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Assignment One: Case Studies & Social Support
Overview: During week four students examined informal supports and informal caregiving,
the caregiver burden, and the use of social networks as a means to decrease social isolation,
increases mastery, and maintain an optimal health status. During week 5, students evaluated
the concept of productive aging. For the home work two assignment students will analyze two
case studies to examine the influence of race, gender, and social class on age related social
support. Course Objectives: CO1: Examine the impact of race, gender, and social class on individuals as they age.
CO4: Analyze historical and current policies that impact the lives of older adults.
C07: Examine the impact of aging on social institutions
Essay format:
1. The paper should be typed, double-spaced, 1” margins, arial or times new roman 11pt.
font, and saved as a .doc, .rtf, or.pdf in the format: Lastname_SOCI307_HW1.doc 2. The essay should include an APA title page and reference page. 3. Use APA format for citations and references. 4. Short headers for each section are recommended 5. The essay should be 3-4 pages (not counting the title and reference page) Case Study 1: Henry and Louise
Henry and his wife Louise are in their mid-70s. Henry and Louise are both African-American.
They have been married for 50 years. Henry retired as a minister, but the congregations he
served are on the other side of the country. Henry likes to garden, attend religious services,
and talk to the neighbors. Louise retired as an elementary school music teacher, she loves to
sing, and cook. She loves to socialize, but has become very isolated due to the onset of
wandering away from home and not being able to find her way back. Both Henry and Louise
have Medicare, pensions from employment, and Social Security benefits. Henry has diabetes and heart disease. His eyesight is poor and he no longer drives. Louise has
arthritis, hypertension, and a has had a prior stoke. Henry is worried that Louise is becoming
too forgetful and wonders if she has some dementia from her stroke. They have two grown children. The oldest is Ellie who is 50 years old, she is a widow, has no
children, works in school cafeteria, and lives one hour away from her parents. Johnny is their
son; he is 38, in the Army and is deployed to the Middle East. Johnny’s wife (Lacie) is also in
the military, she is 31, and is stationed at the Air Force base 45 minutes away. Johnny and
Laci have three young children who adore Henry and Louise. Lacie (Johnny’s wife) will deploy FLUOR PROPRIETARY INFORMATION to the Middle East in six weeks. Henry and Louise have agreed to take care of the three
grandchildren until Johnny returns in six months.
Henry is confident that he and Louise can manage the children. He knows that the school bus
will pick up and drop off the children near his home. He understands the local public bus
system, but isn’t sure that he can manage three active children and Louise on the public bus.
He has concerns regarding his and Louise’s health, their expenses, and Louise’s memory. But,
family is family and he is moving forward with the plan, even though on most days, his anxiety
over the plan is increasing. The director of the local senior center has met Henry and Louise on several occasions. The last
time she talked to them she noticed that Henry had lost weight, he told her that Louise doesn’t
cook anymore, and they eat a lot of frozen meals. The director is concerned because both
Henry and Louise have given up their volunteer roles and no longer participate at the senior
center. It seems that Henry and Louise are socializing less and less. Case Study 2: Leo and Tim
Leo and Tim both claim a minority racial group identity, but decline to identify further. Leo is 61
and Tim is 65. They have been in a same-sex partnership for 10 years, but have not married.
They reside in a small rural community, about two hours from the city. Leo comes from a small family, his only family member is his older sister who lives in another
state, they have not seen each other since their mother’s funeral two years ago. Leo’s sister
suspects he is gay, but he has never confirmed this with her. Tim, comes from a large family which is scattered across the country. Tim’s parents are elderly,
they are fundamentalists in a nondenominational congregation, and are against same-sex
relationships. Tim hasn’t seen his parents in five years. Tim’s sister Lucy has met Leo, she is
not against their relationship, but on the other hand she isn’t fully comfortable with this
information. Leo and Tim are essentially have little family support. Tim has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer. He is in good spirits but is struggling with
the treatments. Leo is devastated by this diagnosis, but has stoically taken over Tim’s
responsibilities in their home. Tim and Leo are very private individuals, they have a few close
friends, but they mostly keep to themselves. Tim hasn’t told Leo, but he is worried about their finances. Tim is also worried that if he should
die Leo’s finances will plummet without Tim’s Social Security benefits. Leo on the other hand,
has not told Tim that his (Leo’s) 401K account from Friendly’s Grocery and Wholesale Inc. is
now depleted since he decided to retire at 58 instead of 65. Leo is not yet 62, which means he
is not eligible for Social Security benefits. Leo is not sure what to do next, he knows they will
soon need help especially as Tim’s health declines.
Tim is feeling somewhat depressed; he is considering speaking with the local hospice
organization to help consider options if his health declines. FLUOR PROPRIETARY INFORMATION For this essay, students will select one of the above case studies to use in the
assignment:
1. Write an introduction for your paper. 2. Using sociology terms from the course describe the importance of social support
within the context of aging. 3. Describe the changing role of the family and the impact these changes have on
support for the older adult. 4. Compare and contrast the concepts of informal and formal support. Provide an
example of each type of support and when each type of support is most likely to be
used. 5. Select case study #1 or #2, and discuss the following: a. In the context of the case study describe the social variables (age, race,
gender, sexual orientation, and social class) which may impact the decision to
seek informal and formal supports. Which type of supports seem to be the
most likely option in your selected case study?
b. Using sociology terms from the course describe the caregiver burden. Analyze
the case study you selected for this assignment to determine which individuals
are at risk for caregiver burnout, why is this? What additional risks do these
caregivers face as result of the caregiver burden?
c. Describe the concept of loss within the context of aging. Describe the
cumulative losses facing the main characters in the case study you selected.
Are the main caregivers at risk for disenfranchised grief? 6. Write a concluding paragraph which connects back to your introduction and sums up
the main points of your essay. (No new information is added to the conclusion.) 7. Include a reference page titled references. Place the references in APA format. Place
the references in alphabetical order. Keep in mind, a reference cannot go on the
reference page if does not match to an in-text citation within the essay. 8. Use the textbook and at least one article from the required course readings (in ereserves in the library) to help you support your perspective. Remember to include
proper APA in-text citations to give credit to your sources. FLUOR PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
Attachments: