Research Project 2 Physical and Mental Health Care of the Elderly

What is your community's response to the physical and mental health needs of its aging people? Find out by doing a survey of agencies and businesses that provide services for these needs. You could begin by searching the Yellow Pages of the phone book under "Social Services Agencies,” but be aware that not all services are listed there. Another place to search is First Call for Help, a locally run national network of information referral and crisis intervention phone services.

Gather at least the following information on the agencies and businesses you identify: Name of the agency, services it provides, cost of services, whether it employs paid employees or volunteers, who are its clients, how many clients it serves. Try also to determine to what extent the needs of local elderly people are being met by these services. For example, does each agency have a waiting list of people they cannot serve yet?

Summarize your findings in a report in which you answer such questions as:

1. What is the range of services available?

2. What is the average cost of services? Who pays these costs?

3. Do people who provide basic services appear to be paid adequately?

4. Do elderly people in general have access to physical and mental health care in your community? Do some groups (e.g., social classes) have better access? Worse?

5. If you were to provide a new service, what would it be?

Chapter 20

Research Project 1 Collecting a Life Story

One way to understand aging is to study someone's Life story. This will not tell you how people generally change over a lifetime, but it will give you ideas about the complexities, highs, lows, and personals of a person's life. It is also an opportunity to apply material about socioemotional development in late adulthood found in Chapter 20.

You will need to do at least three interviews to collect a life story, Use the first to obtain your respondent's informed consent and to help the person become comfortable with yon. Be sure to explain that you will tape record the interviews, but that you will not use the person's name in any reports or discussions you have about them. In the second (and possible third or fourth) have the person tell their story (don't forget to turn on your tape recorder!), If necessary, suggest a series of topics (childhood, marriage, work) during these interviews - be sure to prepare questions that you can ask to help the person along. The last interview will be a summary and reflection on the previous interview. Each interview should take somewhere between one and two hours.

The next step ideally would be to transcribe the taped interviews, but this is probably too much work for your course (unless this is the major course project). If transcribing is not reasonable or possible, listen carefully to the tapes and make notes about key ideas or themes from the interview; your respondent may have suggested these in the l|ust_: interview. Listen to the tapes to identify statements, stories, or reflections that illustrate the themes. After you have done this first review, listen to the tapes again for additional themes and illustrative material. Finally, from your notes prepare a table that lists the themes and the material that illustrated them.

Write a report in which you at least describe your respondent and characterize your experience of interviewing him or her. Summarize the individual’s life story, including the table you prepared to identify its major themes. Then discuss in as much detail as you can how this person's story relates to the material in Life-Span Development (5/e).

Here is an abbreviated schedule for your interviews:

Day One: Introduce yourself and obtain informed consent for

the interview. Explain how you will use the material.

Questions: What stands out for you as you look back over your

life?

Probes: Can you give an example of that?

Explain what you mean by that.

Tell me more about that point.

That's interesting. Can you be more detailed?

Listen, to the tape of your first interview before doing the second. Determine what you want to know more about. Note possible questions.

Day Two: Relationship questions

Career questions

Family questions

Significant event questions

Listen to the tape of your second interview before doing the third. Determine what you want to know more about. Note possible questions.

Last Day: Reflect on what we have been talking about. Tell me

about high points and low points. What conflicts stand

out for you? What did you learn from these conflicts? Is

there anything eke you would like to add?