Physiological life-long process Essay

Aging primarily is a physiological life-long process, starting at conception and ending with death (Kart, 1994). Persons grow old whether they like it or not. These changes, both positive and negative, place demands on the aging person’s abilities to cope with and adapt to new life situations. It is a challenge for any given society to assist their aged in coping with the new life situations they are facing. Unfortunately, the rapid social changes taking place in society do not always lend themselves toward helping the elderly meet the demands of their life situations. For one, the attitude toward this population is not helping them cope with it as well. According to historian Fischer, 1977 in Doress-Worters & Seigel, 1994), the old is regarded as useless, unattractive, and unwanted especially in the west. Acknowledging these realities of aging, the current research has been undertaken to study the experience of subjective well-being of senior citizens of Gladys Spellan. This shall be from the point of view of their administrators, particularly on their views on well being and the factors that influence it. Objectives / Outcomes This study therefore, will strive to achieve the following objectives: 1) Understand the experiences of the senior citizens of Gladys Spellman in the home for the aged from the perspective of their administrators: a) Their understanding or idea of well-being b) And the components of well being and factors that influence it. I personally chose this topic because I believe that as more and more elderly are placed under institutionalized care in contemporary society, a study such as this is needed to explore this phenomenon. It would shed light into the subjective lives experiences of the aged from an administrators’ view point. This would also contribute to the literature in this area and serve as groundwork for further studies in this area. This study will explore the subjective well-being (SWB) of the elderly in Gladys Spellmen who opted to live in an institutionalized set up or in a home for the aged by choice. The following framework will be used as a guide in the study: Method The first step in the research was the gathering of secondary data that are pertinent to the current topic, collating literature on the concept of well-being, indicators of the cognitive and affective components, and the factors which contribute towards it. A case study will be used in the current study, focusing on Gladys Spellmen Specialty Center. A semi- structured interview guide has been used in gathering primary data from the administrators of the institution. Interviewing. All the interview sessions with administrators will be one-on-one or individual interviews, for which the researcher has jotted down notes. A session with the participants lasted about 45 to 90 minutes,sometimes with a break in between or without it. The personal information sheet will be completed before or after the interview session with them. The researcher will take down notes while interviewing which shall be thematically analyzed. References Kart, C. S. (1994). The realities of aging: An introduction to gerontology (4th ed. ). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Doress-Worters P. B. , & Seigel, D. L. (1994). The new ourselves growing older. Women aging with a knowledge and power. New York: Simon & Schuster.