Shared Humanity: From Seniors to the Homeless
They say you can’t truly understand someone until you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. However, it can be both difficult and extremely rewarding to force yourself out of your comfort zone and into a better understanding of an unfamiliar population. In pursuit of personal growth and an expanded reverence for the varying experience of others, as a 31 year-old masters student, I chose to immerse myself in the lives of elders and the homeless. I did so through a combination of research and immersion experiences.
Having grown up with constant financial anxiety, becoming homeless became a deep-rooted fear of mine. However, I know surprisingly little about this population, making me constantly curious about how people wind up homeless. Separately, growing up with only one living grandparent, my experiences with elders have been extremely limited. With such little interaction, I often wondered about how they spend their time after reaching the age of retirement. Intentionally investigating elders and the homeless not only expanded my worldview and my understanding of others, but also humbled me to face the sheer scope of human experiences. While I believed (as we probably all are) that I was aware of my limited worldview, this exercise refreshed my sense for how resilient human beings can be and reinvigorated my desire to further understand the human condition.
Researching Elder Population
I feel passionately that the elderly should be better taken care of in American society, which inspired me to make a concerted effort to increase my competency with this population. To achieve this, my goal was to watch one documentary and research three separate scholarly articles on the challenges that elderly folks face today. I first viewed a PBS documentary called The Open Road – America Looks at Aging. This documentary covered baby boomers’ attempts to find purpose and fulfillment as they reach the age of retirement. Furthermore, I reviewed the following three articles: Elder Orphans Hiding in Plain Sight: A Growing Vulnerable Population (Carney et al., 2016), Elder Self-neglect: Research and Practice (Dong, 2017), and Elder Mistreatment in Underserved Populations: Opportunities and Challenges to Developing a Contemporary Program of Research (Jervis et al., 2016).
The Open Road – America Looks at Aging examined a major shift that is currently taking place in America. I learned that with boomers retiring within the next 10 years, America will face a radical change in its workforce. With a shrinking population and inadequate program to care for the growing number of seniors, many boomers are forced to get creative with finding fulfillment in retirement. Many are begrudgingly entering this stage of life, faced with fears of becoming obsolete in a culture that generally values youth and productivity. Themes of feeling lost and helpless are reflected in several challenges that this population faces.
Carney et al. (2016) outline the need to address the growing percentage of “elder orphans”, defined as elder folks living in communities without any family or support system. They live alone, in danger of depression and physical injury with no real purpose or meaningful social interaction. The authors do suggest a fix, by screening for these living situations during census implementations. Dong (2017) takes a closer look at the rapidly aging population in similar circumstances, outlining a more specific issue of elder self-neglect. According to Dong, there are a significant number of community-dwelling elders who have ceased taking care of their health and personal hygiene. This is a difficult issue to quantify, and the author points out the saddening living conditions and health risks that require more research and attention. Lastly, Jervis et al. (2016) conducted a literature review focusing on elders from historically marginalized populations in the U.S. They point out that research has focused mostly on cultural differences of elder abuse, without adequate attention given to other important factors such as low socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation, where abuse is possibly more pervasive.
Immersion with Elder Population
In addition to my research, I aimed to gain further insight by immersing myself with this population at the psychiatric hospital where I work. Upon arriving at the geriatric unit, I disclosed my goals of increasing my understanding of the struggles this population is faced with by co-leading a group activity session with a group leader and separately interviewing one of the elders to gain a more personal perspective. I made the nursing staff, the group leaders, and the patients aware of my intentions for this project and was welcomed to join. Separately, I interviewed an old family friend Charles, nearing the age of 75, with a long standing career in mental health.
The group I co-led was centered around the theme of self-forgiveness and drew a total of 7 participants. Although there were distractions throughout the experience due to patients battling dementia, schizophrenia, and other disorders, four core participants were enthusiastically engaged in the discussion. As the topic was discussed, a theme of family emerged and struck me as intriguing. Some participants had regrets towards their families, while others were clearly upset that their families would not visit and take care of them. One woman disclosed that being around her grandchildren made everything seem alright, which was met with enthusiastic agreement from the other participants. This helped increase my appreciation for the value of family, as I got the sense that its importance grows as we age.
For my interview, I sat down with Charles who was enthusiastic about helping me with this exercise as a future mental health professional. He recounted his life as I asked him questions and explained how he had been battling depression for most of his life due to a particularly traumatizing and difficult childhood. When asked about how he feels about aging, he explained how he felt anxious and unready to retire, despite being over the age of 70. Besides the fact that he enjoyed his life, he felt that he needed to continue to provide a comfortable life for his wife, and as a result, did not want to retire in the near future. Separately, he expressed gratitude to be able-bodied and insisted that he felt younger than he was. I did not get the sense that this issue had caused him any stress, however, he did allude to the fact that his mobility was important to him. This interview once again reflected the themes of self-worth tied up in work, and concerns about close family.
Reflecting on Senior Issues
It was not challenging to find these resources, understand them, or find seniors to talk to, given my fortunate situation at work. The largest challenge I faced was imagining myself as a senior. Feeling unmotivated to care for myself is not something I can imagine easily. However, feelings of being lonely or regretful were emotions I could understand and helped me to empathize on a deeper level. I also felt a sense of sadness and helplessness for this population that I am still struggling to work through. These feelings are some that I hope to eventually turn into acceptance and inspiration. However, as a society, we will be challenged with the unprecedented task of housing and caring for a growing elderly population. Although I have doubts that our society will adjust in a healthy manner, this project has galvanized me to advocate further for seniors to be once again valued and cared for, as opposed to being relegated to retirement homes and viewed as unproductive and unvalued.
Researching Homeless Population
One of my goals in preparation for this report was to approach three homeless individuals and inquire about how they came to be homeless. This proved ineffective as I was unable to ascertain any clear narratives. However, I took note that prior military service was mentioned by two individuals, along with mutterings of anger and resentment directed towards their families. Ultimately, I was able to glean much more information about people becoming homeless as I read Evicted by Matthew Desmond. This book was a phenomenally insightful look at how families in Milwaukee are being priced out of affordable housing, stuck in a cycle of fighting for survival without any real chance to get ahead. I was astounded by the intimate nature of the reporting, and the heartbreaking circumstances that each of the narrated families were faced with. I highly recommend this book. Lastly, I watched Dark Days by Marc Singer. This award-winning documentary looked at a homeless population living underground in the NYC subway, trying desperately to create the sense of safety and community that they lost along with their homes. These three sources helped me increase my understanding about homelessness and the circumstances under which it arises.
Reflecting on Homeless Issues
Drugs, evading responsibilities, unfit parents, trauma, rising costs of housing, lacking work opportunities, and mental health struggles all presented as contributing factors for homelessness. Learning about homelessness made me acutely aware of the aspects of luck and privilege around me that are too often taken for granted. Many people who wind up homeless were simply dealt insurmountable challenges since birth. I struggled to come to terms with this and was challenged to accept the stark contrast of my own opportunities with theirs. It took time and a great number of personal stories for me to understand that these circumstances come about incrementally and are rarely rested solely on the abdication of responsibility. Immersing myself in the stories of these folks helped me overcome my ignorance towards the harsh reality of the homeless situations and build empathy for a population who is often shunned socially.
Final Thoughts
This experience was humbling as it revealed the circumstantial benefits that I have enjoyed throughout my life. It also helped me better understand how seniors and homeless folks face their own unique sets of challenges. While some issues, such as ubiquitous feelings of loneliness or isolation, are addressable through traditional counseling approaches, this project has opened my eyes to the broader needs of each community, which cannot be solved at the individual level. Advocacy, in the form of pushing for better care for our senior and homeless citizens, is something we cannot afford to ignore. At the core of counseling is empathy, and with that, comes the understanding that we are all connected. Recognizing these facts bring a personal connection to the challenges these populations face and have inspired me to stand up for improved care in the future. I intend to take the lessons I have learned and extrapolate on them to increase my empathy and understanding for other populations.
