Hi everyone! My name is Angie Shin. I was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to the United States when I was six years old. I am currently working on my MSW, and recently, my interest in social work has shifted from direct practice more toward policy and advocacy.
I would say I have a good amount of personal experience with older adults because, growing up, my grandparents lived with my family. Because of this, I became familiar and comfortable with being around older adults from a young age. In this class, I hope to gain more knowledge about the aging population and the challenges people may face as they age. I also hope to become more knowledgeable and comfortable working with older adults in my future social work practice.
When I think of the concepts of “older adulthood” or “later life,” I used to think of people in their 60s. However, now when I think of older adulthood and later life, I think more about people in their 80s. When I hear these terms, I imagine a stage of life when everyday activities may become more difficult to manage independently and the need for assistance may come into play.
When I think of myself in later life, I imagine my chronological age being in my 80s. I envision myself having gray hair and wrinkles. I imagine that I may feel stiffer and that quick movements may be more difficult. I also think my thought process may slow down and my short-term memory may not be as strong. Depending on how well I take care of myself throughout my life, I hope to remain healthy despite some of the usual stiffness, discomfort, and aches and pains that may come with aging. I also realize that things such as cuts and soreness may take longer to heal.
I hope to spend my time keeping my brain and body as active as possible. I imagine doing crossword puzzles and activities that help maintain my motor skills because I have heard that staying mentally and physically active is important as we age. I also hope to surround myself with people as much as possible because I have been told that people may become more isolated as they get older. I think what brings me pleasure in my 30s may be different from what brings me pleasure in my 80s. At that stage of my life, I think I will appreciate time spent with others and simply living and being present in the moment.
One thing I fear about aging is memory loss and declining motor skills. My mother is a caregiver, so I know there are people who can assist older adults when they begin having difficulty doing certain things independently. However, the thought of losing my memories and no longer remembering the experiences and happiness from throughout my life scares me. To me, our memories are such an important part of who we are, which is why memory loss is one of my biggest concerns when I think about aging.
Angie,
Developing Alzheimer’s is a huge fear of mine as I grow older. When I was a girl, my great-grandmother developed memory loss in her late 80s (she lived until 100, unbelievably!), and it was quite disheartening to witness her forget her children, grandchildren, and me. Like you, I find the concept of forgetting so frightening because, as you said, memory makes up so much of who we are! Hopefully, technology will progress in ways that will make this disease preventable or reversible in some way, but, in the meantime, I hope that I will have a strong support system to assist me if such a thing were to occur as I age. I also think there’s an important discussion to be had about the need for stronger protections for the elderly, particularly those with memory loss, against inhumane treatment and rights injustices. I can’t imagine what my great-grandmother would’ve gone through had she not had loving family members who deeply cared for her.
Looking forward to learning more about you during the course of the semester! Wishing you the best of luck.
Hi @Angie and @Courtney !
I also wrote about my fears of Alzheimer’s. My great grandmother now has late stage dementia due to Alzheimer’s, and it is heartbreaking to see my father unable to visit or be there for her because of his citizenship status. Even from thousands of miles away, he does everything he can to make sure she has everything she needs and is being treated kindly by her caretakers, while the people closest to her have essentially forgotten about her. I had the pleasure of meeting her once, and after working as a senior companion, I often worry about whether she has enough support and someone there to make sure she is being cared for properly. This is one of the reasons I think social workers in assisted living facilities are so important. They can help advocate for residents and make sure they are being heard and cared for, especially when they do not have family nearby to do that for them. Seeing what my great grandmother is going through has made me realize that Alzheimer’s can be a scary disease, not just for the person experiencing it but also for their family.
Hello Angie. I can understand why memory loss would be one of your biggest fears because so much of who we are is connected to the memories and experiences we have made throughout our lives. I also liked that you mentioned staying active mentally and physically and surrounding yourself with people, because I think having that social connection can make a big difference as we get older. I look forward to reading more of your post.
Angie,
I am sure you found, as you read some of your fellow classmates’ posts, that fear of dementia is one of the most prevalent fears of aging. We will spend some time talking about that in an upcoming module. I think the loss of families being close in proximity as their older members age is one of the challenges we face regarding aging in our culture. We will be talking about senior living with one of our professionals and reading an article about “Home is Home.” We have developed a model of separating our older adults into communities, making it easier and less expensive for us to care for them. It raises some important questions about aging in our country. You have a different experience and traditions.
Just an FYI – if you look at the video on the blog, or read my latest email, I talk about how to upload your featured image. If you scroll down to the bottom on the right side of your post window, you will find “Set Featured Imgae.” I wal you through how to do this in my video on using the blog. This information is about halfway through. You might find it helpful and it will place your image right at the top of the blog post.
I am looking forward to all of these conversations.
Dr P