MY EXPERIENCES WITH ELDERLY PEOPLE

Our population is at a new stage; more people are living longer. It is such a mixed blessing for although medical science, diet, and technology can provide the resources for a longer life, not all aspects of being older are pleasant; It is a fear and inconvenience. On the other hand, it is the revealed wisdom and confidence of people because I believe that growing older is growing wiser; we become wiser only through living experiences that we have been through. The day that I started my internship in a nursing home for a week when I was in nursing program, I felt something that I could not express because I had seen some elderly residents who did not have a visit from their loved ones for a long period of time. In my Asian culture, we value our elderly the most, and we love to listen to the experiences that they share. We have to keep in mind that it is nearly impossible for a single caregiver to provide all the needs for an aging parent. Am I adequately able to give care for my elderly parent on a daily basis? Do I need help providing supervisory care for my parent? Is my parent showing signs of confusion or dementia? These are basic questions that we all ask ourselves to determine when it comes to caring for our elderly parents.

Dementia is a loss of intellectual ability that effects memory, learning, attention, thought and language skills. People with dementia may forget family members or not know that what day it is. Sometimes they become very angry or sad, hear voices, or see things that are not there. For example, there is one resident with dementia who committed to walk everyday. He walks from his Alzheimer (most common type of dementia) Unit to the other unit (where I work at) three times a day. Every time he sees me, he says, " There you are! Have you made your eight dollars yet?" When I respond and start a conversation, he will say that he used to live at country side; he has a dog named Missy and she is 11 years old now. He has a fixated way of