Life Span Interview
Begin your interview with demographics…………….
How do you prefer to be addressed?
What is your age?
Where were you born?
How do you identify your ethnicity?
How do you identify your gender?
Remembering the Past…………………….
What is your earliest memory?
Who were your friends when you were growing up? Did you maintain those friendships
throughout life? Any reason why or why not?
What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.) growing up? In your
young/middle adult years? As an older adult?
What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst subjects?
Over the years……………
What was the happiest moment of your life?
© 2017 Laureate Education, Inc. 2
What world events had the most impact on you?
Do you have military experience? If so, how did it mold you as a person?
Was religion/spirituality a part of your youth? Adulthood? Currently?
Who is the person who influenced your life the most?
Have you lost a loved one? If so, how has that loss affected your life?
What are some of the most important lessons you feel you have learned over the course of
your life?
As you look back over your life, do you see any “turning points”; that is, a key event or
experience that changed the course of your life or set you on a different track?
What are some of the important choices or decisions you made that you have learned from?
What are you most proud of?
How would you like to be remembered?
Currently Experiencing………………………….
What has been your experience with aging? (physically, socially, environmentally)
How would you define successful aging?
Do you have any challenges to access to healthcare?
How do you see yourself today? [elder, senior, older adult; use this term in the following
questions]
How are your friendships as a [use term identified by individual]?
Are you involved with [use term identified by individual] activities or social clubs? What
does this mean for you?
Have you had any experiences with services not being available to you as a [use term
identified by individual]?
Have you experienced discrimination as a [use term identified by individual]? Other types of