I have been working with the elderly in our community providing many different types of services over the years. A discovery that I came across during this time - was that the aging process creates the need for a different presentation by service providers to our older generation. Proper communication is a key factor regardless if medical or social in nature. For instance, I found through many trips to the emergency room -or other facilities that my father could be a “yes” man in certain situations. Now, I knew my dad was NEVER a yes man his entire life – so why now? Basically, as he aged, his hearing became affected, subtle memory issues crept up, word retrieval difficulties at times, slower reflexes. While these are all very typical effects of aging, they are not usually significant enough to address individually. Sometimes I would watch him listen to a complete explanation from a medical professional and say “ok” – only to find out later that he did not hear or understand the whole conversation! Thus the need for advocacy became apparent. Many of these visits presented other older people in the same situations, some had family to accompany them -- but many did not.
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