It was NAP day for this week's Wednesday class, and a time to showcase all the groups' preparations. Despite living in San Diego for more than two years now, my knowledge of the city's communities is sparse. Working on this project made me realize that my naivety was even more profound than I initially thought it to be. The provided checklist was a revelation to read; I had never known that there were so many facets related to age-friendliness in a single subtopic, such as communication. By simply going through the checklist, I came to understand the sheer complexity of age-friendliness and how so many things have to be considered in order to build a community that is convenient and accessible for the elderly and those with disabilities.
When I listened to other groups' presentations, I was surprised by the level of disparity in income between neighboring cities of La Jolla and La Jolla itself, which is the community my group worked on. Despite this dissimilarity, there seems to be the common theme of housing issues and also infrastructure problems, such as sidewalks and roads that may be pose a danger for seniors. In the end, we learned that there is much to be improved, and the potential for improvement is exciting.
Personally, the NAP is a very unique project. Most of the courses I have taken focused on the study of biology, chemistry, and so on, but this program gave me the opportunity to study a community, its design and practicality, and the people living in it.
When I listened to other groups' presentations, I was surprised by the level of disparity in income between neighboring cities of La Jolla and La Jolla itself, which is the community my group worked on. Despite this dissimilarity, there seems to be the common theme of housing issues and also infrastructure problems, such as sidewalks and roads that may be pose a danger for seniors. In the end, we learned that there is much to be improved, and the potential for improvement is exciting.
Personally, the NAP is a very unique project. Most of the courses I have taken focused on the study of biology, chemistry, and so on, but this program gave me the opportunity to study a community, its design and practicality, and the people living in it.