It was a fun filled night with our friends at Casa de Mañana and their annual senior prom. The night got off on the right foot literally. The bands had music going and the LCS crew and our seniors were going to town on the dance floor. The event was so exciting because we set up a photo booth that was rockin’ the early 1950s soda pop shop classical theme. The seniors and LCS staff were instantly drawn in by the allure of the photo booth. It was really nice to see how the photo booth became a central hub for the seniors who were not only taking all sorts of photos with their friends and the LCS staff but also made for a great medium for socializing. The seniors were even suggesting taking pictures with all sorts of props such as large glasses, boas, and rainbow colored beads. It was obvious that the seniors were having a blast. The night festivities also featured an awesome raffle giveaway which was handled by our amazing LCS members who had the seniors laughing and on the edge of their seats with anticipation waiting for their lucky member to be called. The lucky seniors who won enjoyed different types of prizes such as succulent plants which seem to be the hottest item of the night and others received gift cards which they were very excited to receive. All in all, I feel that from the feedback I received from the seniors they enjoyed everything from the music to the photos to raffle and everything in between. This blast from the past was a complete success.
This week we started off with the second half of the classes EP presentations and group current event presentations. I got the morning started off by presenting my mother as my EP and shared with the class some of her finest memories relating back to her childhood and her Native American ancestry. I was really excited to present because I knew it would give me a chance to not only talk about how awesome my mother is but also allow others to learn a little bit about Native American culture. I was glad that the class enjoyed my physical element that I created which were three dream catchers that had symbolic meaning for my mother. After my presentation, others in the class shared their EP’s stories and it was such an honor and inspiring to hear about their life and achievements. Later in the morning we began the group current event presentations which were full of interesting topics. The group that stood out to me the most was the group that discussed how in Europe they are proposing that robots act as caretakers for seniors. This topic sparked amazing discourse because the idea that robots could assist seniors I believe could be a positive thing in terms of medication reminders or some type of digital interface where doctors could communicate directly with seniors through the robot for example. On the other hand, cost was brought up and who would be able to afford this type of technology and would this lead to further widening the gap in healthcare based on income. In the end it was a nice day full of great presentations and conversations.
Wednesday was very eventful because we had our oral history project presentations and a group book review. I found the oral history presentations to be very inspiring because I got a chance to listen to my classmates discuss stories about their exceptional person and some of the reasons as to why they chose them. It was also nice to see the many physical elements that the presenters created such as origami flowers, intricate jewelry boxes, and even a hand molded model airplane. Overall I thought the presentations were nicely done and I could see the joy my classmates had in presenting their family members. After the presentations, we began to discuss the book Selling the Fountain of Youth. I feel we could have discussed this book for days because there was so much to talk about within the ideas of intervening with the aging process by creating so many untested products that claim it can reverse the aging process. This ideology is further compounded by the fact you have celebrities endorsing these untested products. I believe that this book further strengthens my belief that marketing and advertising play a large negative role in promoting this “idea of what youth is” and “what youth should look like,” while at the same time making older people feel less confident about aging naturally which leads them to purchasing a plethora of anti-aging products which can be harmful. In the end I feel there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way society views aging and only then as a collective whole we can truly see the beauty in aging naturally.
After spending the past couple of week outside of the class visiting different sites, we finally made it back to our classroom. This session back in class was very interesting because this was our first set of presentations on current events regarding aging. The first presentation was about elderly driving and when and if they should have their license removed due to old age. This got me wondering how and if this could be a positive thing because maybe on the surface people may think one’s numerical value should be the ultimate determining factor in when one should stop driving however, I would challenge that argument and discuss the fact that there are studies that show some 80-year-olds have the same cognitive ability and reflex ability as those who are 50 years younger. I also feel that by preventing someone from driving based on their age not only perpetuates ageism but it could also place an elder in a situation where one can no longer enjoy the freedom of mobility, which can have a harmful effect on their mental health and also can prevent them from accessing healthcare and participating normal daily living activities. Our group followed that presentation by discussing loneliness which seemed very fitting because transportation can be one’s means to interacting with others based on their location. As a group we felt that loneliness in the senior community seems to go unscrutinized on a large scale so we thought it was a perfect opportunity to discuss some aspects of senior loneliness and how it can lead to health problems. It was also nice receiving feedback on how community leaders can use technology to reduce the amount of loneliness seniors experience especially those in rural areas. All in all, it was a very productive class session which made for great discussion.
Visiting the retirement community Casa De Mañana made for a pleasant day. On arriving to the facility greeted by a stunning panoramic view of La Jolla Cove. The friendly staff welcomed us and discussed some of the demographics about their community. I found it very interesting that this community is for the most part comprised of seniors that are highly educated and affluent according to the marketing manager. As one would expect Casa De Mañana is full of amenities ranging from fine dining to well-being and fitness programs to libraries that promote lifelong learning. Later we were able to meet a few of the residents and hear about their background and discuss how much they enjoyed the community. While touring the facility, we noticed there were plenty of people enjoying themselves and we even walked through a couple of fitness classes that the seniors were participating in and they gladly invited us to join in. The thing that struck me the most was finding out how much it costs seniors to live in the retirement community. Casa De Mañana offers traditional apartments, deluxe apartments, and deluxe villas ranging from $4300-$13,000 per month. This was a dramatic difference in price as compared to other senior centers we visited, so it was really interesting to see firsthand how one’s social economic status in life can have a dramatic effect on living conditions later on in life and witnessing how wide the wealth health gap really is. At the end of the day it was nice to see the seniors at the center living and enjoying long healthy life.
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WAYNE B HARRISONWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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