Landon Julson
Period 4

Keeping the Elderly Involved-Analytical Writing

    As new generations of people are born into our world and introduced to new social situations how can we keep the elderly involved and keep them happy throughout their entire lives.  This may be a boring topic or a question that may not be of high concern but take a moment to think about it.  Would you like someone to be caring and thoughtful towards you when you’re older or would you like to be the old man that nobody sees or knows because he is stuck inside a home or assisted living and has no involvement in any event.  Things to think about that may spark some quality thought are what ways should we involve or try to involve them, how capable is it to do, and does it effect them in any positive or negative ways?
    Ways to involve someone who is older can be challenging yet very thoughtful and meaningful to them, in ways that we will never quite grasp until we get to that stage.  With elders getting older it is vital to keep them involved with society since the majority of them are the smartest for the generation we are living and know the most and even gotten through the most.  According to How to Involve Elderly Citizens “ With the amount of aging and elderly people in the world today, it is important that we do all that we can to keep them as viable, productive members of society.” The point that they are trying to put out there is that keeping them in society gives us another aspect to think about.  It gives us an in on the future and what it has to offer us.  Would you like to go into something going all out that no one has ever done? Or would you prefer having someone that has already done it to maybe give you hints and clues along the way.  Think of it as something like money, or any aid that we give to the older people for medical bills.  Can they pay all of that on their own without any support? I think its safe to say no to that, but what that tells us is that we need to have something available like that especially since we know someday we will be in the same spot.  If we can have the advantage to try something like changing how much we give or help then we know what needs to be done in the future and to better our ways of doing things.  An example of how this is illustrated in real life is my grandpa.  He is pushing 80 and in a nursing home because of illness and old age obviously but the amount that he had to pay to be there ran him broke.  Not broke as in no more money in the savings accounts or on credit cards, we’re talking broke like state taking his car, house, anything left that they can get the money to pay out the bill to live there.  To be honest it’s a little ridiculous how much we have to pay to be able to live now days, even in a stressful situation like that.  How can we keep elderly into things in our daily lives though? I think for families with an elder you should put in the most effort that you can to try to get them involved and take them places so they have something to live for, something fun they can rely on when times are tough and bad.  Which by the way mostly are when you get old due to the probability of death as you age.  Bring them to social events and get them to be apart of a fun day instead of being cooped up inside a house or somewhere “close to the bathroom.” cause we all know that’s an issue when it comes to elders.  Maybe it’s the community in general not being as thoughtful as we should be? We host many events that take place for the younger generation but we don’t seem to be into hosting events for the old people.  Is it a lack of effort or will power on our behalf? Are we too lazy to want to deal with them?  I believe that we should create and follow through with more events in our community that are based for older people.  Something to get them all in one location and let them do what they do best.  In our life’s we all associate ourselves with things that make us happy and things that keep our self esteem’s high but what about the old? If you don’t think that not being involved turns into mental and physical negatives for them then you are wrong. Now these ideas don’t need to anything huge, maybe discount dinner’s somewhere, simple walks around the neighborhood, picnics, if they are mobile enough something like camping or vacationing is a huge plus.
    Another thought to have while planning an event or a day of fun with your older person of choice is to think about the capability and how possible it is to do.  One thing to think about is do they need any constant medical watch? If so then it might be a good idea to shape something around that.  Something that always and always will come up is the old bathroom situations.  Which is a good point and is something that also needs to be planned ahead of time.  Old people have a hard time going to the bathroom and it’s a little awkward to think about and write but its always an issue.  To you and I you might think its dumb because going to the bathroom is easy for us, it is not an issue or something that we need assistance with after we turn five years old.  To think that we are someday going to need assistance with peeing is a disturbing thought.  Plan trips around any handicap situations and if they can make it to a picnic spot or campground area.  Thousands of things and scenarios can pop up making things difficult with them but is always a good thing to.  Will there be bathrooms, is the doctor nearby, how do we get them into a car, can they sit outside or do they need shade?  Stressful not just for them but us, knowing that we are strong enough to do fun activities and yet do nothing is a moral decline on our sides.  A really good example was the most simple daily event for me and my family.  A baseball game, simple and plain as that.  My cousin and I were playing when I was 15 and my dad and his brother wanted to take gramps out of the nursing home so he could watch us play.  Well of course that turned into a challenging day of constant worry on our part as to how is he doing, and is he okay being here.  Yeah it was hard because gramps will have to eat, go to the bathroom and maybe get to hot in the sun, but in the long run it was fun for us to take him out.  What is hard is the to and from the nursing home, getting an elder into a car when they are in a wheelchair is probably the most difficult thing about the process.  Making sure they are comfortable while transferring them and making sure they are okay and don’t get hurt during transportation.  It all adds up to a very tiring day but is thoughtful and very generous of you to do for them.
    Taking someone to an event or some kind of day out of their box has many positive pluses with physical and mental health.  Even though we don’t think of it they really get a good reaction out of it even on the most simple thing.  According to How Elders and Caregivers Can Take Advantage of Summer Weather “Enjoying a breezy spring day or the warm summer temperatures don't have to be a distant memory for elders and caregivers. After being cooped up in the house for possibly months at a time, senior adults can breathe in the fresh air, even if they are experiencing mobility problems. It takes some advance planning and choosing an activity that won't seem like a chore, but it's worth getting out of the house, for you and your elderly parent.”  When you take them outside or take them out of their usual living environment you create a positive plus in their life and get their minds off of the usual boring and negative place they are usually in.  How depressing would it be if you lived your life day to day inside a nursing home or a place where you had a high amount of limited mobility and couldn’t make it out of the house often at all.  I can honestly say I would be so far down in the dumps emotionally that it would be so hard for me to get out of, but if someone was caring enough to take me out every once in awhile I would be happy and it would bring me up emotionally and fix some depression issues.  Many elders suffer from a depression like symptom and have many other issues mentally from a lack of social interaction.  A very simple fix is to put them into a more social environment. Are you saying “huh?” or asking how to do that? My grandpa lived on the north side of Eau Claire and was most definitely an independent man.  When he needed lots of medical assistance and couldn’t live on his own we put him in an assisted living complex.  I mean yeah the idea of it was good to have caregivers and someone there to check up on him but there was no social interaction involved with it.  Even when I walked in there to visit I would not see one person the whole time.  He would be in his room, sun up to sun down, with few visitors besides the people there to check up on him.  That is what causes lots of stress and depression in elderly people.  Huge reasons to why I am still arguing a point to why we should take them out more.  Depression in elders is hard to detect and see because when they are in a positive situation  they will be talkative and happy but when no one is around they have no one to see them unhappy.  Honestly the main reason we moved my grandpa to a nursing home was because there are people there all day and lots of other elders that he can talk to and be with.  Even having his own room mate and a meal time that they all gather into the cafeteria sounds simple but at least they are not alone.
    Do you have someone you’ve been leaving out of your life due to old age and the laziness you have to not help them or associate them into your life?  If you do I hope I put some thought into your head as to how and why you should try to involve them as much as possible before it is to late to do so.  Most of us will get to that age, but when it all boils down how would we like to be treated and cared for when we get there. Use that to determine what the right thing to do is.