Human beings grow older with each passing day. Every older person was once a one-day-old child. The truth is that people in their middle age are so held up with various aspects of life that they do not see old age coming — those who have grown old concentrate more on being comfortable and living their final life stage happily. There are a lot of beliefs and assumptions about the ageing process. They involve the changes that occur with old age. Some of the common changes include body structure, appearance, and skin structure, personality, and social behaviors. This paper presents a report on the things I learn during an interview with an elderly neighbor called Mr. Jim.
The interviewee is a male 70-year-old who lives with his two sons and their families. His family members are taking good care of him, and his health condition seems to be steady despite the advanced age. He likes strolling within the compound every evening with his grandchildren. I approached him and requested for an interview which he agreed to. The interview was scheduled and conducted on a Saturday afternoon in his compound. It was a casual interview where we talked about his general life as a senior citizen, his experience with the ageing process, and how he feels about being old.
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The first remarkable change during ageing occurs to the body of the older adults. The body shape, size, skin texture, and hair will all change. For example, the hairs grow thinner than they were and gets white. White hair is associated with being old, even when it genetically grows in younger individuals (Evans, Allotey, Imelda, Reidpath, & Pool, 2018). My interviewee’s hair was all white. The skin also grows thinner and develops wrinkle. Skin texture is one of the annoying changes during ageing. Wrinkling is due to the loosening of the skin because the body grows thin. The interviewee had wrinkled skin and white hair.
Many old individuals also have walking difficulties. The difficulties are brought about by a combination of factors including reduced flexibility, reduced body balance, and other old-age illnesses. This symptom varies depending on how the individuals exercise. Those who exercise regularly are stable and able to walk well until their body can no longer tolerate physical activity (Wolff, Warner, Ziegelmann, Wurm, & Kliegel, 2015). My interviewer exercises by walking around the compound in the morning alone and the evening accompanied by his grandchildren. He explained that the routine had made his one of the strongest among his peers.
Before the interview, I believed that memory loss was part of being old. It is common to find a senior citizen forget about a simple thing like a previous encounter you had (Crotty et al., 2019). There is one old relative who kept on asking my name whenever we met. I was surprised to realize that Jim could remember most of the interactions we had. Mr. Jim is one of the most organized elderly individuals I have come across. He confessed during the interview that he does regular memory-enhancing exercises. Despite his good memory, he had a problem with the hearing and eyesight. He only recognized closer objects, and he could not hear distant sounds.
The above are things that I already knew about old age and got to confirm through my encounter with Mr. Jim. Just like other older adults, showed the most signs of old age. At the same time, he managed to stay healthy and kept off some signs due to his organized lifestyle. He did everything according to a schedule that he regularly revised. His family members also took good care of him helping him to keep off many diseases. From the interview, I got to know him better. I also learnt more about ageing and old age.
Mr. Jim can be described as an optimistic older person. At age 70, where many older people are either dealing with some life regrets or treating various old-age diseases (Evans et al., 2018). Jim was enjoying the fruits of his hard work. In his prime days, he had a good job, lived a good life, and educated his children. As a result, his old age is neither miserable nor senile. Despite the decline in his physical strength and ability, Jim has managed to remain healthy in the mind and spirit. He is full of positivity, even amidst the struggles of day-to-day’s life. Jim is likable because of his positive and optimistic approach to life. He made me learn new characteristics of optimistic old people. I would describe him as accomplished, assured, adaptable, appreciative, courteous, ardent, and awesome. I will describe old age using the traits above.
Accomplished
Every process begins by setting both long-term and short-term goals that are to be achieved at the end. The goals can be revised midway depending on the presenting situations and conditions. Human lives also run the same way. During childhood, people only have dreams of what they would like to become upon growing up (Zebhauser et al., 2015). They are known as life goals. Initial goals are set based on the environment and people around the children. After a while, the dreams change based on various life circumstances. An accomplishment only comes when someone has achieved life goals when he/she grows old.
Life accomplishment is usually associated with academic achievements, such as the number of degrees and accolades earned. However, it is much more than academic achievements. There are many people with knowledge and skills which are not taught in the classroom but have become expert in their fields and are making great achievements besides living decent lifestyles with the skills. Being accomplished is, therefore, dependent on whether one lived to the full potential to achieve life goals. Accomplishment is part of a decent old age. At 65 years and above, there is little or nothing people can do to change their life stories (Evans et al., 2018). They have to be satisfied with whatever they have done and assist other younger family members in improving the situation.
Mr. Jim was a nurse, and he had a successful career. He had a childhood dream of becoming a doctor. His father used to work as subordinate staff in a community hospital from which he got the inspiration to become a doctor. After high school, he only got the opportunity to join the nursing school, and he took it because he would still work in his preferred environment taking care of sick people. Up to this moment, I learned that accomplishment begins by becoming satisfied with life achievements (Zebhauser et al., 2015). This is somebody who did not get his dream job but found joy in the other one he did. As a result, he built a successful nursing career, and he is enjoying its fruits in his old age.
Adaptable
Ageing is a change that no one can resist. When it comes, the only solution is to adapt. At 65 years and above, many lifestyle changes are involved. First, the body becomes weak, and many people cannot continue working or even doing their daily chores. This is why senior citizens who are not being supported by other family members are supported by the government and other community supported organizations (Wolff et al., 2015). The elderly also need health support from family members and primary caregivers. These are examples of the many changes that older adults must learn to cope up with.
The 70-year-old Mr. Jim adjusted to his new conditions. After retiring from his nursing job, he used part of his savings to open a business that he runs for a short time before leaving it in the hands of his sons. He also bought a home for his family to ensure that they were comfortable and that his old age would not be filled with misery (Mozley, 2017). Jim also knew that he would be growing weaker year by year and would not be able to easily keep away some illnesses. He, therefore, joined a healthy living program which advises how to live as healthy as possible through physical exercise and healthy nutrition. The program has kept him fit and strong for years.
Before the interview, my biggest concern was how to successfully get information from an older adult within the given time. I have interacted with some older people who are not easy to converse with. Some have problems with hearing or communication skills. Others cannot sustain conversations for more than ten minutes without getting absent-minded or deviating from the subject to narrate irrelevant stories. Older adults should be fun to stay around and easy to talk to (Evans et al., 2018). They have words of encouragement and wisdom gained from vast life experiences. During the interview, Mr. Jim was always happy and smiling. He made the interview interesting due to his richness in knowledge and wisdom.
Ageing is a process that most members of society will pass through. There are several issues around it that must be addressed. First, every member of society should picture life as an older adult. The energy that one has in his/her working age will not be there old. Therefore, there should be plans to save for the future through pensions and other programs. Secondly, ageing sometimes presents with various diseases. Some of the diseases are untreatable and can only be managed (Mozley, 2017). This is why people need comprehensive health coverages that will take care of the illnesses that present during old age. Ageing issues are addressed using a collaborative approach. While the citizens are expected to do their part by planning about their later life stages, governments, employers, and communities also have parts to play (Wolff et al., 2015). The governments and employers can help by introducing various savings plans and educating their employees on how to plan their later lives. Community members can also help by being part of various community programs for assisting the aged.
Conclusion
The interview conducted with Mr. Jim, a 70-year-old man, living with his two adult sons and their families, was successful. In the beginning, I thought I would get trouble getting an individual who would give valid and reliable responses. Once I settled on Jim, a big part of the problem was solved. He was resourceful because of good education and a planned lifestyle. I learned that old age is a process, and the earlier one plans for it, the better. There are many old individuals who are living with regrets of what they could have done better. Some had good jobs but did not plan. Therefore, the trick is to become satisfied with the current position and use it to plan for an accomplished future. The interview was conducted on Jim’s compound. It was handled well because everything was recorded in a notebook. There are a few things I would have done differently. First, I would have done it over two days to avoid possible boredom and to make it livelier. I would also include other family members in the interview to get more information.
References
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Mozley, C. (2017). Towards quality care: outcomes for older people in care homes . Routledge.
Wolff, J., Warner, L., Ziegelmann, J., Wurm, S., & Kliegel, M. (2015). Staying physically active in old age: can prospective memory deficits be buffered by planning efforts? European Health Psychologist , 17 (S), 669.
Zebhauser, A., Baumert, J., Emeny, R. T., Ronel, J., Peters, A., & Ladwig, K. H. (2015). What prevents old people living alone from feeling lonely? Findings from the KORA-Age-study. Aging & mental health , 19 (9), 773-780.
