Internship at Fair View Village Estates
I currently have a internship at Fair view Village Estates. I have been receiving
internship credits through my volunteer hours over the past 6 months. Fair view Village Estates is a senior living community specializing in Independent
Living. The community is a part of the Good Samaritan Society's family of
senior care communities. Fair view village estates is located at 403 Samaritan
Lane, Moscow, ID. The community is placed on 12 acres of land in which 17 twin
homes and 28-unit apartment complexes are located. During my observations at Fair view Village
Estates I perceived the communication of elderly adults in which most were from
different back grounds, race, and levels of physical and cognitive development.
Studying
the older-adult population is extremely important for a variety of reasons, one
of which being that it is a stage of life that most will encounter as time
passes, our knowledge of the human body, brain, healthy life style practices
and technology continues to increase dramatically. With this knowledge and
advancements people are establishing longer life expectancy, resulting in a
larger populace of older adults. Making it crucial to for effective
communication among different age groups and races. This paper will explore my
hands on learning combined with my education on older adulthood and aging. I
will be reflecting on stereo types and bias’s that affect effective
communication and aging among older adults as well as barriers that are created
from aging that affect physical and cognitive health of older adults.
In
the 1900’s many people didn't live past their 50’s. Nowadays, people live significantly
past 65 years old; about one in eight people in the U.S are aged 65 and over.
In 2009 it was estimated that 39.6 million people were in this age group and it
is projected that by 2030 the population of the 65 and older group is going to
double to nearly 72.1 million persons
(Wilmouth, DeJong & Himes, 1997); meaning about one in five people
are considered an older adult. Fairview village has an age requirement, in
which one must be at least 65 and older in-order to live on the campus at
Fairview village estates. The average age of the residents on this campus is approximately
77 year old.
With
aging many changes occur and differences are present from person to person
based on their experience and encounters throughout their lives. The
differences and changes older adults experience are also impacted by gender,
ethnicity, race and economic status. The U.S population is becoming more
racially and ethnically diverse. It is projected that by 2050 the population of
elderly who are non-Hispanic whites will drop to 64 percent compared to the
current 84 percent (Wilmouth, DeJong
& Himes, 1997). While the majoring ethnic and racial groups are aging at
different rates due to child birth, death and immigration among these groups. While many immigrants move to new countries
while they are young policies now allow family members and especially parents
entry into a new country. Because of
these factors the population of older adults from the age of 65 and beyond are
increasing rapidly in the United States from Latin America, Asia or Africa to
join their children (Wilmouth, DeJong & Himes, 1997). At Fairview Village
about 25 percent of the residents are different races and ethnicities. I
encountered an Italian couple who moved from Italy into Jersey in their mid-20’s
as well two gentlemen one of which was originally from Asia and Poland.
Understanding
ethnical, cognitive and physical differences is a crucial aspect in regards to
communication with older adults. Hearing, sight and brain function as well as
heart function are also affected by age. While some experience less change than
others, older adults will still experience losses in hearing, sight, taste and
smell which can affect communication, nutrition, and health. Since these
changes unfortunately are negative changes, many stereotypes and prejudiced
opinions are formed that affect communication with older adults (Hardwood, 2007). Some of the
stereo-types I encountered and some of which I even participated in was the
perception that older adults cannot hear very well. I found myself and others
talking very loudly to the residents especially those who wore hearing aids.
Other older adults would make comments about others abilities to hear such as a
resident who would always talk negatively about another resident who was she
believed couldn't hear her when most of the time I believe he could he just
chose to ignore her rude comments. While we may believe that one must talk
louder to older adults it is the complete opposite. Older adults suffer from
presbycusis, the inability to hear loud pitch noises (Hardwood, 2007). After I learned of this term I began to speak softly
to residents. I found this extremely effective and that residents became less
anxious and reluctant to speak to me. Because of this little hiccup I learned
so much from the residents who shared their past life experiences with me and
the knowledge they had obtained over their years.
Another Stereo-type of altering ones speech in-order to
communicate with older adults. Accommodation communication theory is one that
examines how people adjust their speech style depending on who they are
speaking to (Martin & Nakayama, 2010). People may talk faster if the person
they are talking to talks fast or how we speak differently to specific people
such as friends, professors, someone we like or someone we dislike. In regards
to older adults, followers of this theory have developed a term called over
accommodation, which is the tendency for someone to go “too far” when adjusting
their speech. One example of this would
be that I see many nurses and parents using baby talk when speaking to an older
adult residents and in this example the speaker is accommodating toward a
stereotype of the older person rather than the individual. In addition to not
speaking correctly many older adults find this condescending. As I observed the
nurse with a very strong willed resident using baby-talk and altered words
towards the resident, the resident became uncooperative and wanted little to do
with the nurse. I began to realize how
demeaning it was to talk like this to older adults. During my time at the
facility I paid close attention to the verbal communication I had with
residents.
Independence is a very important aspect to the residents at
Fair view Village. I experienced one gentlemen who refused to give up his
license. He had previously ran over a fire hydrant in the facility parking lot.
He was in a heated argument with Rhonda Jo about keeping his license and
stormed out of the facility. The next day unfortunately he ran his car into a
ditch and was rushed to the ER and was put on life support. Not only is driving
a very independent aspect not only for older adults put for people of all ages
I felt very passionate about letting residents obtain their independence.
Another aspect of one’s independence is being able to take care of themselves.
Every day at the facility lunch is provided for every resident if they sign up
before 8am in the dining hall. After lunch I found myself helping the cook to
clear off tables in the dining room. One little lady named pat around the age
of 83 was very admit that she would bring her own dish’s to the kitchen as well
has help me clear the tables. I believe this action was way that she could keep
her independence of being able to care for herself. In addition I believe this
relates to power and privilege. Pat was able to maintain her power of
independence by helping and cleaning up after herself. This reminded me of the
developmental approach on aging.
Developmental approach to aging is the selective optimization
with compensation model, which suggests that at each stage in life there are
things that we are good at and others we are not (Martin & Nakayama, 2010). An individual will choose to be dependent in
one area in order to gain independence in another. For example, a middle aged person might be
more focused on their career and not want to invest time in other areas. As a result other tasks are delegated like
gardening, or perhaps housekeeping.
Ultimately, an individual will select an area of their life, optimize
their performance in certain areas, and compensate in areas where ability or
motivation are lacking. One interesting
aspect of this model is that it tends to question our standing beliefs
regarding aging as only a decline, and instead shows that there are losses and
gains at every part of life.
During my time at the facility I noticed the difference in
communication from an Italian couple whom were consistently fighting and
bickering. They would yell at each other and pick on each other about eating
habits, food preferences and activity preferences. I remember one day the wife
wanted to talk about some family issues during lunch and the husband leaned
over and told me to bring his wife cake so that he wouldn’t have to hear her
speak anymore. She began to bicker again about his comment and then all of a
sudden she started speaking Italian and had to be asked to calm down. I was taken aback and asked Rhonda Jo if it
was normal behavior. She responded by saying Dear they are Italian that’s what
they do. And that they can be very entertaining at times. A couple months later
I learned that this was because individuals with second languages will retreat
to their native language as a form of comfort. This happened during cognitive
and physical decline as well as stressful situations. A model that emphasizes
effective communication between ethno-cultural older adults is the
communication enhancement model.
According to Ryan, Meredith, Maclean and Orange we should use
the Communication Enhancement Model with people of different cultural
backgrounds because elderly people who are from other cultures and this model
will promote positive communication with ethno-cultural communities because
countries such as the U.S, England, Canada will continue to increasingly come
in contact with these elders from different cultural backgrounds, languages and
different ways of communication (Hardwood, 2007). In addition the amount of
people from ethno-cultural communities especially those who are over the age of
80 are increasing at a greater rate than older adults. Therefor elders who are
from other cultural backgrounds and who speak English as there second language
possibly will began to lose the ability to speak English and we become reliant
on their native language because of changes that occur in social environments
and in cognitive impairment. Using this
model will allow for health care providers and communities to provide the most
care and communication and avoid stereo-types, ethical myths, and ethnocentric
behavior while also developing sensitivity to cultural issues. This will result in empowerment of the elder
adult and the provider as well as maximize communication opportunities.
It is of high
importance that younger aged people adopt a healthy perspective of older adults
so that we are able to observe and communicate with them effectively as well as
develop a positive outlook and understanding of our own aging. If we understand
older adult’s mentalities physically and mentally we will be better able to
communicate with them in a way that is positive and avoid stereotypes as well
as assist them in making healthy life style choices to overcome them. It is said that older adults overestimate
their memory loss, hearing loss, and decrease in physical and mental
abilities. This may be due to their
negative perspective on aging and the stereotypes surrounding this area of
study. The responsibility of educating ourselves and our nation about older
adults on the importance of effective communication and aging has increased
dramatically. It is imperative to understand our own aging process and well as
develop positive communication with our older adult population.
I
spent the last 6 months following Rhonda Jo around the facility and
communicating with the residents I had met at the facility and at other
facilities. During these months I applied my knowledge of the older adult
population, aging and effective communication hands on. I continued to increase
my knowledge of the older adults and strive to produce effective communication
that would benefit both me and them. After the last 6 months of working with
Rhonda Jo I feel comfortable communicating with all residents from different
back grounds, ethnicity, and race including those who have different
communication styles based on cognitive and physical characteristics and
development. With so many people in the older adult population, it is very
important and beneficial to study this group.
This population growth increases the importance of enhancing our
knowledge of brain and body function of older adults so that we may be better
able to serve them. Therefore, being knowledgeable in the field of gerontology
is beneficial to those of any age group and race. I’m so grateful that I was
able to be involved in such a great opportunity. I was able to fully apply my
knowledge from my education hands on and apply my knowledge in a work
environment.
