Why is six scared of seven? Because seven eight nine! Week six was super packed with midterms, and I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that we’re halfway through week seven. Like a little reward at the end of my exam-heavy week, we put on the Love, Connect, Care event at the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center this past Saturday. I was very happy to see that people were excited to use our “photo booth” area and that they enjoyed the props we brought. I also enjoyed seeing how the other activities came together, and that every single one of them was so well-received. Watching the elders get excited and competitive about the ring-toss and cornhole was also so much fun. I’m super glad that so many people stuck around for the raffle giveaway even though there was a bit of a language difficulty in explaining the raffle and prizes– Google Translate for the win! One woman approached a group of us at the end of the event to tell us how much she enjoyed herself and that she hoped we would be back next weekend. It was such a nice gesture and a great way to wrap up the day. :,) This morning we visited Barrio Logan to assess the community for age-friendliness. We used a checklist to look for elements that could help or hurt the experience of elders and people of all ages. We focused on outdoor spaces and buildings, including checking for walkability and accessible resources. In our walking group, we identified some potentially problematic areas, like lack of shaded, accessible seating, uneven pavement, and the absence of public restrooms. There were definitely positive aspects to the neighborhood as well, like many age-friendly buildings with ramps and some designated social areas. Professor Lewis’s insight about the neighborhood helped me utilize the “asset frame” and better understand the strengths of the community beyond the built environment, such as the camaraderie and resilient activism. Going into week 8, I’m excited to get going with the capstone project, finish reading Happiness is a Choice We Make, and see everyone in class on Wednesday!
|
Tiffany Nakajima Tiffany Nakajima is a Public Health major with a concentration in Epidemiology and with a minor in Archives
March 2022
Categories |