Personal Narrative: My Community Interaction

I accomplished talking to the local elderly community of the area about various topics such as Tylenol, carbon monoxide, and Naloxone. I worked with a group of other students to present a poster on these topics as well as distribute handouts on these topics. We were aware that people can easily get bored so we did our best to communicate the most essential, concise, and important points about our topics. We also had Dr. VanWert with us to answer questions that we were unable to answer.
This experience benefited me as I got to talk to various elderly people about their lives. Sometimes the person would stop by the poster, ask a question, and then talk about something not really related to the topics presented. These were the interactions I
I learned that everyone has their own unique experiences to tell. One of my favorite interactions was when I spoke to an elderly man who was a street preacher. He spoke to me about his ministry. It really opened my eyes to the unique types of people like this who I had no idea existed. My favorite interaction was with a 98-year-old woman. She was with her daughter who took care of her. The daughter spoke to my classmate and I about the struggles of taking care of her mother. I was then blessed to talk to this 98-year-old woman. I asked her questions (how to live longer? -dark chocolate) as well as sing a song to her. Coming away from these interactions really imprinted in me that everyone has their own struggles and difficulties. A pharmacist might not realize this when they see the patient coming through the pharmacy to pick up their meds. A pharmacist might think “oh it’s just another patient”. This experience gave me the opportunity to just have conversations with elderly people that I normally would never have. It placed me in a situation, often one on one, where I just spoke to people about their lives and other issues. I feel like my attitude toward the elderly has changed and broadened my way of thinking for the better. All these experiences add up as I encounter and will continue to encounter different patient populations throughout my pharmacy