Examples Of An Elderly Interview

Elderly Interview
Yvette Rivera
Professor Buckman
N461 Summer 2014 Ms. Leiva is a 65 year old female born and raised in El Salvador. She immigrated to the United States in the 1960’s. It’s obvious Ms. Leiva overcame many adversities, from growing up in a broken family to teenage pregnancy to moving to a new country at a young age. Ms. Leiva speaks English very well and works as a Licensed Vocational Nurse at Solheim Lutheran Home, and has a second job as a hospice nurse. She currently lives in Riverside and commutes to Eagle Rock 4 to 5 days out of the week for work and is passionate about helping the elderly. She started at Solheim Lutheran Home in 1980, in the laundry department and followed her dream of becoming a nurse.
Predisposing factors are biological (genetic), psychological (intelligence) and or sociocultural (age, gender, background) in nature (Stuart p. 48). An example of a sociocultural predisposing factor is Ms. Leiva’s move to United States at age 17. Her cultural background differed from the norm and her level of social integration or relatedness was low. Precipitating stressors may differ in nature, or originate differently, timing is unique, and in number (Stuart p. 48). Precipitating factor is defined as “stimuli that are challenging, threatening, or demanding to the individual” (Stuart p. 48). Ms. Leiva’s immigration to the United States most likely created internal and external stressors (originate), she experienced stressors for a prolonged period of time (timing), and dealt with a number of stressors such as finding a job in a new country, taking care of a baby, learning English and working to support her family. Appraisal of stressors includes cognitive, affective, physiological, behavioral, and social responses (Stuart p. 49). Cognitively, Ms. Leiva was resilient to stress and used effective coping strategies in this time of her life. Resilient people are committed, handle challenge well, and have control. Since immigrating here she has
Leiva’s most vivid memory of her childhood is working on a “finca” which is a coffee bean plantation. Ms. Leiva stated, “I had very little time to enjoy the wonders of being a kid because I was constantly working before and after school.” She described her childhood in El Salvador as difficult, they were a poor family and education was not a priority. Ms. Leiva’s work ethic was strong for a young child, however, she seemed to be missing a “supportive environment.” In this instance, there was an imbalance of dependence and independence among her few adult relations. In additional hardship Ms. Leiva encountered was at the age of 17, she became pregnant and her family asked her to leave. Thus she decided to cross the border with her 2 month old baby. She was facing a large amount of stressors (new country, new baby, no money) and was able to push forward, she is a resilient woman. She worked as a garment worker for years. She began taking English classes and soon after she received her GED and pursued a career in nursing. I believe her move to the United States would have affected her emotional wellbeing if she had maladaptive coping strategies. Ms. Leiva was isolated and had a weak support system, yet she was resilient enough to withstand the stress. In addition, in 2002 Ms. Leiva eldest son died at the age of 28. This was a major event in her life that could have affected her mental and emotional wellbeing as well. It could have led to depression and suicidal ideation.