One of my biggest fears about aging is losing my independence because of a major health condition. Since I am an independent person, I would describe this situation as emotional, social, and physical. I can see myself struggling with everyday activities and having to ask others for help. Emotionally, I would definitely feel scared and anxious about losing my autonomy. I would also be worried about being a burden to my family or friends. Medical expenses could also affect my quality of life. This situation would change my idea of life as an older adult. I would picture myself being 60, healthy, and spending time with my family; I would also want to enjoy life without working. If I were to develop health conditions, I might have to change these plans. Regardless of what happens, I would still want to figure out how to enjoy my life while maintaining some independence.

The CARA model and GRRs could help me foster more resilience by supporting my independence. My family, friends, and community services could all give me support. My experience working with older adults also allows me to understand that someone getting assistance doesn’t mean someone has lost her independence.

There has been research that supports the importance of individualized support for maintaining independence. Research by De Vriendt et al. (2016) found that I would guess that resilience would mean being able to adapt instead of allowing my health condition to control me. Instead of worrying about what I can’t do, I would focus on what I could do. Get help when needed and still make my own decisions. I think this experience being something that changed my view of independence, from doing everything alone to having control over choices in my life.

De Vriendt, P., Peersman, W., Florus, A., Verbeke, M., & Van de Velde, D. (2016). Improving Health Related Quality of Life and Independence in Community Dwelling Frail Older Adults through a Client-Centred and Activity-Oriented Program. A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial. The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 20(1), 35–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-016-0673-6