I volunteer at a local aged care home where i have become great friends with a beautiful woman, Elizabeth. I volnuteer there because from the actnow workshop i learned that i need to speak to people and have first hand knowledge of what people want from our community.
Elizabeth is 80, and has lived in the home for 3 years. She was moved there by her children after her husband died. She has experienced first hand how the government looks after the aged and what services are made avaliable to her.
L will be me, and
E is Elizabeth.
L: Hi Elizabeth how are you today?
E: Oh im alright darling..... never slept all night i miss my grahem ( her husband).
L: if you dont mind me asking did Grahem look after you before you died?
E: well he did, but in the last year of his life he couldnt because he became very ill.
L: what was he ill from?
E: he got bowel cancer.
L: so when he was to sick to care for you, who looked after you?
E: myself. My kids did my shopping, but that was all.
L: who looked after your husband?
E: i fed him, but we had people come in to shower him and stay with him when i needed a break.
L: did you find this helpful, and were these people nice?
E: yes it did help because i could not shower him, but everyday week a different lady came in and it was never the same person. My husband did not like this because he felt uncomfortable with a different lady showering him everyday. And they were so rude, it was just a job to them they didnt care.
L: did you have to pay for this service?
E: yes, we paid an amount for each time they came in.
L: was it expensive?
E: well to you and other young people out there it wouldnt be expensive, but to pensioners it was expensive.
L: do you think this service does enough and is good enough for helping take care of the aged and ill?
E: no, cause there too expensive, the ladies are rude and everything i asked them to do they didnt want to do it.
L: so what kind of services would you like to see made available?
E: i would like lovely ladies like yourself to come in and talk to me, paint my nails, take me out, because my children are so busy, and have compassion. And i would like it to be free if possible.
L: Thankyou Elizabeth for your time, it was very helpful.
This was a summarised interview only including the main points which were helpful to me. I would like to interview Elizabeth again and find out more, because she was getting tired throughout the interview and asked to stop. I will add future interviews.
