Being born and raised in San Diego, I have become to know the various places and communities that make up our beautiful city. However, I haven’t been able to truly get to know the people within these communities, especially the aging population. Therefore, I chose to become a Life Course Scholar to be able to better connect to people in my city as I plan to reside and live my life here. Furthermore, being that I want to go into the health care field, I hope to gain a better understanding of the aging experience, so that I can apply it to my work in healthcare when addressing the health needs of this population. Our first outing, the housing tour really allowed me to gain insight into the diversity of the aging experience. Being that much of your health is determined by where you work, live and play, seeing how and where the aged lived was important. Upon seeing the Potiker Family Residence, I felt that it showed a good and effective model to provide housing for elders. It was clean, friendly and bright, and seemed to have a multitude of activities. Furthermore, seeing that they provided resources and assistance in-house, I was able to better understand how important helping elders access such things as social security, health care and food assistance programs is. The pivotal point for me was when I saw another housing facility, the Sarah Francis Hometel, which was only a couple blocks from the Potiker facility. This time, I was met with poor ventilation, small rooms, and dim lighting. It seemed as if there was poor maintenance, and the presence of various resources and activities for residents were not existent. This drastic disparity of housing showed me how one’s experience of aging can differ greatly, even by a few blocks. This disparity led to me to develop a sense of outrage, which makes me want to engage in actions that betters conditions that the aged live in, regardless of income, race and sexuality. Seeing the other housing types on the tour, such as the LGBTQ oriented development, helped me learn of other ways in which better living conditions for the aged can be created and implemented. Therefore, as I continue to be exposed to aging through being an LCS, I seek to learn even more ways I can promote change that betters the lives of the aged and overall aging experience. I look forward to the months ahead in being a Life Course Scholar.
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Kyle UnderwoodArchives
June 2018
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