Personal Interviews Instructions

For this assignment, you will conduct 3 Personal Interviews, one per category with a person in each of the following age brackets: young elderly (65–74 years old), middle elderly (75–84 years old), and frail elderly (85 years old and older). You may interview relatives, neighbors, people from church, etc., in these age categories. Ideally, you will interview at least 1 man and 1 woman. However, if your interview subjects are all the same gender, that is also acceptable.
At the beginning of your interview, ask the person for permission to talk with him or her, and explain that this is part of an assignment. Assure the interview subject that all information shared is confidential—although we may share ideas, the person’s identity will not be disclosed unless he or she gives you permission to do so. Make this interview time enjoyable. Everyone has a story to tell, and if you are blessed enough to hear that story, savor the wisdom and experience in it. Be sure to thank each person for his or her time.
The following core questions are designed to get the conversation going. Feel free to ask other questions beyond these; your conversation may lead you to related questions. If not, the 9 provided questions are sufficient.
Core Interview Questions:
What is your age?
As you look back over your life so far, what is one thing that makes you proud?
What is one goal you have for your future?
If you could give some advice to younger people, what would it be?
What is one major change you’ve seen in our world over your lifetime? Has it been a good one?
Is there anything you would do differently if you had it to do over again?
What is one major challenge you are facing now that you didn’t have to deal with when you were younger?
What is one thing you really enjoy doing?
What is one thing I haven’t asked you that you would like me to share with other classmates or would like me to know about you?
Once you have completed the interviews, submit a 5–6-page summary paper in current APA format that includes the following 3 sections (using the provided headings):
Interviews: Identify the people you interviewed by first name only, or use a pseudonym for each interview subject. Be intentional about maintaining confidentiality. Include the interview question numbers (1–9) and the corresponding answer to each question.
Personal Reflection: Include your impressions, thoughts, and concerns about what you discovered. Incorporate content from the textbook as supporting research (cite and reference using APA format).
Perceptions of Aging: How have these interviews affected your perceptions of aging? How can you personally apply dimensions of health/wellness based on the lessons learned from these interviews? Incorporate scripture / biblical principles as support.
Submit this assignment by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of Module/Week 5.