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Conversation with Cheryl Dolmage

Susan White SW 5720 Final

Description of older person

Looks:

Cheryl appears her actual age, she maintains her hair in a short cropped cut.
Cheryls hair color is black and gray. At the time of the interview, Cheryl was wearing a purple sweat suit with coordinating top and bottom. Cheryl is slightly overweight and has wrinkles on her face and neck.

Presentation of Self:

Cheryl presents herself as a well educated and competent individual

Cheryl presents herself with a kind demeanor

Cheryl speaks clearly; however, does have some trouble hearing she is mostly deaf in her right ear. Cheryl is fully ambulatory, she lives with her husband, granddaughter and three great-grandchildren in her own home.

Description of Older Person Cont.

Aproximate Age:

Cheryl will be 67 at the end of this year

Summary of Functioning level:

Cheryl is highly functioning:

she works a full-time job

has two dogs spends her free time driving up north to her cottage she enjoys gardening and quilting as hobbies

Summary of Conversation

Personal History:

Cheryl was born and raised in Troy, Michigan as the oldest of four children. Cheryls father worked for the phone company and her mother was a homemaker Cheryl was married at 17 and had her first child shortly after. Cheryl had four children by the age of twenty-eight, with one miscarriage Cheryl went to nursing school after her children were born in her early thirties. Starting out her career as a nurse in homecare, Cheryl transitioned to working in the hospital as an insurance appeals coordinator.

Summary of Conversation Cont.

Family:

Cheryl has 4 children, 11 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren.

Cheryls mother is still alive, whom she helps to provide care for. Her mother is in her late 80s and lives in her own residence.
Cheryl also has a granddaughter and three great-grandchildren living in her house, whom she helps to provide care to. Cheryl raised her granddaughter from the age of eight, when her parents were divorced. Now that her granddaughter is in college, recently divorced, and has children she has returned home for support and guidance. Cheryl is married, and has a very large family. Cheryl plays a very active role in the lives of her family. Cheryls role in her family is sort of like the matriarch. Cheryl is one of the few older people in the family so many of her family members turn to her for advice and guidance.

Summary of Conversation Cont.

Employment:

Cheryl works for a local hospital, she is a nurse and does insurance appeals Cheryl hopes to retire for the most part next year. Some of Cheryls concerns with retiring are having enough money to support herself and her husband comfortably for the rest of their lives. Cheryl enjoys working, she feels that it keeps her mind young and fresh. Cheryl intends on working at least two days a week after she retires to keep herself busy. She stated during our conversation that she believes if she stops working she wont know what to do with herself. Cheryl also confided that her job is high stress and she feels that she is underappreciated in the position that she has. She feels now more than ever she wants to retire and enjoy her life, to be able to do more of the fun things.

Analysis of Older Adult

Cheryl has had a very full and highly functioning life. Cheryl has not required the used of any assisted living. Cheryl is in the baby-boomer cohort group. The baby-boomer generation is the largest group of older people ever before. The most unique thing about Cheryls generation is that she has the unique responsibility of caring for the old and the young. While Cheryl still has a living parent, she also has a younger generation who is depending on her for help. While Cheryl has reached typical retirement age, she has chosen to continue to work. Cheryl feels that she wants to ensure that she is amply prepared and secure in her retirement. Cheryl has had a full and enjoyable life, not without some struggles. Cheryl is overall a productive older member of society who will likely live for many more years into very old age.

Analysis of Older Adult Cont.

For Cheryl one of the most important parts of her life is her Family Relations. In, Key Concepts in Social Gerontology, Family Relations is defined as, family ties or bonds which have traditionally described connections between people based on relations of blood, marriage or adoption, and which are sustained throughout life. (Phillips, Ajrouche, HillcoatNalletamby 96)

Cheryl plays a very key role in the lives of her family. Cheryl, as I stated before, is responsible to caring for the older and the younger generation. Providing care and assistance to her mother who is in her late eighties and to her granddaughter and great-grandchildren who live with her. Key Concepts in Social Gerontology addresses how the family system has transcended with changes in family structure with divorce, remarriage, adoption, and other changes occurring more commonly in modern society.

Analysis of Older Adult Cont.

Another area that closely relates to Cheryls Family Relations is her Filial Responsibility. In, Key Concepts in Social Gerontology, Filial Responsibility is defined as, the expectation that adult children will provide assistance to older parents in times of need, giving priority to their parents needs over their own. (Phillips, Ajrouche, Hillcoat-Nalletamby 101)
One of the biggest contributing factors that plays into Cheryls filial responsibility is the matter of her family being close rather than distant. As Cheryl described from a very young age, she wanted to have a large close family. Cheryl achieved her large, close family; however, she is the closest to the elders in the family with her brother living in another state and her sisters living fairly close, but Cheryl being the closest. Most of the burden for caring for her aging mother falls on Cheryl, as well as her other responsibilities which can be draining.

Analysis of Myself

Summarize involvement

Cheryl is my grandmother. I felt very comfortable speaking with her in this capacity. I interact with Cheryl on a daily basis because we live together.

What was it like?

Having a conversation about her history and life was much like any other conversation that we have on a daily basis. Many of the stories and facts that Cheryl shared with me I had previously heard; however, it is always nice to hear about her life.

What is your reaction to spending time with this person?

My reaction to spending time with Cheryl was not really noticeable for me. I spend lots of time with Cheryl because I do live with her.

Analysis of Myself Cont.

How did you feel?

At times I did feel like I was wanting to speed things along because some of the stories I had previously heard. I think that having a conversation with another older adult would have been beneficial because I wouldnt have known as much of the information.

What did you learn?

I did learn a few things about Cheryl that I did not previously know. I learned more about Cheryls childhood. Cheryl grew up with a very small family, the only family that she knew growing up were her mother, father, and three siblings. Cheryls grandparents died when she was very young. Cheryl decided when she was just a girl that when she grew up she wanted to have a big family because she had grown up with a small immediate family. Cheryl originally wanted to have 11 children; however, when she got a little older and was married they decided on four children. Now Cheryl has a very extended family who all live within 2 hours of each other.

References
Key Concepts in Social Gerontology by Judith E Phillips Kristine J Ajrouch Sarah Hillcoat-Nalletamby