You are going to write a 10 page, 12 point type, double-spaced, paper based on an interview of an older person. The citation list is not included in the 10 pages. You will discuss the interview answers and relate them back to the material you learned in the course. In your analysis, you will use citations in the text to explain your discussion. You will also include a bibliography at the end of the paper – you can use a standard professional format for your bibliography like MLA or APA. You may use a website like easybib.com to organize your references and to put them into the correct format You need to have at least 10 outside references.
Steps
Find an older person to interview. You can use our suggested questions below, or you can come up with your own questions as long as they relate to topics we have covered in the class (disease, retirement, etc.)
You should weave your newfound knowledge about aging to help to explain the responses of the person you interview. Use of citations is essential to improve your grade – it is the professional way of doing things. BE SURE AND CITE THE WORK in the text and provide a BIBLIOGRAPHY. Use a standard professional format for your bibliography – like APA or MLA. We have a lot of these to read, so take pity on us and make it a fun read.
You can use the following questions to guide your interview with an older person from your life, but be creative in your interview – just support it with a knowledgeable interpretation and supportive citations.
Here are some examples of questions to ask:
How has your lifestyle changed over your adult life? For example, your eating habits, exercise, working, and leisure.
How has your health changed? Do you have chronic health problems like arthritis or high blood pressure? Do you have to take medicine and is that difficult to manage? Do you go to the doctor more often?
(At this point you can kind of connect the answers to question 1 to the outcomes from question 2. For example, I eat In-N-out burger all the time and I have high blood pressure or vascular disease.)
How has your mental ability changed? Do you think you have gotten smarter with age? How? How is your memory? Your ability to deal with everyday problems? problem solving in general?
What is your current marital status? Do you have children or grandchildren? How old are they? How often do you see them? What kinds of things do you do for your family? Are you the caregiver for your grandchildren or are your kids and grandchildren the caregiver for you? What kinds of things do they do for you? If you were to become disabled, would someone in your family be able to help you? Who do you think would be most involved? – This question is all about support systems that live in the family of the interviewee.
Did you invest in your retirement years? How? Do you worry about financing your life as you become older? Do you worry about your estate being enough? About your estate being devoured by a health crisis and follow-up needs for assisted living?
Do you feel that Social Security and Medicare are enough support to help older people manage financially? Should the government do more or do less to support older people? Should the government provide long-term care to older people?
What’s the best/worst thing about being your age now?
You need to probe your interviewee to get details on their answers so you can create a story, so ask questions like “How do you feel about these changes? Why do you feel this way?” for everything you find out. You are an investigative reporter and you will not have a very compelling story if you do not ask good questions!
