C.P. was the best respondent for the interview. C.P. is a kind and sweet 75 year old female Asian/Filipino. Together with 2 sisters, C.P. was brought up by a strict and independent single mom. In her childhood years, C.P. never got sick and religion was not a large part of her life. In her adolescent years, C.P. was popular in school and life was generally fun. The most important person as an adolescent was her mum who she describes as strong and independent. She was more like her elder sister who was kind and generous. Like many teenagers, she hated the fact that her mother was too strict and could not allow her to go out with friends. Her best adulthood moment was when she first met her first husband who was also her first love. C.P. found it challenging to be both a mum and wife in her 20’s and 30’s. She enjoyed her work and earned adequate living from it. During her adulthood, C.P. got married twice but later divorced. Her worst disappointment is getting divorced and not finding custody for her children. Her loved ones are life to her and it gave her satisfaction whenever they were happy and healthy. The hardest moment was when her daughter passed away. C.P.’s best moment was seeing her granddaughter go to LVN school and she was proudest when the granddaughter graduated from LVN. She describes her life as challenging but she is content about what life gave her in all her years. In her age she enjoys being in good health and her most important things are her grandchildren and great grandchildren. C.P. hopes to stay healthy and she fears that as she grows older, she will be a burden to her family. Life review is performed to achieve certain goals and benefits. One profound benefit of doing a life review was that C.P. was given an opportunity to reflect back and recall her past memories. Life review helps older persons realize their personal meaning (Gerben, Ernst & Anne, 2010). By recalling their past achievements and the contributions they have made to the society the older adults know that they at least have a legacy or an impact to their community ad they will always be remembered (Gerben et al., 2010; Ka Man & Ka Ming, 2012). Individuals who participate in life review improve their personal meaning compared to those who do not. It implies that it is possible to support older adults through life reviews to help them search for their meaning, something that many old people don’t have (Gerben et al., 2010; Ka Man & Ka Ming, 2012). Life reviews have a significant effect on improving the subjects’ self-esteem (Kai-Jo et al., 2007; Ka Man & Ka Ming, 2012). When analyzing, evaluating and sorting their past experiences, the elderly further affirm their life values which improve their self-confidence and self-esteem. The fourth benefit of life review is that it promotes life’s satisfaction among the elderly by enhancing their self-awareness and positive outlook towards their living. Reflecting on the past and the future expectations could possibly increase the satisfaction of the elderly by helping the elderly seek new resources, discover their weaknesses and strengths and develop new hobbies and interests (Kai-Jo et al., 2007; Ka Man & Ka Ming, 2012). Life review promotes adaptation of older people. By reviewing the struggles they have been through, the elderly are able to identify their personal abilities (Kai-Jo et al., 2007; Ka Man & Ka Ming, 2012). They are assured that they will be able to handle all their future life struggles. Life review benefits nursing students by allowing them to learn how to communicate with older people. Like ordinary remembering, life reviews positively impact the lives of elder people.
Ordinary remembering seem synonymous to life reviews but the two concepts have several differences and similarities. Ordinary remembering is a spontaneous process, often informal, and that can happen anywhere with anybody at any time (Barbara & Irene, 1993). Remembering does not necessitate an analysis of past experiences or any need for reconciliation. In most cases, remembering focuses on thinking about the happy moments (Barbara & Irene, 1993). Narrating a wedding experience including specific details such as food, music and the after party is an example of ordinary remembering. Another good illustration of ordinary remembering is a prom dress, the prom date and the overall prom experience (Barbara & Irene, 1993). Life review on the other involves reviewing the whole life of a specific adult from childhood, adolescent to adulthood and old age. In life reviews, both failures and achievements are acknowledged and amendments suggested. Formality is often maintained in life reviews unlike in remembrances (Barbara & Irene, 1993). The similarity between life reviews and remembering is that they are both aimed at reflecting past experiences and they both achieve somehow the same goal of promoting self-esteem, life satisfaction and increase an understanding of personal meaning. Both ordinary remembering and life reviews can be used for therapeutic purpose among depressed and older patients. An example of a life review is the interview I conducted with C.P. whereby I was able to explore all aspects of her life. Even though remembering and life review are often used interchangeably, they can be easily distinguished.
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C.P. happens to be on the eighth Erikson developmental stages called ‘Integrity vs despair’. Erikson states that ‘integrity vs despair is the final life and psychological developmental stage (Saul, 2018). C.P. who is 75 years old fits in this category. Acceptance of oneself and acknowledging all the achievements made throughout life is described as Ego Integrity (Saul, 2018). Erikson points out that if individuals perceive their life to be unproductive, feel guilty of their past or feel that they did not accomplish their goals they are more likely to be hopeless and depressed. He believed that wise persons are characterized by both integrity and despair (Saul, 2018). Based on the interview I conducted with her, C.P. is a kind and sweet woman who has been through depressing moments such as divorce and death of her daughter. However, she accepts all the failures she encountered and says that she is content with what life gave her. She feels disappointed that her marriage had to end and her daughter had to pass away. However, she has a few things to be happy about especially her grandchildren and great grandchildren. C.P. perfectly fits in the wise category.
On the Ego Integrity rating scale (1-10), I would rate C.P. 9/10. She shows 99 percent acceptance that life has to come to an end. Persons who deserve 10/10 ratings can look back and be comfortable with whatever choices they made throughout their life (Saul, 2018). The reason I did not rate C.P. 10/10 because she still shows some sort of desperation and regret; she says that life was generally challenging. However she deserved a 9 due to the fact that she is still growing strong and has not allowed all the frustrations determine her joy or her health.
The interview made me realize that I need to reestablish my relationship with family that I’ve lost communication with for years since family is the most important thing one could ever have. Second, I realize that I need to take care better of myself now, and not when symptoms arise; it is possible to stay healthy if quality care is taken. Third, I need to be smarter with money for retirement since you can’t rely on your children to take care of you. The interview gave me an opportunity to learn how to communicate with older persons. I believe I helped C.P. identify her personal worth and improve her confidence. The life review interview will form a basis of many other reviews that I might perform among family members or even family friends. Life review plays a critical role in clinical practice. Therapy sessions involving older persons often incorporate remembering/life review sessions. I believe that the knowledge I gained will enable me to perfectly perform the life review/ remembering therapy among older patients presented to me in the future. I project that I will leave a legacy of the medical practitioner who performed the best life reviews that who had the greatest impact to the subjects.
References
Barbara K. Haight & Irene Burnside (1993). Reminiscence and life review: Explaining the differences. Archaives of Psychiatric Nursing, Volume 7, Issue 2, Pages 91–98.
Gerben J.W., Ernst T.B. & Anne M. (2010).Improvement in Personal Meaning Mediates the Effects of a Life Review Intervention on Depressive Symptoms in a Randomized Controlled Trial. The Gerontologist , Volume 50, Issue 4, Pages 541–549 . Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnp168
Ka Man & Ka Ming (2012). The effect of Life review interventions on the psychological and spiritual well-being of older people; A Systematic Review Protocal. JBI Dtabase Of Systematic Reviews And Implementation Reports, Volume 10, Issue 14.
Kai-Jo Chiang, Ru-Band Lu, Hsin Chu , Yue-Cune Chang & Kuei-Ru Chou (2007) . Evaluation of the effect of a life review group program on self esteem and life satisfaction in the elderly. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Volume 23, Issue 7-10
Saul McLeod (2018). Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Simply Psychology .Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
