CASE STUDY
Eileen is an 81-year-old white female and has been living in her home for many years. Very recently, she lost the sight in her right eye, due to diabetes. She remains active but is not very self-assured in taking public transportation. She was born in Trinidad and arrived in the U.S. when she was a young adult.
Much of her life, she has remained an active role in her church and identified as a Seventh-day Adventist. She was involved in her community and participated in choir, too.
She has a large family whom she is close with; however, the recent change in her health, due to her eye condition, required her to stay home more often, and she does not visit with them very often. She earned a BA and was working for many years in the Department of Housing near her home.
Even though she is relatively active, she claims that she is feeling a bit isolated and removed from her friends. Many of her close friends are also experiencing some challenges with their health, and she claims she is seeing more and more of that happening.
ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS
- Provide a description of the case using a bio-psycho-social framework and using appropriate developmental stages to explain current development of the case.
- What are the three most important pieces of information pertaining to her development in late adulthood?
- How can you use the data from the second question to evaluate the development of Eileen?
- How can you use issues of diversity in this case to assess the client?
- Evaluate the usefulness of a framework with this or other cases of older adults.
- Begin your conclusion with how this informs your understanding of the importance of a life course perspective. Also, what is the implication for practice in this case?