Experience of Aging Interviews

The purpose of this assignment is to obtain background information on the perceived needs of older adults in your community.

You will interview three people—an older adult, a representative of formal support services, and a representative of informal support services. If you have any doubts about your interviewees, please contact the instructor prior to interviewing.

Interview Direction Requirements

• Create open-ended questions following the Experience of Aging Interviews Scoring Guide before you begin your interviews and provide academic rationale for the questions.
  • Open-ended questions prevent yes and no answers, encouraging conversation. If a question can be answered yes or no, it is a close-ended question. Open-ended questions often begin with the words who, what, where, and how.
• Older adults must be at least age 65, living in the community (not in assisted living or a skilled nursing facility), and not cognitively impaired.
  • Address the interviewee’s living arrangement (for example, a child living with them independently).
  • Identify what the interviewee does to stay healthy and active.
  • Describe his or her social supports (for example, interactions with people, activities, use of social media, religious or community activities).
  • Describe his or her activities of daily living and include if the interviewee use supports for in-home care.
  • Discuss his or her general attitude about life.
• Formal services providers are typically paid and may include nurses, health administrators, social workers, case managers, physicians, and hospice workers.
  • Explain the type of care provided and how it benefits the recipients.
• Informal service providers are typically unpaid or volunteer workers and may include family caregivers or any person who provides assistance to an older person on a regular basis without compensation.
  • Explain the type of care provided and how it benefits the recipient.
  • Express how the caregiver takes care of her or himself and participates in supportive services.
• Discuss a variety of respondent experiences in relation to cultural needs, biases, discriminatory practices, and socioeconomic status.
• From your respondents’ answers, discuss the perceptions and treatment of older adults from a social, cultural, and ecological perspective that include the concepts of respect, family obligations, and gender and how they influence older adults, especially the oldest old.