Assisted Living Observation Student Learning - Essay Example

Assisted Living Observation Learning Whenever I think of older adults, I always imagine an elderly with wrinkled skin, wearing eye glasses, experiencing urinary incontinence, being irritable and manifesting senility. After doing an activity concerning older adults, I learned that not all of my perceptions apply to the general older adult population. I went to the park for my activity. I chose to observe and interview an older adult male. I had developed social interactions with him and had noted five distinguishing observations.

During our interview, I observed that his wearing eyeglasses and dentures. He also has dry, wrinkled, and flaccid skin. He also stated that his life had greatly changed when he became a widower after 40 years of having good memories with his wife. I also noticed that despite of his age, he still has a sharp memory and can recall most of his past experiences. After having a conversation with the older adult, I looked for resources that would help me relate my observation of the older adult to the expected age-related changes.

Delaune and Ladner stated that degenerative changes related to aging such as decrease in the size and responsiveness of pupils to light and thickening of the lens cortex contribute to the loss of visual acuity among older adults (p. 370). The use of dentures is expected because older people lose their teeth for a variety of reasons. Dry, wrinkled, and flaccid skin are expected conditions that occur with aging because the skin loses many of the properties that help make it appear youthful. After a major life event, such as death of his spouse, it is expected that changes in relationships and roles typically occur.

With regards to memory, it is a common misconception that all older adults suffer from senility. As one ages, the memory impairment may range from mild to severe; indicating that memory gaps may vary according to the level of functioning of the older adult (Delaune and Ladner, p. 373).Work Cited Delaune, Sue and Ladner, Patricia. Fundamentals of Nursing: Standards and Practice, 3rd ed. New York: Delmar Learning, 2006, pp. 366-376.