Healthy Aging Case Study

He had been in military service at a time when the United States military was involved in a series of military operations around the world. Even though Johns feels that he should have served his country in the Vietnam War, he seems to be grateful since he got the opportunity to serve in the United States military during the Gulf war crisis. At the moment, John lives alone in a house on a ranch that he inherited from his father. His wife divorced him during in the 1990s. John does somehow feel as if he was to blame for the collapse of his relationship since he was committed to military service more than he was to his family. Back then, John liked to hunt and to go horse riding.

Today, however, he is unable to engage in the activities that he used to enjoy at a young age. Moreover, the farm is not as it was during its glory days and hence does not find fun some of the activities he used to enjoy. Instead, John has allocated a section of the farm to plant flowers and tree seedlings. He enjoys watering the plants. It would be so unfortunate if his grandchildren did not get an opportunity to get to spend time with him. Other than doing the outdoor activities, John enjoys watching documentaries and television news. He likes to follow up on politics and hence he never misses to watch the news every day. Developmental Stage John is over 65 years of age.

He would, therefore, fall under the Ego Integrity versus Despair developmental stage based on Erikson’s developmental stage. John likes to talk about his time in the military and his deployment in Kuwait during the Gulf War. These are the kind of stories that make him and only needs someone who can listen to them. He is happy that he devoted himself to serve the United States in the military capacity. He likes mentioning how he grew up anticipating to serve the country in a military position and when the chance came his way, he was happy to grab the opportunity. Furthermore, he even thinks that he is lucky to have had a chance to be deployed in a military operation after he missed out on the Vietnam War.

Health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure are associated with old age. I, therefore, started to assess the health of John by inquiring about his comorbidities. John suffers from some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder which developed as a result of some of his experiences during the Gulf War battles. This is a common problem with most retired service men who once served in the military and hot involved in significant wars. In addition, he also shows signs of the gulf war syndrome. It involves combining medication and counselling. In all his life, John has always made his health a priority. He goes for anything that can help maintain his health. His goal from a young age was to join the United States Army.

His health, therefore, needed to be fit for him to successfully pursue his career. He believes that working out was the best way to ensure that he maintained his health since he does not engage in other physical activities in the course of the day. John is also concerned with the content of the meals he takes since he tries to avoid salt, unprocessed sugar and fats and oils. Moreover, John goes to sleep early to ensure that he has a well-defined sleeping cycle and that he gets at least 8 hours of good sleep time every night. I subjected John to several tests that revealed the well-being of his mental health. The physical assessment involved finding out if John was aware of the most obvious things that are expected of any mentally healthy human being.

This shows that John’s memory was in good shape. Other than his left leg, John’s body is in a good physical condition. Strengths John is lucky that he has had a lifestyle that has protected him from developing various health conditions associated with old age. Some lifestyles have a major impact of the health of the aged. For instance, he does not smoke or drink alcohol at his age. Nevertheless, everyone faces challenges in their lives (Wilson & Cleary, 1995). For John, he has a unique approach to his conditions. He likes to think of himself as a soldier. Even in old age, John has a fighting spirit. John considers his conditions as problems in life that can be solved. One challenge that John may have is getting access to the various programs for the elderly.

He can, however, seek help from his children to help him get access to some of these services. Summary The case study of John provided me with experience of how the elderly people live and view life. Through the case study, I was able to learn that elderly people do not suffer from similar health conditions of old age. The case study, therefore, helped me to learn that I should treat each elderly person differently without bias from the various stereotypes. psychology. illinois. edu/~ediener/SWLS. html Gil-Montoya, J. A.  Towards Quality Care: outcomes for older people in care homes. Routledge. Poulsen, D. V. , Stigsdotter, U.  Biomarker Discovery in Gulf War Veterans: Development of a War Illness Diagnostic Panel. Baylor University Waco United States.