Visit with an elderly person Journal 1

Please see sample/example of a good journal

 

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Each journal should be 2-3 pages each and there will be 6 journals (one for each week). The journals must be turned in within one week of the visit. At midterm (around October 17) there should be at least 4 visits made.  Students are expected to construct a social history assessment based on the information they gain during their weekly visits and discussions with the older adult. You are encouraged to interview a family member and a service provider of the older adult.

Each journal should include:

1.    A description of the environment and activities (e.g. “I met G.H. at the activity room, where he finished visiting with his friends and introduced me to the group. We went for a walk outside of the nursing home for the remaining time.”) This should only account for approximately 10-15% of your journal.
2.    A brief summary of the topics you covered.
3.    A connection to class content and activities. Identify any information from the text, lectures, class activities, and class experiences that related to your visit.
4.    A thorough reaction to the visit. You may describe things that surprised you, things that were challenging, things that were easy, the way you felt at different times. This should be a thoughtful explanation reflecting on your visit. This should account for at least 40-50% of your journal.
5.    List out the topics from the social assessment that you covered at that visit. (e.g. Assessment Topics: demographics, physical status, finances, cultural functioning, philosophy of aging).


My Journal to be revise
 (Please add other info on your own to enhance this.)
The elderly lady I met will turn 90 on Oct. 18, 2014  and she is very strong.  She exercise every day and she does everything for herself.





Aging Services
Client’s visit journal    1

I wish to express my joy on my first visit with Dorothy my client.  I must say that I feel like I received more than I anticipated and this in my understanding speaks much about how much older adult can be lonely even when among people and how much they do feel special when ask to share their life story with them.  No matter where people come from or who they are; we are just human and I am so supper happy to share my client’s life’s experiences with her. 
My client Dorothy Mae Deville, told me that she was born on October 18, 1924, in a small town in Louisiana in the midst of the Cajun country.  With so much joy and very happy to share with me her life’s experiences, Dorothy told me that she was born to Hazel Richard Deville and Joseph Louis Deville.  Dorothy told me that her mother’s family did not speak much English and that her mother also did not speak any English until she started school.  I asked Dorothy if she knew her great grandparents and without any thought and with a smile, she told me that her great-grandmother on her mother’s side also did not speak any English.   When I asked Dorothy what it was like growing up in her family; she told me that her entire family didn’t speak any French in their home because her father did not understand French so, it wasn’t spoken. 
Dorothy told me that her mother told her that after she married her father they lived at a Sawmill Camp where her dad drove a logging truck that carried logs to the mill.    A few years later her father and mother were able to buy a lot near her aunt and uncle in the town of Eunice where they build a modest house but; it was for a shot time because A few months later her father lost his job since this was the time of the great depression.  During this time Dorothy said that her father planted a vegetable garden in their back yard and with a little help from her uncle and aunt they were able to get by.  Dorothy told me that during the time of the great depression, schools were closed and it was a bad time for everyone.
I then asked Dorothy if there were any signs that children could notice that their family were going through server difficult times during the great depression.  O yes! She said and continues; it was the talk in the entire nation.  children saw how their parents struggle and overcame many difficulties and to say the least, children also felt the bite of the great depression because children also had to work equally hard to help their parent in some situations but just A few years later, Dorothy said that her father was able to buy a City Service Bulk Plant that supplied gasoline and oil and etc. to the farmers.  Dorothy said that her Mom on the other hand took care of the office while her dad delivered the gasoline in a large truck that he bought.  With so much gratefulness and peace she said at least, the future started to look bright for her family at last.
I then asked Dorothy what was it like for students during summer, she told me that there was not much to do in their small town during the summer when school was closed.  At this point Dorothy remember Joining the Girl Scouts of America and going to camp with them for a week in the summer time.  She said they cooked their food outside on an open fire and were able to swim in the creek nearby.    At this point she said it was great fun and that she enjoyed it very much and so she looked forward to those camping trips each summer because it was where she learned to swim.
I asked Dorothy how far was her school from her house? She told me that her home was only a few blocks from the public school so she was able to walk to school by herself when she was in the first grade.