C1 – Internal use
FINAL ASSIGNMENT: SOCIOLOGY OF THE AGING
DUE DATE – MAY 10 TH OR SOONER
As you have learned about the aging population in this class, you now have an opportunity to take your learning and apply it in a real-world setting. There are two options for completing this assignment: 1) Speak with an aging person through the course engagement with a senior center; OR 2) Find an aging person in your circle of connections and interview that person.
There are two sets of instructions below: 1) Interviewing Questions; and 2) Assignment Questions. You only need to report on the Assignment Questions.
The person you interview must be at least 65 years or older. Do not include interviewee name or identifying information on your assignment.
Interview Questions – This is for your experience: Introduce yourself and explain that you are taking a course in aging and learning about some of the benefits and challenges of the aging population. Once you have permission to interview, please use the following questions as your guide.
1. Tell me about what you value most and least during your aging years. 2. What is the most memorable historical event that you recall? Describe the memory including your thoughts and
feelings. 3. Tell me what has been the most beneficial and challenging about your aging experience. 4. How do you feel about the healthcare system in the US? What are some challenges you face? 5. What type of housing do you have? Does your housing meet your needs? 6. Do you find that age provides you more insight on life and life experiences? 7. Based upon your life experiences, what is some advice that you may have for me?
Assignment Questions – These are the questions that you answer for your assignment: As a part of your engagement with the aging population, please answer the following questions in your written assignment:
1. Analysis of Knowledge: Connects and extends knowledge (facts, theories, etc.) from one’s own academic
study/field/discipline to civic engagement and to one’s own participation in civic life, politics, and government.
How do you believe your knowledge from this course contributed to your work with the aging population? Specifically,
identify information learned from an aging person and how your course learning contributed to an improved
understanding. For example, you might discuss the type of housing the aging person discussed and your own
understanding of such housing.
2. Diversity of Communities & Cultures: Demonstrates evidence of adjustment in own attitudes and beliefs because
of working within and learning from diversity of communities and cultures. Promotes others’ engagement with
diversity.
How has working with the aging population changed your attitudes towards diversity? Describe your own identification
with diversity and how you perceived the aging population before and after learning and having exposure to such
population. What differences have been confirmed or changed in your own attitudes and beliefs towards the aging
population?
C1 – Internal use
3. Civic Communication: Tailors communication strategies to effectively express, listen, and adapt to others to
establish relationships to further civic action.
How have your interviewing skills helped gather information from the aging person? Describe the communication
strategies that were most effective in your ability to establish a relationship and gather information. What information
was useful in thinking about further interventions with the aging population?
4. Civic Identity & Commitment: Provides evidence of experience in civic engagement activities and describes what
she/he has learned about her or himself as it relates to a reinforced and clarified sense of civic identity and
continued commitment to public action.
How has engaging with the aging population helped you learn about yourself? Describe what it was like to engage with
an aging person and learn about their needs.
5. Civil Action & Reflection: Demonstrates independent experience and shows initiative in team leadership of
complex or multiple civic engagement activities, accompanied by reflective insights or analysis about the aims
and accomplishments of one’s actions.
In reflecting on your experience with the aging population, how do you feel about your experience. What skills do you
think are transferable to work with other populations?
6. Civil Contexts & Structures: Demonstrates ability and commitment to collaboratively work across and within
community contexts and structures to achieve a civic aim.
Based upon working with the aging population, what goals do you have for future work with the aging population?
Do you think that there is a particular social issue you seek to collaborate on for the future benefit of the aging
population?
PARTIAL SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT: Must be 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, one-inch margins, 4
pages excluding cover and citations if you use them.
As a part of my civic learning experiences, I worked closely with a single white widowed female of 85 years of age.
Although her real name is not Ms. Jones, she will be referred to as Ms. Jones in this reflection paper. Ms. Jones is of
Catholic faith. She has three grown children, multiple grandchildren, and one great grandchild. She worked as a chef in a
hospital facility until retirement. She lives in a senior housing unit in Essex County, NJ.
Civic Experience & Course Knowledge
During my experiences working closely with Ms. Jones, I was able to learn a great deal about the aging population
from one of many perspectives. I believe my course knowledge helped me effectively interview and understand the
content shared by Ms. Jones. Ms. Jones talked about several social issues faced by the aging person, but I will focus on
her experiences with the healthcare system. Ms. Jones reported that she is a recipient of social security and has
Medicaid. These benefits keep costs of healthcare manageable for her financial means. I learned in class that having
both Medicare and Medicaid as an aging person can be helpful because the Medicaid acts as a secondary insurance
keeping healthcare costs low. One challenge is that Ms. Jones has a low income which helps her qualify for Medicaid.
Her low income forces her to maintain careful financial planning. Ms. Jones worked at a hospital facility for many years
and felt comfortable with finances in her younger years. Now, she reports that she will rarely buy anything unnecessary
for herself. Without the course content learned in class, I think it would have been difficult to understand how Ms.
C1 – Internal use
Jones’ finances, health insurance, and income all fit together in Ms. Jones’ life. There are so many specific topics to
understand related to work with the aging population that I think I would have been overwhelmed recording the
information during the interview without some larger understanding.
Diversity of Community & Cultures
Diversity is the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic
backgrounds. One area of diversity is aging. Prior to working with the aging population, I did not have a lot of exposure
to the aging population or challenges faced by aging persons. I also did not really think about how people from different
cultural backgrounds and lived experiences would have an added layer of diversity to aging. Ms. Jones is from an Italian
family. She took care of her mother when she expressed some frustrations that her children do not do more for her. She
also verbalized that she never wanted to be placed in a care setting because she felt that in her culture, children take
care of their aging parents. Ms. Jones met spent most of her life around the Italian population and did not have much
exposure to people of diverse backgrounds until she started attending a senior center. Ms. Jones has changed my
perspective towards the aging population. I used to think that life was very limiting when one is aging, but I learned that
there is an increased appreciation for relationships and loved ones. I also realized that the aging population is sometimes
open to trying and learning new things with the time that they have. I also think that the aging population is generally
more appreciative of having opportunities to talk and share information about their life.
Communication
I believe that I was able to increase my communication skills by talking with Ms. Jones. I learned that open
ended questions were key in continuing discussions. It helped to have some ideas of what questions might be relevant in
having more intimate conversations with the aging population. I tried to maintain eye contact and show attention
despite taking some notes, so I could reflect on the experience after. It is important to demonstrate active listening, ask
good open-ended questions, and reflective feedback when speaking with people. When I spoke with Ms. Jones, I learned
that she really enjoys food and had lots to say about different type of cooking and ingredients. She loved to keep a
garden when she was younger. When I could see that she was excited about a topic, I would ask follow-up questions.
People do not always get a chance to talk about their memories. Talking about fond memories can be enjoyable for
people. I think that engaging with the aging population showed me to pay more attention to details in conversations and
try and be responsive to the information being shared.
Civic Identity & Commitment
I have learned about myself from engaging with the aging population. I thought I was always scared of death and
dying, and that life was over when you get older. By interacting with and learning about the aging population, I was able
to debunk these myths. I realize that the aging population and aging experience can vary greatly. In some cases, aging
persons may have a lot of resources and success, whereas other persons may face many challenges. The experiences of
the aging persons vary. I am inspired to help the aging population get access to additional resources that would increase
their quality of life. I have learned some things about myself too. I learned that life can be overwhelming when you are
younger, but that it is important to slow down and appreciate everything that is happening around you because life
moves fast. I felt inspired to better appreciate my own circumstances. It felt good to give my time to someone who was
appreciative, and I felt like I was making a difference in the lives of others. I think I also learned that I might be good as
an occupation that works with others like social work. It is also eye opening to learn about other people’s experiences
and is inspiring to service others in life. I felt good about myself to be able to do something good for others.
Civil Action & Reflection
I have learned that learning about content relevant to a particular population and then having an opportunity to
engage with the same population is very beneficial. I would not have taken the opportunity to interview Ms. Jones if it
C1 – Internal use
was not a part of civic engagement. It is much more valuable to take what you know and integrate it into a community
experience. It is more meaningful to take information that you learn and apply it to a real-world setting. Skills that I think
have come out of this experience is being able to take content knowledge and apply it is a real-world setting.
Interviewing skills are important for many professions, so learning how to interview people is a valuable skill. I gained a
better understanding on social security, fixed incomes, and time use in the aging population. I also understand
connections between social issues and people’s real-life experiences.
Civil Contexts & Structures
It has been interesting to learn about the aging population and have an opportunity to engage directly with the
aging population. Despite learning and having an experience with the aging population, I do (or do not) think that I will
work with the population in the future. Of all the social issues that relate to the aging population, I find _________ most
interesting, and ___________. I think knowledge on this particular social issue will be helpful in my future work
(explain)___________. I understand that social issues are complex and understanding all the social issues and
professionals that can be involved with the aging population, collaboration would be critical to make a difference.
