Aging Report Mrs. R.B. is a mature adult at 74 years of age. Mrs. R.B. and her husband recently moved from a senior apartment community to a house with their daughter. Mrs. R.B. does not have any limits in her mobility or ability to carry out activities of daily living however she is the primary caregiver for her husband who suffered a stroke 12 years ago. Moving in with her daughter is providing her with some help as she is finding it more tiring to take care of herself and her husband alone. Mrs. R.B. starts each morning by getting herself up and dressed, including doing her hair and makeup before she gets her husband ready for the day. She says this is one of things she makes sure she does most days in order to feel like she has done something for herself. After getting herself ready for the day she assists her husband with getting dressed and ready for the day. Mrs. R.B appears to keep herself fairly well put together for a woman of her age with so much responsibility. Mrs. R.B. appeared to enjoy the time to talk about herself and her life as from time to time she rambled on about when she was young and how challenging it can be taking care of a disabled husband. She is happy when talking about the present and is looking forward to being in her new home with more space than her apartment and able to have her family over for holidays. When talking about the future; Mrs. R.B. tends to look away from me with some anxiety and fear about what the future holds, mainly in her ability to care for her husband alone given her increasing age. During the week Mrs. R.B gets herself and her husband ready for the day. Around 10 am the community bus picks up Mr. G.B. and takes him to adult daycare so that Mrs. R.B. can have time to do things she needs or wants to do during the day. She says this is also great for Mr. R.B. since it is his main source of socialization outside the family members. Mrs. R.B. works as a substitute bus assistant for the county bus system. Typically she only rides one or two days a week. Mrs. R.B. states that she feels lucky to still be able to drive herself wherever she would like to go, “this way I don’t have to sit around and wait on someone else to come get me”. She says she likes to stay busy and get out and socialize so she sometimes goes to her daughter’s business and helps answer the phone or do paperwork. She also enjoys going to the local auction on Wednesdays. “If you haven’t seen someone in a while just go to the auction and you will run into them” she says. Jokingly, when asked what else she enjoys, Mrs. R.B. says “there’s nothing wrong with a little midday nap”. Her husband arrives home around 3:30 in the afternoon and she is usually there to meet him although she does have a home health aide that is provided through the county’s Department of Aging that will get him off the bus. Mrs. R.B. states that dinner is at 5:30pm “R, has a clock in his belly that tells him he must eat at 5:30pm” she laughs. She typically cooks a homemade meal each night although she enjoys ordering pizza every now and then. Mrs. R.B. spends a few days a month taking her husband to doctor appointments and tries to make her appointments at the same time since they both have the same family doctor. Recently she had her gall bladder removed and seemed to be surprised at all of the help that she had caring for herself and her husband since she is used to being the caregiver. She seems to have a strong connection to her family and enjoys having her children and grandchildren around. According to Mrs. R.B. her children usually show up once a week at least and it is typical for 2 or 3 of the 5 of her children to show up at the same time on Sunday. She says “probably because they know I like to cook a nice meal after church”. She enjoys being in the new house with her daughter and says that each night they turn on Western TV for her husband while they take a walk around the neighborhood together usually for about 30 minutes depending on the weather. She seems excited to be able to plant some flowers and do yard work this spring since she was unable to do much if that living in an apartment complex. Mrs. R.B. was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with and it seemed as though she enjoyed having someone to talk to about herself and her accomplishments. Mrs. R.B. is a very active mature adult in my opinion. Physically she is capable of caring for herself in all capacities and the only deficit she has is her eyesight which is corrected by wearing glasses. She appears well emotionally with the exception of her fears about caring for her husband as time goes on and has a good support system. Intellectually she is still of sound mind and know what she wants and needs. Spiritually she attends church and believes that God has a plan and will provide what she needs when she needs it. Psychosocially she has a seemingly wonderful support system and gets out in the community on a regular basis to socialize and interact with others. The overwhelming nursing diagnosis that could be associated with Mrs. R.B. is Caregiver Role Strain r/t unpredictability of the care situation aeb her fears of caring for her husband as she ages. I truly enjoyed the time I spent with Mrs. R.B. and learned that not all elderly adults sit around in their rocking chair knitting. No, this really wasn’t my image of elderly women however my eyes were opened to the busy lives that elderly adults can lead. I was exhausted at times just listening to her daily activities and responsibilities. I gained a great respect for Mrs. R.B. in all that she manages from day to day. I also have a great admiration for the family support system she has. I think it is great that her family is so close and her children are available to help her when she needs it. I think we all could learn something from visiting with the elderly and just listening for a while and in return this gives them someone to talk to which some may need more than others.