Assignment: Conversation with an Older Adult
Length: 3-4 pages
Please converse with an older adult.
You can frame your exploratory questions based on the assignment criteria below:
Section 1: Description of your older person.
Include brief physical description, and presentation of them (speaking, listening, and insight). Provide their age, and summarize general functioning level. Provide any additional information that is relevant such as the persons history if known
Section 2: Summary of the older adults situation.
Provide a brief summary of their life situation, including the major themes of their situation, such as personal history, family, relationships, life transitions, values etc. These are examples only – your task is to condense the contents of the interview into more abstract themes or concepts. For each theme, summarize the major points and give examples, if appropriate.
Section 3: Analysis of this older adult.
Based upon your impressions of this older person, what are some tentative conclusions about this persons life? For this section, take the information about this person as a whole and try to arrive at an understanding about whom this older person is. Pay specific attention to the impact of ageism and issues of diversity (gender, etc.) on the persons life.
Section 4: Analysis of you.
For this final section, summarize your own (i.e. Feelings) involvement writing this analysis. What was it like for you? What is your reaction to this older person? How did you feel? What did you learn?
