PART 1:
Hello all, my name is Teaira Hood. I am the second oldest of nine and a mother of 2 beautiful girls, ages two and five. I already have an associate degree in Social Work and decide to further my education and get a bachelor and master soon after(hopefully). I have always been interested in helping others in anyways I can thanks to my great-grandmother’s influence at a younger age.
I believe older adults is an age difficult to deal with personally and professional. Personally, I have notice older adults do not want to feel like a burden or may feel sadden by the fact they are unable to do activities, and daily routines like they did before. They may need more help with things like, bathing, cleaning, shopping, and bills. Professionally, I work in customer service, and daily I get a few with a sense of entitlement, because they feel they are older and been through a lot and should get what they are asking for or need prioritized.
From this course I hope to gain a better understanding of aging and dealing with individuals trying to learn and cope with a new stage of their lives. I hope to learn different approaches to deal individuals at different stages of aging.
PART 2:
Older adulthood and later life make me think about being old(grandmother), stereotyped, discriminated against and in need. I can see me as an older retired, married happily fulfilled hospital volunteer. I can see my daughters taking turns stopping by weekly to make sure there is food in the fridge, medicine has been taken, and home is clean.
My age I would consider older age would be 68. In my experience 60 is where I feel I will have a decline in physical activity. I will still be in great shape exercising at least once a week even if it’s a little walk around the block. I will be tried easily, sluggish and slower in most things. Hopefully, health wise, I would still have great health. Looking at my parents now approaching their sixties, neither have any health issues, no family history of heart disease, diabetes, cancers.
I will spend most of my time with family and friends and volunteering. I see myself still working in hospitals or volunteering at the schools. My biggest fear with growing older is medical diseases, issues or complications. My fear is not having the strength or ability to fight if needed. Or I fear anything that can bring me closer to death before expected.
Hi Teaira, I appreciate you bringing up Ageism. This strikes a cord with me, I am very passionate about how our older population is thought of, handled and taken care of. I appreciate that you see yourself continuing to volunteer as you enter into older adult ages. There is a theory of aging called the “Continuity theory of aging”. One of the characteristics of this theory is that however a person was in personality and whatever priorities a person had as a younger person, they bring with them into their older adult ages. I am sure you serve and volunteer your time when you can as an adult because it is important to you. This aging theory makes the case that you will actually continue to dedicate your time in this way and I love that for you (and everyone that you will be helping).
LaCher,
It’s interesting that you mention The Continuity Theory of Aging . I wonder how you see that connecting the the CARA model that we talk about in class? I also think you will find some interesting comments from Cruikshank about that theory – maybe not specifically, but the idea that we should always carry forward how we defined ourselves in middle age – particularly as women. I really look forward to lots of conversations.
Dr P
Teaira,
I am sorry that you have had less positive experiences – or stories – about the aging process. There are a bunch of us who would take issue with the idea that we start to become tired, sluggish and slower. Just teasing, because it is true that there are always physical changes as we get older. But I think you will find Cruikshank interesting, in that she suggests it is the emotional and spiritual challenges of aging that might be more problematic for us.
I understand the fear of illness and that is a common concern when looking at aging. I think you will learn a great deal from Aronson on that front. She is an amazing geriatrician who offers quite a different perspective on aging.
I look forward to many more conversations.
Dr P