Interview of an Older Adult

Purpose of Assignment: The purpose of this assignment is to examine the life experiences of aging itself and more specifically, aging in US society. The assignment is designed to provide the student with the opportunity to reflect upon their own thoughts, attitudes and beliefs about aging and develop empathy for the experience of aging in America and apply those reflections to clinical practice in the care of the older adult. This assignment will address course SLOs #1, #5, and #6.

Procedure for Completing Assignment:

1. Identify an individual over the age of 65 who is willing to be interviewed for this assignment. This person can be a patient, relative or friend. Because the information that you are seeking can be reflective, thoughtful and possibly intimate, discuss this assignment with the individual carefully to determine that the individual is willing to engage in the interview. Expect the interview to last one hour.

2. Qualitative information: Provide a thoughtful and thorough written description of the interviewee. Use language which is rich in description as an introduction to the interviewee. Feel free to include interviewee’s thoughts an opinions.

3. Quantitative information: (DO NOT USE THE PATIENT’S NAME, ADDRESS, ZIPCODE, DATE OF BIRTH, PHONE NUMBER, SSN OR ANY IDENTYFING INFORMATION. Interviews that are submitted with any of this information will be returned to the student unread and ungraded. There will be no opportunity to resubmit the paper in this instance.

a. age in years

b. gender

c. race/ethnicity

d. occupational history

e. position in family of origin

f. educational background

g. marital or partner history

h. religious beliefs

i. cultural influences

j. living arrangements

k. transportation

l. abilities and support systems

4. POSSIBLE Interview Topics: (You may decide to ask more questions, ask these questions in a different manner or delete questions that are not pertinent to the conversation).

a. Tell me about your childhood, growing up years, family and what school was like for you

b. Tell me about your life right now: what is going well for you, not so well

c. Talk about the experience of aging. What is it like? How do you feel? Has it changed the way

you live or work? What advice would you give anyone about aging?

d. Does religion or spirituality play a role in your life? Has it always? Have your views on

religion/spirituality changed over the years? If so, how?

d. Do you have any health issues?

1) if yes, what do you know/understand about the issues? How do they affect your

daily living

e. Talk about your experience with the health care system. What do you like about your

experiences with health care? What could the health care system do to better meet your

needs? What would you say to a physician about the best way to take care of you? A nurse? A hospital administrator? Anyone else?

5. Reflection questions:

a. What did you learn from the interview about aging adults that was new and/or surprised

you?

b. What did you learn that will be helpful to you in your own experience of aging?

c. What did you learn from the interview about aging adults that will be helpful to you in your

practice? How might the information you used inform the development of nursing

interventions when interacting with older patients?

d. If given the opportunity to repeat this interview experience, would you do anything

differently? If so, why, and what would you do?

e. include any additional reflections about this interview, your thoughts about aging or anything

else that informed/informs your thinking about older adults.

Older Adult Interview

Qualitative Information 

XYZ is an elderly person in our neighborhood that has agreed to be part of our research. XYZ has agreed to use him for research purposes on understanding the nature and the lives of the elderly population in the community and their health needs. The interviewee has a sharp element as he answers questions directly and remembers almost all of his details from the past and the present. He has shown that he had enjoyed his youthful days and has worked towards better goals of a healthy person. He also appears to be healthy despite claiming that he has been in hospital and need of medical attention over the past five years. However, his posture, gestures, memories, alertness, body movements, breathing system, productivity, weight, and the ability to balance stress has diminished depending on the way he talked. He appears healthy although, by his looks, his mind and attention have changed. It was fun to talk to him and listen to stories he shared about his past but also, he shared stressing information about his struggles with old age and the things he regrets not doing when he was young. He also added that being part of the research was a good opportunity as he thought that the healthcare system should be evaluated to accommodate the changes and the challenges experienced by the older populations. He added that he has been discouraged by the current healthcare system as it has forgotten the needs of the older people who are unlikely to seek medication due to the high costs and lengthy procedures in getting effective medication.

Quantitative Information 

XYZ is an eighty-one years old male from our neighborhood that accepted my request of being interviewed for a school project. He is a white American that has lived and worked as a Navy SEAL in his past. He also claimed to have been part of the Afghanistan team in the 1960s when he was in his twenties. He has also been in different parts of the world on peace-keeping missions. For example, the interviewee claimed that he has been part of missions such as the Vietnam War in 1967, the Panama mission in 1989, and the Operation Desert Shield in 1990 and 1991. These missions have contributed greatly to his current health and have also created mental health problems affecting his current life. He is a father of three – two sons and one daughter – and a grandfather of six children. He considers himself as the pillar of his family as he has helped to connect and keep his family together as he was a family man and has only one wife. XYZ is a religious man but he has been away for many years in the past but he has maintained his religious beliefs as a catholic. He claimed to never being influenced by cultural issues and has never been in any form of living arrangements although he attends a community club within his region that is comprised of U.S military veterans. He has an old truck that he has used for many years. The interviewee has skills in playing golf and is also a member of a golf club in his resident region.

Interview Questions

Me: Tell me about your childhood

XYZ: My childhood did not have much fun as it was a time when there was war all over the world. We went to school and after a certain age, it was mandatory to represent your country in restoring world peace. I joined the military at an early age.

Me: Tell me about your life right now, what’s going on well for you and not so well

XYZ: For now, I don’t have many complaints as I have tried my part to be fit and healthy. Except for my old age, and the stress that comes with getting old, my family has been my pivot as they have helped me in any way possible. However, getting support from the healthcare system is stressful nowadays. The healthcare system is too expensive and they do not consider people that have unique medical conditions.

Me: Let’s talk about your experience of aging, what is it like, how do you feel, has it changed the way you live or work? What advice would you give anyone about aging?

XYZ: “Laughing,” we will all get old, and it is something we could avoid. However, many things have changed. Before I retired, I used to be energetic and I could represent my country in peace-keeping missions. Many things have changed over the years, as you can see, my eyesight is diminishing, my weight is worrying, and my health is also deteriorating. All I can advise someone is, take good care of your health when you have the chance, have good exercises, and eat healthily. These things will help you cope with many types of illnesses in the future. As you can guess, I used to be energetic and healthy and that’s maybe among the reasons that have helped me avoid having multiple health complications.

Me: Do you have any health issues?

XYZ: The only thing that has been affecting my health is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression. In the past, it was not an issue and I didn’t see it as a problem as I could find many things to do when I am stressed. Nowadays, it has become severe since I don’t have things to keep me busy and active due to old age.

Me: What do you understand about depressions or PTSD? How does it affect your life?

XYZ: PTSD and depression have affected my life in many ways. For example, I find it difficult to sleep. It has also affected my appetite and eating habits, difficulty in concentration, and I tend to do one thing many times without even knowing. Most of the time my family reminds me when am repeating one thing many times.

Me: Talk about your experience with the healthcare system. What do you like about it and what would be done to make it better?

XYZ: I have a membership card for a veteran which is an instrument of accessing healthcare needs when I am in need. However, not all is easy in this country nowadays. Many procedures are needed in ascertaining the credentials of insurance and getting payments done by the insurance companies. I like the idea that the Medicare and Medicaid programs are helping many people in the community to access and afford healthcare services but also, the government should regulate the problems of high costs of healthcare services. Also, there should be enough nursing staffing in healthcare institutions to avoid the problems of delays. Health professionals should consider involving ethics and morals to help each patient and their health needs.

Reflection Questions

The interview has helped obtain information concerning the challenges facing older people in the community. This is connected to the first-hand information from older persons who have contributed to the research by offering their insights into the understanding of the problems facing the healthcare system. For instance, the interviewee has helped in the understanding of the issues of health insurance and the problems facing patients in accessing affordable and accessible healthcare services in health institutions. It is also better to prepare for aging as it would be effective to maintain healthy lifestyles and physical exercises to avoid various chronic conditions (Lyskawa, 2021). The information offered by the interview can be useful in developing policies that would reshape the healthcare system by enhancing staffing practices, improving the delivery of high-quality services, and creating nursing homes for the older people in the community. Aging is inevitable and it will catch up with most of us in a community but it would be vital to be prepared with healthy lifestyles, medical insurance, and having family and people to take care of us when we get old.