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Excerpts from Service Learning Journals:
"Looking around I noticed a woman, who I quickly stereotyped. She looked much older than the others in the group did. With the twitch in her lip, and her unsteady walk, she sat down and started eating her bagged lunch. I passed her off as a guest of someone else in the group. Once she started giving her opinion on the subject, I felt like a fool. It is so easy to fall into an old habit of stereotyping even when the aim of the class you are in is aimed at breaking down stereotypes about elders."
"I have noticed that with age rather than being affected by any physical afflictions the most detrimental thing is what it all does to your emotional and psychological state. I can imagine that as we age we are more conscious of being watched by others. ... "
"I observed some mental (cognitive functions) aspects of aging in the [meeting with the older adults]. Mentally, not only are they the intellectually curious individuals ...., but because of this, they have the benefit of retaining the normal cognitive functions of brain cells as well as to slow or even prevent some age-related mental impairments such as forgetfulness, memory loss, etc."
".....with age they both pay more attention to what their bodies tell them. If something upsets their digestion the stay away from it. This is unlike younger people who tend to eat the chili dog anyway, knowing full well that they will end up with indigestion later.. One other comment that both made were that they were fed up with the amount of medications they need to take each day. Although try not to miss a dose, afraid of what may happen, they agree that the worst part of getting older is having conditions for which you have to indefinitely take medicine."
"I asked what it felt like to forget things. At my age or any age before our elder years it is easy to pass off forgetfulness and just figure you will remember later. But I asked F. if it was more an issue of frustration or fear when he forgets. He said it is both. He gets frustrated that he forgets things and is really hard on himself. But, he also admits that it is frightening to forget things in your elder years. Rather than just get annoyed, he stops and wonders if forgetting something is a sign of dementia or Alzheimer's. The loss of control of your memory is hard to handle. "
'This process gives some "realism" to what on the text appears to be a simple process of caring for elders: you just do this and that and it all works out! Obviously the reality of it all is not so simple as that. "
"....they all came over to speak to me and told me how nice they thought it was that I wanted to do this and they hoped "I would learn a lot". Their kindness didn't just make my day, it made my year. I could barely contain my enthusiasm over being so openly welcomed ....."
"Please let me also take this time to tell you what a wonderful class Health and Aging is. I know {my older adult partner] says he may have benefit more than I as a result of the class and our meetings. He may feel that way, but I know that this class has been a tremendous help to me. I have always wanted to be a pediatrician. Now that I am applying to medical school and am being asked what area of medicine I would like specialize in, I am finding myself torn between pediatrics and geriatrics. H&A has opened me up to the possibility of focusing my career on caring for the elderly."
Send questions or comments about this website to: Debra Sheets, RN, Ph.D |
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