University
of Phoenix Material
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, past and present: Ask about exercise routines
as well as ordinary activities that involve physical exertion such as yard
work, house cleaning, walking, and so on. Try to determine whether or not the
participant has maintained an active lifestyle over the years.
·
Mentally stimulating activities, past and present: Ask the
participant what he/she does to stay sharp. This might include card games,
crossword puzzles, reading, taking courses, and so on. Try to determine the
extent to which the participant has challenged him/herself to engage in
ongoing, active learning.
·
Social support and social interactions: Ask the participant about
his/her social contacts, past and present. This could include his/her spouse or
partner, friends, relatives, social clubs, social activities, etc. Try to
determine whether the participant has a strong base of social support.
·
Meaningful activities: What gives life meaning? Ask the
participant to recall his/her most meaningful activities and ask if he/she is
still engaged in such activities. This will vary from person to person but
could include helping others, teaching younger people, religious or spiritual
activities, giving back to his/her community, sharing talents or skills,
creative activities, and so on. Your task is to determine if the participant is
still actively engaged in activities that matter to him/her.
·
Recreational/leisure activities:
What does the participant do for fun? Try to get a sense of what he/she
still enjoys and how frequently he/she participates in enjoyable activities.
·
Living
environment. What is the individual’s
home environment like? Does he/she live
in a retirement community? If so, what
is it like? Does he/she still
drive? If not, how does the individual
manage transportation challenges such as running routine errands, getting to
doctor’s appointments and attending social events? What environmental challenges does he/she
face?
Try to
keep the interview process light and fun. Focus on what the participant is
doing well.
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.
