Interview with Senior Citizen - Essay Example

? Interview a Senior Citizen Grade (29th, March. Interview a Senior Citizen Interview transcript Q: I can see that you are completely upright when you walk despite being 65 years old. How is it possible that you have maintained the upright posture without even a slight bend? A: I have remained active throughout my life, trying to do more physical exercises every day, just to see that I remain physically fit, despite the passing years. Q: So, what types of physical activities have you been involved in? When did you start undertaking the physical exercises? A: If just to amuse you, I was born an active child. My mother used to tell me that I am so much mobile that it worries her to leave me alone even for a few minutes, lest she finds me gone to the market. When I was 4 years old, I had emerged as the best runner among the children in the neighborhood. I liked playing more than anything else, and when I joined school, I remained active in sports and athletics. I mostly enjoyed the sports that involved a lot of movement. I liked football, and yes I do to date. I played football and basketball, and sometimes a little table tennis, although I did not appreciate indoor games very much. While at home, when my siblings enjoyed playing some indoor games, I always found myself outside running and playing football with other children. The trend continued throughout my high school and even in college. Q: What happened after you left college? You stopped being active in games? A: No, I did not stop. I joined a volleyball club in the neighborhood, where I spent most of my free time, when I was not at work. In fact, I have watched few movies at this age, than you have yourself, as young as you are right now. Q: So, your physical activities and exercises involved sports only? A: It would be appropriate to observe that, because the only exception is that; I have adopted a program of jogging one or two kilometers every day, but that started when I became less and less active in sports, as age caught up with me. Q: How about now, do you jog every day? And how active are you in the house? A: I no longer jog every day, but I ensure I do some walking daily, just to flex myself. I am also active in the house, doing some manual house chores like washing. Q: What mentally stimulating activities have you been undertaking in the course of your life? A: It is like I have been more physically active to the extent of forgetting mental stimulation. However, the old age has forced me to engage in reading books, which is what I do most this days. I am reading more and more religious books, just to keep my faith strong. I am also fairly informed on the current happenings, since I read current affairs articles and newspapers. However, the most interesting aspect of all; is my engagement with some other elderly people in the neighborhood, with whom we discuss a lot about life. My grandchildren have also helped me remain mentally active through their stimulating questions and engagements, which give me a reason to reflect more on life. Q: And how are you engaged socially with others? Do you get any form of social support? A: I am very active socially. You can see it for yourself I think. At home all I do is talk with the family. I even engage my grandchildren until they forget to do their home work. Before I retired, my office had become synonymous with a social club, since I preferred remaining in office over the breaks, and have a chat with my colleagues or even clients. I am socially active to date. I hope I had already told you that I engage a lot with some elderly people in the neighborhood. When I go out for a walk, every afternoon, I am bound to spend some 3 three hours out. Half of this time is spent talking interacting with others. Social interaction for me is even more of a whole-day activity on Sundays, because I do not go home after church, rather remaining behind to talk and reflect together with the church members. We often have mid-week meetings also. Additionally, we have many old people in this neighborhood, which makes social interaction almost mandatory, since old people like meeting and talking. With time you will realize why we prefer meeting and talking, other than just travelling and adventure as happens with you young people. Q: According to you, what gives life meaning? How have you been involved in undertaking meaningful activities throughout your life? A: The meaning of life is serving the creator and serving humanity. Nothing delights me more than engaging in charity work, reading religious books, going to church and sharing the word with others. While my life was not that of a very religious man when I was young, I was still involved in charitable projects, borrowing money from my parents for the same. When I started working, I continued to do the same, but I got into church and religion when I married. My wife taught me the value of religion in human life, and I have lived with that, especially after she died 4 years ago. I share the words of hope with everyone I interact with, since the words have helped me move on, after my wife departed. Q: At this age, what is it that you do for fun? Do you engage in any recreational l activities? A: I do some walking, occasional jogging, read religious books, share the word, and interact with others. That is all fun I have. That is what gives my life meaning. Q: How is your living environment? Does it support your desired life appropriately? Is it within a retirement community? A: I do not live in a retirement community, but as I told you earlier, old people prefer living here because the place is secure and the social amenities are at a close proximity. Walking around is also fun and most of the facilities are found within the neighborhood. Therefore, while living in this region as an elderly, the need for transport is minimal, although the public transport here is reliable and suitable for us. Reflective Paper Most Notable Aspects of the Interview There are certain notable topics that resonated well with the interviewee during the interview. One aspect that came out strongly from his responses is the value of being physically active in an individual’s life. The interviewee repeatedly narrated some of his earlier physical life activities, which has enabled him to maintain his upright posture to date. I discovered that he walks uprightly without even a slight bend, when he first appeared for the interview, an aspect that caught my attention, since most of the people at this age walk while bending, at least slightly. This actually became the first question for him and he narrated his activeness throughout his life, which has persisted to date, with occasional jogging and mandatory daily walking. The other notable aspect of the interviewee; is the value he attaches to religion, charity and social interaction. For the interviewee, his life revolves around reading religious material, interacting with people in the neighborhood to a tune of one-and-half hours daily, while also engaging in charitable activities and sharing the words of hope with others. Thus, the topic of physical activity, social interaction and spirituality, seems to be the most notable aspects of the interviewee. The Most Surprising Aspects of the Interview While interacting with the interviewee, all seemed to go well until he gave me a response that surprised me, about the death of his wife 4 years ago. All along, I expected that his wife was alive, because he did not show any trace of loneliness or sadness. It is expected of a spouse that has lost his/her partner to show some aspect of being lonely or at least being sad. However, for the interviewee, the case was completely different, since he in fact celebrated the legacy that his wife left him; that of the value of religion in human life. He went on to say that he had become even more engaged in religion after the death of his wife, since it is the words of hope that gave him more strength to move on, during the saddening moment. In the company of his grandchildren and the elderly people in the neighborhood, he seems to have completely recovered from the loss of his wife, and he is now a strong and healthy man both psychologically and physically. A Commentary about the Participant’s Overall Functioning Healthy aging is what describes the participant in this interview. A healthy living comprises of the likelihood of an individual to prevent himself/herself from disease-related disability (Hartman-Stein & Potkanowicz, 2003). The prevention of disease related disability entails the engagement in physical activities and recreational activities, that keeps the body of the individual health and strong, despite his/her age. This seems to be the exact case with the interviewee in this case, who has been physically active throughout his life, and who continues to engage in health physical activities such as jogging and daily routine walking. The physical and social environment that individuals live, determines their physical wellbeing too (Masotti, Fick, Johnson-Masotti & MacLeod, 2009). The environment in which the interview lives seems to be complementing his physical exercising, since he has a chance to walk often, and jog occasionally. These are essential activities that will play a big role in helping prevent the interviewee from the disease-related disability. Another parameter that is applied to measure the healthy aging aspect of an individual is the ability of the individual to prevent himself/herself from cognitive impairment (Potkanowicz, Hartman-Stein & Biermann, 2009). This requires an individual to be continuously and consistently involved in cognitive stimulating activities, as well as activities that are maintaining an optimistic mental outlook for the individual (Hartman-Stein & Potkanowicz, 2003). This test has been accomplished by the individuals living style, since he is constantly engage in reading religious materials, reading issues of current affairs and engaging in discussions with his peers in the neighborhood, which allows him to reflect upon life. Through such mind stimulating activities, the mentality of the interviewee remains cognitively active, since he is also engaged by his grandchildren with questions that require him to reflect and think. It is through undertaking such mental stimulating activities, that an individual is bound to remain mentally fit, stress and depression free, since he does not spend most of his time in loneliness and sadness, which are a precursor for mind stagnation, stress and depression (Leung, 2011). The other fundamental yardstick for measuring the healthy aging of an individual is the aspect of finding meaning in life (Potkanowicz, Hartman-Stein & Biermann, 2009). This encompasses the ability of an individual to still value life and avoid despair, despite being old, since it is out of desperation and lack of meaning for life, that an individual eventually goes into stress and depression, which impacts negatively on his/her health (Masotti, Fick, Johnson-Masotti & MacLeod, 2009). This criterion has been actively met by the interviewee, who is living a jovial and socially interactive life, despite his old age, and despite his loss of a spouse. In fact, for the interviewee, the true meaning of life was found when he first got married, although he had been involved in charitable activities before that. However, after marriage, the value of religion in human life, the need for serving humanity, and the need for social interaction was accelerated, which has become the lifeline of the interviewee. The interviewee has found the new meaning of life, especially in church, religion and sharing the word of hope, which allows him to keep a positive attitude in perceiving life, which is essential for both the physical and mental health of an old person (Leung, 2011). Resistance training has also been observed to benefit even the old and the frail individuals in regaining muscle strength (Hartman-Stein & Potkanowicz, 2003). Therefore, considering that the interviewee has been largely involved in undertaking relatively strenuous exercises such as jogging, his physical and muscle strength has increased substantially, a good explanation for his perfect upright posture at the age of 65 years. Therefore, it is prudent to observe that the interview in this case is undergoing a healthy aging. The important lesson that was learnt in this case revolves around the value of social interaction and service to humanity. The interviewing and interaction with the 65 year old man, put the value of service to humanity into perspective, by making it clear that through serving others, an individual develops self-satisfaction, which is fundamental for his/her mental health. The recommendation for improvement by the interviewee is that; he should engage in more mind-involving activities, such as working-out codeword puzzles and playing mind-oriented and reason-demanding games, which will highly improve his mind alertness, and mental cognition abilities. References 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. Leung, P.-C. (2011). Healthy aging. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. 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. 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. Read More