Introduction
Mrs. Brown is a 67-year-old African American client. She lives in Westchester County, and she happened to be my neighbor. Living in the same neighborhood, I have known her for more than ten years. We have interacted on several occasions, such as community work, charity walks, and community sporting activities. As a result of our various interactions, she becomes a suitable person to carry out my interview as part of my course requirement.
History and Description of Questionnaire Results
Demographics
The client, Mrs. Brown, is a woman of African American ethnic background. She was born in Westchester County in 1954 to an American father and an African mother. She has lived in America her entire life and learned in the same place until she graduated from Westchester community college with a Diploma in Nursing. Mrs. Brown is 67 years old, and she has been married since the age of 21 years to Mr. Brown. Together they have three children. Mrs. Brown was employed as a nurse in Westchester Medical Centre for 37 years until she retired in 2017 when she was 62 years old.
Perceived Physical Functioning
The perceived physical functioning of a person changes with age. Just like any other person, Mrs. Brown had experienced age-related differences from when she was young. The physical functioning of the body is also different from when she was young. Functional decline is one of the biggest and most common challenges in elderly people (Wei et al., 2019). For example, there is diminished muscle strength and mobility as well as a loss of skin elasticity. The poor physical health and well-being in this population have been attributed to a wide range of factors, including the co-existence of multiple morbidities. Mrs. Brown exhibits some of these typical physical health changes that are common during old age. Most of the changes are disadvantageous because they substantially limit important functions such as movement, hearing, and sight. For example, her ability to sustain heavy physical activities had highly decreased compared to when she was in her 20s and 30s. Besides, her participation in sporting activities, charity walks, and community work has decreased. This is mainly because of her susceptibility to environmental hazards and age-related complications.
Perceived Mental Functioning
Despite her age hiccups, Mrs. Brown maintains a decisive outlook on things and events, and she seemed to have a high memory of both positive and negative experiences in her life. Due to her regular physical activities, though they have decreased, social interactions and mental activities, her long-term memory is as sharp as when she was young. She demonstrated a high clarity of thoughts and a brilliant thought process. However, her thought process was slightly different from when she was young in that it was a bit slower and more accurate. Most of her answers were based on experience. In addition, she exhibits a positive outlook on life as manifested in her happiness. This is contrary to experiences many elderly people undergo face during this stage in their life. Positive states such as happiness tend to decline in individuals who live a long life like Mrs. Brown. Amani (2016) explains that the aging process is often characterized by some deteriorations that compromise the overall health and wellbeing of the elderly. An empirical study of elderly people conducted by Amani (2016) established that self-esteem is significantly and positively related to happiness in this population. The findings of this investigation provide a reliable explanation of Mrs. Brown’s decisive outlook on things and events.
Historical Events
Some historical events have different impacts on different people and influence people’s attitudes towards life differently. According to Mrs. Brown, elections had health care consequences, especially when they happened during the COVID-19 pandemics, and to her, it is something that needed to be considered. Considering the virus is more severe on older people, her attitude towards life was negatively affected, and she thought the government is not considerate at all. Besides, everyone has a right to participate in elections without exposing their lives to danger. Putting elections during such a time was a bit irrational. Considering the impact that the November elections would have on the health of old adults amid the COVID- 19 crisis, she says it would be critical to consider changes in the healthcare systems to ensure older people are not in danger of outbreaks.
Socio-Demographics
Gender and ethnicity discrimination plays a vital role in someone’s life. They directly or indirectly increase the vulnerability of someone’s physical, psychological, and overall well-being. Directly, a person exposed to gender and racial discrimination is likely to suffer from poor health and low well-being due to stress. It is evident in many American counties that African American women and other disadvantaged groups are highly vulnerable to gender and racial descriptions. According to Mrs. Brown during the interview, Gender and Ethnic are the two major issues that have impacted her life and have changed her attitude towards life. Being an African American and living in Westchester country, Mrs. Brown says racism and discrimination have been her significant concern.
Though she has not addressed it on any platform, gender, and racial discrimination directly impact her life. In a way, it has affected her directly, both mentally and socially. Considering the latest event on the murder of Gorge Floyd, Mrs. Brown says there is a need for blacks to be recognized and accepted as Americans because they are born and brought up there. It is a significant cause of psychological distress among many African American citizens. She further added that gender and racial discrimination can be a source of mental health disorders and can be a significant source of distress, especially among the aged group like herself.
The Current Political and Social Climate
Mrs. Brown says that the current policies about aging people are significant but not as great as before. This has been facilitated by the growing number of aging people around the country. This leads to the breakdown of the programs put in place by the government. This will sometimes make one think the government is not doing enough, but at the same time, one has to appreciate the fact that the population is not as it used to be. Growth has been massive. If one grew up with low self-esteem, different social attitudes would affect them as an aging person. Different people will have different attitudes and opinions about an individual, but it is all about interpreting information, just like a young person. If one interprets information negatively, it is harmful to them; treating this information positively is better for an individual.
Personal Philosophy of Aging
Mrs. Brown believes that growing old is excellent, especially when undertaking tasks that require experience. However, she notes that she no longer feels great physically due to the loss of vibrancy in activities that require much energy, such as sporting activities. Mental health is another shortcoming she highlighted in aging, although it is not a must condition for every aging person if they have a great company of the people who matter to them. “This life is all you make it,” she highlighted. She also believes that growing old is a blessing.
How would you like to be remembered?
She laughs at this question and says that she still has a long way to live. She then says that she has lived a good life. The bad things that happened in her life served as lessons, and she embraced them as stepping-stones to the next phase of life. The great things that have happened in her life, which she says are packed in her head, have formed memories that she will never forget in her entire life.
She has served the community well. She says the sacrifices she made, even to be uncomfortable so that others would be comfortable, would never be forgotten by those who interact with her. She recounts how she would sacrifice her free time to have conversations with the community on mental health. This made her interact with so many people in society, and she believes that she saved so many lives. This was by engaging the persons suffering from mental health and sensitizing other people on mental health issues.
She says that she gave her all to the patients regardless of their race, religion, or ethnic background. She says that she always strived to see a smile on her patients even when she could not understand some of the patients’ languages. She spoke this language for 37 years with her patients. She says that is the most crucial thing she wants to be remembered for.
What are the most important lessons you have learned in life?
She takes a sigh and then proceeds; she says that growing up as an African American, she faced many challenges that defined her as a strong woman. From racialism to discrimination in school to again people thinking that she was not good enough at her workplace, simply because of her skin color, Mrs. Brown developed a powerful character. She says that she would sit and think to herself at some point in her life if some people were human due to the treatment she would receive. Again she thought, she would be the change that the world needs.
She looks at me and says that the most important lesson she has learned over the years is-everyone is essential and equal regardless of his or her color, ethnic background, whether poor or rich, and everyone deserves respect. She says that life is a journey, and we should not judge people majoring in their low moments. She says that every person in the world encounters low and high moments, and at both ends, one requires to show a positive attitude and respect for others.
Mrs. Brown goes ahead and highlights that your skin color should not be a point of judgment as we have experienced in many parts of the United States. This should be a point of unity, reminding all Americans that they have a rich history in diversity. She also says that it is not only African Americans who face racial abuse but also common in all races, but it is more common to people of color.
Theory
According to the Disengagement and activity theories of aging, older adults tend to reduce their activities and involvement by withdrawing from their various roles. These individuals hold to age as a factor that makes them withdraw from their engagements. According to the theories, inward-turning typical of aging forces individuals to naturally withdraw from their previous activities, increasing their self-preoccupation and reducing their social interactions with other people (Peine, 2019).
The withdrawal comes from society’s drive to withdraw older adults from work, believing that they have so little to contribute. These theories are accurate to the experiences of Mrs. Brown. Having been in active service as a nurse for 37 years, she retired at 62 years due to old age. Additionally, Mrs. Brown previously was very active in charity walks and community service, and sporting activities. Due to age, she has tremendously reduced these activities because even her body functioning cannot sustain heavy physical activities. All these observations align with social aging theories of disengagements and activity.
Conclusion
The interview was a seamless process. While I interviewed through the phone due to COVID-19, I captured all the information required. Mrs. Brown and I had an easy time, and she was happy that every piece of information she provided would remain confidential. From my experience with her, it is evident that she has had several challenges ranging from discrimination as an African American to racialism, and gender inequalities. However, her positive outlook and attitudes toward life are something to Emulate. Her involvement in sporting and community activities despite her age is encouraging and something to embrace from her.
References
Amani, R. (2016). Happiness in the Elderly: The role of self-esteem.Aging Psychology, 2(1), 80-73. Web.
Peine, A., & Neven, L. (2019). From intervention to co-constitution: new directions in theorizing about aging and technology.The Gerontologist, 59(1), 15-21. Web.
Wei, M. Y., Kabeto, M. U., Galecki, A. T., & Langa, K. M. (2019). Physical functioning decline and mortality in older adults with multimorbidity: joint modeling of longitudinal and survival data.The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, 74(2), 226-232. Web.