Example of service learning opportunity case study

The organization I volunteered with is Whitman Senior Living Community (Whitman slc) in Washington Pullman. From its website, the mission statement of this organization is: “ To offer retirement and assisted living options with compassionate care in a professionally managed, carefully designed retirement community” (Whitmanslc. com, 2014). In our service learning experience we socialized and provided manicures to senior citizens. I found the service learning experience not to relate to my career field since I am majoring in Finance since it involved humanitarian work. I made several observations from my experience and these include:
– That the institution had many senior individuals, some with wrinkled and spotty skin of the face and the body
– That some seniors seemed healthy and were retired persons who needed the comfort of the services offered, while some seemed to have mental and other health problems and were attended to by nurses and other healthcare professionals.
– Many seniors seemed to have some sort of difficulty in walking and standing straight.
– That the organization had dining amenities and that the senior residents were served food that seemed nutritious and well cooked.
– The institution had different residential apartments, some private and some shared. Some private apartments had private kitchens; some had kitchenettes while some private and shared rooms did not have kitchens.
– That the institution had a theater room, a library, a soda parlor, and a main living room where socialization took place.
– That the place had various staff members that included nurses, hospitality, and rehab professionals
– That laundry services were also offered to the residents
– Last but not least, I observed that the senior people were greatly pleased by our visit, socialization and the services we provided them. They even requested that we find time to visit them again the soonest possible.
There are several course concepts that I can apply to my observations. The first one is that of social problems and especially those of health and illness. I observed that as one gets older, their mental and physical health may degenerate making senior individuals to require assistance in their everyday activities and in their health. Physiological and physical bodily changes that occur as an individual gets older may affect any organ hence altering the health as well as the lifestyle of the elderly person (Siamak, 2014). Aging may cause loss of bone density, muscle shrinkage, and joint inflammation which may reduce flexibility (Siamak, 2014). These along with nervous disorders may cause older individuals to have weaker mobility and balance (Siamak, 2014). Aging may also lead to memory loss which may be a normal part of aging, or may be related to dementia or Alzheimer’s disease associated with aging (Siamak, 2014). These health factors of senior persons are social problems and may be addressed by all people getting involved in helping the elderly and through services in institutions like Whitman slc.
Another concept from the course that can be applied to my observations is that of social inequality whereby the distribution of opportunities and rewards is uneven. This can be evidenced by the fact that some seniors lived in one or two bedroom apartments with private kitchens while some actually lived in shared rooms without kitchens. This depicts that the distribution of the “ goods” is unequal.
Lastly, I observed the concept of intra generational mobility whereby the social mobility within the lives of individuals was evident. As aforementioned, some of the seniors were retired individuals, who were probably once working managers, doctors, teachers and military personnel, but were retirees during the visit. The social mobility for these individuals was downward since they were higher in the social hierarchy when they had careers compared to when they were retired.
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References

Siamak N. Nabili, M. (2014). Senior Health: Learn Solutions for Successful Aging. MedicineNet. Retrieved 28 November 2014, from http://www. medicinenet. com/senior_health/article. htm
Whitmanslc. com,. (2014). Pullman Senior Living | Whitman Senior Living Community in Pullman, WA 99163. Retrieved 28 November 2014, from http://www. whitmanslc. com/