Physical activity, past and present
Michael Joseph is a 70-year-old man from California. He is quite positive about physical health. He claims to be exercising on a daily basis. He walks around his home every morning. Additionally, he rides his bicycle around the neighborhood every evening. He is quite sharp and focused. He looks strong and healthy. He is quite eloquent. Mr. Joseph swims every weekend. His wife and grandchildren keep him company whenever he is out of the house.
Mentally stimulating activities, past and present
The fact that he rides a bicycle in an actively populated area confirms his ability to stay sharp. Additionally, Joseph admits that he plays board games on his computer to help him stay sharp. He also noted that he plays crossword puzzles with his grandchildren most of which are in colleges. However, he is not taking any course even though he has been thinking about it. He claims that the numerous meetings he attends keep him active.
Social support and social interactions
Mr. Joseph talks happily about his wife. He says that Catherine has been his only close contact apart from his children, grandchildren, and colleagues. He claims that the numerous numbers of appointments have stopped him from joining any social clubs or activities. However, he claims to have been invited severally to join social clubs or activities. Specifically, he claims that he was invited to be the patron of a religious community around his local area.
Meaningful activities
The old man says that he has considered every activity as meaningful. In this regard, he mentions his participation in teaching young people how to live meaningfully by helping their parents. Moreover, he mentions his past engagement in numerous social activities, which were aimed at conserving the environment. Additionally, since he is a religious person, Mr. Joseph claims to enjoy encouraging faithful at his local church. It is important to note that he participates in countrywide workshops aimed at encouraging the young generations. He also jokes that he has been trying to polish his basketball skills having been a renowned striker in his youth. He also admits that he is tied to his community and he tries all he can to assist the new generation.
Recreational or leisure activities
As mentioned earlier, Mr. Joseph was a renowned striker in the past. Therefore, he spends his free time playing basketball with his wife who is sixty-five. Moreover, he swims and rides around his home. He also plays crossword puzzles with his wife and grandchildren during his free time. Essentially, he is very active and tries to make use of every free time. He claims that this helps him to keep in touch with the new generation.
Living environment
The old man views his living environment as cool. He shares his evening tea with other old men in the community. This helps them to share ways of improving the lives of the young generation. He does not live in a retirement community because of the companionship from his grandchildren who are usually around him. Moreover, he does not wish to be separated from his loving wife who prefers to be around him. However, he admits that in the future he may be willing to move to a retirement community. He claims that he would love to keep driving although his wife and grandchildren never want to see him in the driver’s seat. He also claims that changes in climate have been worsening in the area.
Reflective paper
Meeting Mr. Joseph was quite meaningful. I kept asking myself why the old man treasured young people. He had been involved in many workshops aimed at helping them live longer and help the community. Moreover, his grandchildren were cordially close to him. They kept listening to his advice even during the interview. I was also concerned that Joseph’s wife was by his side. This was a truly unique individual. He was able to keep his family close, even at old age. Besides, I was also influenced by his strong personality, which made me value every moment I spent with him.
Most notable aspects of the interview
Notable moments included the old man’s ability to draw people to him. At his age, we all seemed to enjoy his conversation. Moreover, we seemed to trust every comment from him. Notably, most contemporary people tend to alienate old people because of the gap between them. However, this did not happen to Joseph. He seemed relevant. His contributions to the interview were astounding. He remained relevant to the topic of discussion. Mr. Joseph was sharp and critical of some issues especially those relating to marriage. He wondered why most couples separated, something, which rarely happened at their time. According to t him, marriage was highly regarded. People sacrificed for their marriage to work.
Joseph argued that as a born-again Christian; he abhorred issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and divorce. He claimed that spending time in workshops across the country was important to him because it gave him the pleasure to teach the young generation the meaning of life. It is necessary to note that the old man was quite active whenever asked questions concerning life and the meaning of life.
He kept telling me that our generation never knew the meaning of life. He attributed issues such as pollution of the environment as proofs that we never considered life important. Moreover, he was concerned that we were ruining the life of future generations through the misuse of available resources. Essentially, Mr. Joseph was at pains with the way we considered life. He wanted a better life for the coming generations and us.
Most surprising aspects of the interview
It is necessary to note that more than half of the old man’s answers were quite surprising to me. To begin with, I did not expect him to be in his house at that age. I had expected him to inform me that he had just come for a visit and that he was living in a retirement community. Secondly, he was able to command a strong personality at his age. Almost everyone wanted to share his or her experiences with him. I was amazed at his ability to answer my questions concretely.
I had expected a frail person who would be helped to even listen to my question or understand. However, to my surprise, he needed neither an interpreter nor a speaker to listen to my questions. Moreover, his answers were to the point. In fact, I started wondering if I had prepared adequately for the interview since he kept me at bay in every answer he gave.
I later realized he had been at many workshops and he was used to these questions. Additionally, I did not expect him to be riding a bicycle in a crowded area. However, he surprised me when he came to our meeting on a bike. Essentially, this old man had many spectacular aspects of him. He was considered healthy for his age. I had particularly chosen a 70-year-old because I imagined that he was frail and highly susceptible to isolation. However, none of these things happened to Mr. Joseph.
Commentary on the participant’s overall functioning
This participant could be considered as a healthy aging person. In fact, he matches the caliber of the aged who live healthily. Some of the reasons for this include his sharp focus and his ability to participate regularly in development activities aimed at helping the young generation. Moreover, his ability to listen carefully to my questions and answer them as concretely as possible was also a strong reason for this. Additionally, he was able to exercise routine as well as keep his family happy (Masotti, Fick, Johnson-Masotti & Macleod, 2006).
Mr. Joseph did numerous things well. For instance, he went around trying to help young generations to live healthy lives. At his local church, he encouraged couples to stop meaningless divorce and abortion. Moreover, he advocated for healthy living and conservation of the environment. His level of cognition was also quite active for his old age. Additionally, exercises were important for his health. Moreover, emotionally, he was protected since he enjoyed the company of both his family and friends. He also had self-esteem because everyone seemed to take advice from him. He was therefore wise in his interactions with people.
Despite all this, it should be noted that some improvements were necessary for the old man. For instance, I would advise him to reduce his rides around a crowd of people. This is to help him keep healthy because any form of the accident would reduce his chances of living his usual life. I would also advise him to accelerate his plans for living in a retirement center because this would help him to access many health facilities at his doorstep. Additionally, I would advise him to embrace change and try to help the young generation with that in mind (Potkanowicz, Hartman-Stein & Biermann, 2009).
Healthy aging involves a number of aspects. These include physical health, independence, optimism, coping well, productivity, staying involved in meaningful activities, to some extent employment, and financial security. Nonetheless, the main factors that determine healthy living are physical health, optimism, staying involved, productivity, and financial security. Based on these I would suggest that Mr. Joseph keep involved in his social activities albeit with reservations for his age. This would help to last his ability to attend such meetings. Additionally, he should fast track his movement to a retirement center to insure him of financial security as well as health services (Hartman-Stein & Potkanowicz, 2003).
Conclusion
I was able to learn a lot from Mr. Joseph. Firstly, he was jovial and focused. I enjoyed every bit of time with him. I learned that joy is important for one’s health. Healthy people seem joyous. This helps to calm them and release stress, which can cause illnesses. I also learned that old age is not only characterized by frailness and poor health. It is also associated with active involvement, good health, and productivity. Moreover, the aging generations have a lot to offer to this world in terms of wisdom and experience. In essence, healthy aging is our responsibility.
References
Hartman-Stein, P. & Potkanowicz, E. (2003). Behavioral Determinants of Healthy Aging: Good News for the Baby Boomer Generation. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 8(2), 127-146.
Masotti, P., Fick, R., Johnson-Masotti, A., & Macleod, S. (2006). Healthy naturally occurring retirement communities: A low-cost approach to facilitating healthy aging. American Journal of Public Health, 96 (7), 1164-1170.
Potkanowicz, E. Hartman-Stein, P., & Biermann, J. (2009). Behavioral Determinants of Health Aging Revisited: An Update on the Good News for the Baby Boomer Generation. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(3), 11.