The location and views from Casa de Manana were amazing! I enjoyed the Spanish inspired architecture and the various activities for the residents from sightseeing to volunteering in a day care for them to socialize with different groups of people and learn new things. Life at Casa seems luxurious and I was shocked to find that there was a resident that will turn 100 next week. We met a guy who is very active in Casa and started a bingo group and a choir group. Another resident went skydiving on her 90th birthday! I have never met anyone over 80 who is still learning a new language or taking part in many activities to stimulate their brains. I do wish that we had more time to socialize with some of the residents there. Maybe if we were a smaller group we could have taken the chance to ask questions because I am very curious about their experiences and their views on life since they probably have a lot to share. It would be interesting to ask them what advice they have for people our age or what they think the meaning of life is. Seeing all of these residents talk about their lives and how involved they are makes me wonder how I will be when I am their age. From the introductions we got, I took away a couple of messages. It is never too late to do anything or learn things that you wanted to do. Don’t let stereotypes dictate your life. Live life open-minded and it is never too late to change your career. It is interesting to see the contrast in how people age from my own experiences living in San Francisco where most elderly people are first generation Americans with limited English and how educated elders age. I see the importance of brain stimulation and learning for people across the life course and I hope to create a healthy aging plan that incorporates both of these.
From this tour, I learned that poverty is increasing for the senior population as it is decreasing for other populations. Even with the current affordable housing units for poor seniors, there are still not enough to accommodate all of them. We saw many different types of housing from transition homes to SRO to nice housing complexes in downtown. The Potiker Family Senior House and the Sara Francis Hometel were stark opposites. Potiker had presentable, senior and disabled friendly halls and various social activities to create a sense of community among the residents. The resident that we met, Irene, was lovely and willing to share with us her experiences in different housing systems and her experiences at Potiker. It was sad to see that there were so many high end high rise building across the street from the senior center, because there are still so many seniors that are living in poverty or on the streets. The hometel, on the other hand, was stuffy and had no natural light. Many of the people living there were people trying to transition from the streets to affordable housing. The hallway was also very narrow and was not disabled friendly for residents like Michael who uses a wheelchair. I cannot imagine seniors living in this hometel and I feel like the city and residents in the neighborhood should be aware of the living situations, like the hometel, that do not allow seniors a place to age in a healthy way. The last housing complex we saw was the North Park Senior Apartments. The place was amazing and had everything that was sustainable as well as senior-friendly with color coded doors for each floor, community centers, wide walkway, handbars on the side, and a patio for each apartment. I was in awe with the structure of the building and open patios on the top floors and the love and care demonstrated from the kind words written on boards or doors. I am thankful for being able to go on this tour to many different affordable housing within San Diego. It opened my eyes to the homelessness in some of the surrounding apartments and made me more aware of the disparities that seniors face when trying to find affordable housing in an expensive city.
I have volunteered in senior centers in the past before but never have I been blown away with the amount of care and services provided for the seniors at the Gary and Mary West Senior Center. The location of the center was in close proximity to the transit and affordable housing. Once you walk in, you feel very welcomed and a sense of community with some seniors sitting around the TV, some taking part in the morning exercise, some in the cyber cafe, and some in the game room. There was always something that the center offers that accommodates to the needs of the seniors to foster socialization, healthy habits, life-long learning, friendship, and community to close some gaps that these seniors may have due to poverty. I was pleased to find that they offer free dental services for the seniors, because a lot of the seniors have insurances that do not cover for a lot of dental procedures and expenses. Dentists can play an important role in detecting early diseases by annually checking teeth, so this service is vital to ensure that the seniors age healthy and live fulfilling lives. After the tour, we got to talk to some seniors at the center. I mainly talked to a man named Willie in the game room. I noticed that he was in the corner and not doing anything. I was afraid to approach him because I was not sure what to say, but when Mariela and I approached him, he seemed happy that we talked to him as most people were talking to a senior already. It was hard for him to open up, but we learned that he is 91 this year and he grew up in Michigan. From our talk, I found that he lived most of his life alone with very little friends because he chose to be clean and not give in to peer pressure. He warned us to finish school and not get married early. I wish that I could have talked and gotten to know him a bit more, but I am glad that we talked to him though because he misses playing card games with his friend who no longer goes to the center.
Bayside was a small but welcoming community center with a big open space for many activities for people of all ages. It was my first time doing Zumba and it was an interesting experience. I learned that I have no motor coordination and that the elders were pretty good! I could tell that the seniors enjoyed our company. Despite my lack of coordination, I had a fun time trying something new and getting some exercise. After Zumba, we were able to interact with the people and community members. I mostly chatted with a woman in her mid 40s and she was telling us about the changes that the community has seen. Bayside used to be across the street and now that place is a new school. The current location for bayside had been a supermarket. We told her about the program and she is glad that such a program like this exists because she has an aging mother and she knows that some elders experience loneliness and lack of connection with the younger generation and really appreciates the intergenerational aspect of this program. Even though our time at bayside was short, I was able to see a neighborhood in San Diego that I have never been to and learned about how multicultural it is. It is great that there are weekly Zumba lessons as well as other opportunities for kids and adults to interact in the same environment. I really liked this neighborhood and cannot wait to go back for the potluck!
The life course scholar retreat was not what I expected. The view was breathtaking, the people were welcoming, and the lessons learned and perspectives heard made me realize the importance of empathy, vulnerability, and mindfulness. Playing the game of life helped me gain a better understanding that our lives are dependent on the conditions that we were born into, creating a chain of events that will affect us in the future. It made me realize how much harder disadvantaged people have to work in order to even catch up to others that may be slightly more privileged in life. This game put my life into perspective and showed that no matter how difficult you think your life is, you should still be grateful for the small things as well as the importance of funding organizations and programs that help low socioeconomic groups.
I learned the importance of vulnerability and opening up when we were discussing an image of us to our partner. I decided to show my partner a picture I took while I was on a medical missions trip in Peru. Looking back and being able to reflect on this experience brought back many memories of that day and feelings of triumph after days of volunteering for long hours in the dusty, hot villages in Peru. Hiking up to Machu Picchu did not only allow me to strike it off my bucket list, but the whole journey and the patients I have encountered also helped me solidify my desire to become a pharmacist. It was nice to tell my partner about what I saw and learned from this experience and be able to open up about how the trip was eventually worth it despite the struggles and obstacles I experienced. Hearing about other people’s accomplishments as well as passions made me wish that I had shared some things with more people, but it was enjoyable to celebrate and empathize with others while their stories were being shared. I experienced mindfulness during our walk around the coast and when we went back to the house to write about how we envision our lives at 80. There were so many things that I did not notice or would have noticed if we were not told to think about the challenges that older people might have if they were to walk on the same path. Writing about our lives at 80 allowed me to think of my long term goals and what I would do to accomplish them. After discussion, I realized that there are so many thing about urban planning and cities that I do not know of, let alone, the perspective of elders when it comes to city layout, healthcare, and wellbeing. I am excited to see what else is in store for the rest of the two quarters and how it will help me get a better insight into healthy aging and how it can help me become a better healthcare provider. |
Amena NgWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
Categories |