Instruction
Write a 3 to 4-page paper (plus an additional reference page if necessary) based upon a one-hour interview with an older adult. This interview will cover the adults’ lifespan and a discussion of their current living conditions. Based on the interview, students will write a paper that examines the life events and life course of this person referencing ideas about development and aging previously discussed in class and in readings.
In your interview and the assignment address the following questions in essay form. Do not use bullets or incomplete sentences. Writing should be coherent and thoughtful responses to the issues raised by the questions. The questions below are meant to be conversation starters so be sure to ask follow-up questions to gather more detail from the person if need be.
Social Roles:
How has the individuals’ social roles changed across their lifespan? How did social and cultural changes affect their individual role changes? How has this individual’s work life evolved over their adult life? Describe them in the temporal order (from childhood to late adulthood).
Psychological Development:
Addressing Erikson’s theory, in what ways does this individual feel that they have contributed to their family, community, or society? In other words, in what ways do they feel generative? Or do they feel somewhat stagnant and unmotivated. Looking back on their life, to have they made peace with the positive and negative events in their lives? In other words, do they feel a sense of integrity about their life well lived? Or do they feel a sense of despair, wishing they could do things differently. How is their cognitive functioning, e.g. memory, attention, etc.
Health:
How is their current health? Do they have any chronic illnesses? If so, can they attribute any previous risky behaviors to their current illness? For example, if they have COPD, did they smoke? If so, for how long? What are they doing to manage their health? Are they functional, or do they need help with their ADLs?
Conclusion:
Given what you have learned in this course, assess this person’s aging. Is it considered as successful aging? Why do you think it is? In what ways is he/she achieving successful aging? What might you suggest to this person to improve the quality of their lives?