After we walked about 20 minutes away from the trolley, we saw the affordable housing, which is the best place in the whole area, has been built for about ten years with some supply stores and restaurants around. The area around it is healthier with a public park and cleaner streets but more things need to be done to allow it to become fully developed with secure and high-quality avenues. The population in one small area cannot simply grow when they are surrounded by a substandard neighborhood. As many researches and health organizations have stated, our zip code represents our health status more than our genetic code. The transition from biomedical science model to social determinants model shifts the focus of disease diagnosis and treatment to health intervention. Thus, the priority of shaping population health by stimulating healthy behaviors together with providing people resources and facilities to achieve it is the primary function of public health. Moving forward with innovation plans for Barrio Logan, the environment should be reformed with more parks, outdoor tables and chairs, entertainment areas, fitness center, and local healthcare promotion programs. To better accomplish this progress, more labor are needed to clean streets and remodel low-quality housing, more buildup of healthy foods and community-based organizations to foster health, wellbeing, safety, and inclusion for older adults and all residents of all ages.
March 1, 2023
The Case De Manana Senior Retirement Community at La Jolla Shore in the early of March is the prettiest living community for older adults I have ever been to in my life. I visited the beach area a few times in spring quarter but I was not aware that it was a retirement campus right there. They offered a luxurious apartment with nurse-assisting services for old healthy adults who are average at 82 years old with some medical restrictions including absence of dementia and other hard-to-take-care of conditions. They owned complex blocks of buildings in the whole area. The apartment price is ranging from 6 to 15 thousands. My classmates and I were taken on a tour around the building by the office manager and we visited a two-bedroom apartment that cost 13 thousand, and is designed with a beautiful window facing to the beach and newly-equipped facilities. Older adults were not only taken care of by a friendly and professional team but also able to utilize space in the library, fitness center, and diverse courseworks of informational sessions held weekly. The building is very clean, designed with flat entrances that facilitate disabled and hardly-moving adults. Staff are very gracious and responsive to approach any questions. Their food menu has varied every day with a sufficient nutrition plan.
My classmates and I were taken on a tour around the building by the office manager and we visited a two-bedroom apartment that cost 13 thousand, and is designed with a beautiful window facing to the beach and newly-equipped facilities. Older adults were not only taken care of by a friendly and professional team but also able to utilize space in the library, fitness center, and diverse courseworks of informational sessions held weekly. The building is very clean, designed with flat entrances that facilitate disabled and hardly-moving adults. Staff are very gracious and responsive to approach any questions. Their food menu has varied every day with a sufficient nutrition plan.
What would my old life look like? Would I able to afford a house like this?
In the conversation section, I fortunately had some time to talk with Mrs. John Perkins and Ms. Alex, who shared great stories about their lives and gave me incredible advice.
Alex, who worked 4-year as a Dean of a College at Cornell University and Vice Chancellor of student affairs, said that one misconception about older people is that they have nothing to do, because she is actually so busy. This provoked my thought in a few minutes that I wish I would have a great busy life like hers when I get old. She has lots of love in her life, but a great one is love for her grandchildren.
On the left is DeEtta. Alex is the middle lady who dresses in a blue outfit. John is on the right.
One thing she wishes to change or do better in modern lives is making technology more friendly for older adults, because they have lots of challenges to figure things out on their own. As a young person, I already feel it hard for me to catch up with today’s update on technology and computing programs too. The advice she gave to me is never passing any opportunities coming in my life because I never know where it leads me to.
Thing that she suggests to improve in the next meeting is making small rooms for small groups of students engaging with older adults. Lots of noise was distracting us when we were in the same room together with several group discussions. It is actually hard for me to hear what Alex says and looking at her put efforts in speaking loudly makes me feel bad as well.
One thing John shared is working hard and doing fun things, enjoying my life, never giving up on what I want to get. John is another wonderful person, who lived through the Vietnam war and got lucky not to be sent to Vietnam for the war because his short-sightedness was so serious. He worked as a professor in environmental study at Evergreen University in Washington state.
Here is when the office manager showed us the map of the land area where their retirement community occupied and mentioned a bit over its history.
I am certain that this community is exactly what all older adults desire to live in when they get old but not all of us can afford the cost of it. So the question left in my thought is what could I do to develop those substandard and on-operation community projects to at least reach a neutral quality standard, even if it does not have to look fancy and well-equipped like the Case de Mañana Senior Retirement Community? All community touching trips are great for me but this trip leaves in my mind a nice ending. Visiting all types of housing for older adults, from very old and low price to very new and high price communities, I gained a diverse examination from experiential study that shaped a perception of how older adults living look like, how aging disease, income, health, and education, social competency play important part to how we become in old ages. These trips inspired me to consider working for developing retirement homes for older adults as a career after finishing my education. Conserving with older adults made me calm and comforted my overthinking and life pressure.
Thank you Professor Lewis and Life Course Scholars Course management department. I would not have come to enrich my understanding and perception towards lives of senior population this much without having all community-based experiences in this course.