A Random Talk

Context : Written Siddharth Bansal, Christ University, Certificate Course History of Scientific Discoveries -2013

In an effort to learn about the process of aging and what it means to someone who is considered an older adult, I interviewed a man who is approaching his sixty-seventh birthday in August. Santhosh is the youngest of two sisters and one brother, who all grew up in a small town in Jalandhar,Punjab.  Both of Santhosh’s parents died before his thirtieth birthday, his mother dying of a young age after suffering from tuberculosis, which caused her to live her last years of life quarantined to a sanatorium.  When I asked Santhosh about his thoughts on aging, he answered by stating that aging is “a natural progression laid out by God.  I am not scared to die and instead, I look at each day as a gift.  I don’t see aging as a positive or a negative, but just a normal, natural process.”  Santhosh concluded by adding that, of course, dreaded aches and pains do in fact come with age, but so does increased wisdom and the opportunity to continue to learn about oneself and grow from those reflections.  As the conversation between Santhosh and me continued on however, I noticed that he did in fact have concerns about aging, which became more apparent in his references to financial issues as well as the poor job he indicated he has done at living a healthy lifestyle.

When asked if Santhosh’s thoughts have changed about aging in the past twenty years, he mentioned that “financially, I blew it.  Twenty years ago I was in a great financial position, and now I have nothing.  I can barely make the rent for my apartment, have no retirement and I’m scared for that reason.”  Santhosh was married and divorced two times, and commented that the second divorce, coupled with his own “detrimental behaviors and bad decisions” led to the state he is in today.  Without prompting, Santhosh went right into a conversation about how unhappy he is with his lack of effort to take proper care of himself.  Santhosh explained that currently he works twelve hour days, smokes heavily, drinks alcohol in excess and follows a “wrong diet” filled with fast, easy foods that are usually high in fat and low in nutritional value.  In addition, he has had a heart attack and suffers from diverticulosis, irritable bowel syndrome, is overweight, and has high blood pressure and high stress in his life.  In addition, Santhosh mentioned that he has had changes in his oral health and over the past few years has had three teeth removed.  Finally, Santhosh had a recent scare when he contracted a nosocomial infection, MRSA, after an operation on an infected wound site located on his foot, which kept him out of work for weeks.

At this point, based on Santhosh’s candid and honest answers to my questions, I asked him what he thought nurses and other health care professionals can do to assist people like him (those who know what promotes wellness yet continue to make decisions that are detrimental their health) at reaching their goals of a healthy lifestyle.  Santhosh responded by stating “well, you can’t blame the doctors.  There is plenty of information out there and in our society people sue left and right and blame others constantly, but it is ultimately up to the individual to take responsibility for his [or her] own wellness.” In addition, Santhosh stated that there is every opportunity to be healthy but that “one huge important thing is that (health care providers) need to care.  People should not be made to feel that they are being rushed from nurse to doctor on an assembly line without having the chance to ask questions or engage in conversation.”  Santhosh provided details of the doctor that he sees on a regular basis who, “does not overload his schedule with patients, and actually has patience” and concluded that a little more quality time spent with patients could go a long way in terms of patient outcomes.  He also emphasized the importance of promoting independence and autonomy in older adults because he feels that as “soon as someone ends up in a nursing-home and is told when and where to do things, loneliness and loss of self-concept contribute to a rapid decline in health.”

While interviewing Sathosh, it seemed that to identify at least two strategies that he has used to promote healthy aging and wellness was going to prove difficult, as most of our conversation was focused on his feelings of failure at promoting his own wellness.  At one point, I even asked Sathosh this very question: what strategies have you used to promote healthy aging?  His response was that he is a “terrible example” and is very disappointed in what he has done with his health—that he has done the “opposite of healthy in every way possible.”  At this point, I acknowledged Sathosh’s disappointment with himself and then turned his attention to the fact that he had mentioned tennis and bike riding earlier in the interview.  When I asked if he would consider exercise a strategy that could promote healthy aging, Sathosh agreed that it does help to promote healthy aging and described to me that despite being a smoker, and at times overweight, he had engaged in moderate to vigorous exercise on a regular basis for most of his life.  The few times in Sathosh’s life that he gave up drinking alcohol, he was actively participating in a rehab program and mentioned that “I lost weight, and I felt great.  I would play basketball every day and no one could believe that an old geezer like me could beat them, but I did!”  I believe that if Sathosh had guidance and encouragement to get involved in a social network, or organization, centered around physical and mental activity, he would find it much easier to make some healthy changes to his lifestyle.  Although Sathosh admitted that he currently does not exercise, he said if anything about his current lifestyle changes, it will be that he will integrate more activity into his daily routine.

Another strength that I believe has helped Sathosh significantly with his aging process (despite that fact that he did not recognize this as a strategy he has used to promote wellness) is his continued faith in his religion.  With everything that Sathosh has gone through in his life he has always had the utmost faith in God.  During the interview, Sathosh stated on several occasions that his unhappiness with the way he has treated his body stems from beliefs that God gives each of us a body that we should cherish and treat with greatest respect.  Sathosh also commented that “without faith I am not sure I would still be alive today” while discussing some of the more difficult times he has been through with alcoholism, drugs and depression.  As previously mentioned, Sathosh is concerned about the potential for loneliness if he should require assistance with living, and I believe that his faith in God and aging as a natural process will help him to continue to be an active member of a religious community and to deal constructively with any worries about aging. 

In summary, this interview with an older adult confirmed my belief that people may have unresolved emotions about the process of aging and what retirement age will be like for them.  Many of the concerns that stemmed from Sathosh’s comments were focused around nutritional health, a fear of loss of autonomy, loneliness and potential financial hardship.