes a reflection about interviewing an older adult. This will include a
critique about the approach to the interview and so on.
Reflection
I recently interviewed an old lady wherein we spoke about the process of aging. I
personally was interested in undertaking this interview because I thought that this would help
me in enhancing my knowledge about aging and allow me to develop new skills. Before
undertaking the interview, I ensured that the interviewee was comfortable with the setting and
that they did not feel any kind of discomfort. The age of the interviewee was around 70 years
and she was very kind to accept to be interviewed. This is because I feel that it talks a lot of
effort from, the end of an old adult to agree for an interview. On asking if she was
comfortable with the setting, she stated that she was comfortable and was looking forward to
the interview. I ensured that the setting for the interview such as the seating area was
comfortable for the interviewee. My approach to the interview was very simple and the I
ensured that all of the questions that I developed, we easy for the interviewee to answer. This
was very helpful because at the end of the interview, the interviewee told me that she was
very happy to be a part of the interview. During the interview, my body posture was that I
was at ease although initially I was a bit nervous as I thought that the interviewee might not

be comfortable to answer my questions. But as the interview went on, I observed that she had
a lot of things to share about the process of aging, which was very insightful and thought
provoking.
I was very much interested as well as empathetic in listening to the interviewee’s
response. From the interview, it was analysed that the interviewee has gone through or
experienced various cognitive, social, emotional as well as physical changes over the last 15-
20 years. She said that aging is a slow process and that there are many factors that contribute
to the same (Liu and et.al., 2020). She shared all the useful as well as informative insights
that will be helpful for anyone who reads or hears the interview. As far as the social changes
are concerned, she stated that as an individual ages, their social network as well as people
with whom they interact on a regular basis keeps on changing and it reduces to only few
people. She stated that she was saying this out of experience and that over all these years, she
has learned that it is very few people in our lives that stay with out through our happy as well
as difficult times. As far as the emotional changes are concerned, she said that as a person
ages, their physical appearance also starts to change. This means that some people become
more prone to fractures while some may start to feel a loss in their strength as well as
flexibility. It is different for all people and depends on many factors such as their diet as well
as their lifestyle. The interviewee stated that it is important for the individuals to live a
healthy life and focus on their dietary intake from the very beginning because this is what
repays in the future.
During the interview, I was observing that the interviewee showed interest while she
was answering the questions. I kept on checking with her from time to time if she was
comfortable with the setting or if she required a change. Emotional changes are too a part of
the aging process and she said that one should be comfortable to the same. There is proof that
a few natural body changes associated with getting old may additionally increase someone's