New Field Site

As far as research at Salvatore Mancini senior center is concerned, I have come to a bit of a dead end. After trying multiple times to contact them a couple of weeks ago, I have still received no response, and thus given up on any hopes I had of doing research about that place. So, for a field working site, I have chosen to do an inclusive look at the elderly in Providence. Throughout my research, I have discovered that there are actually quite a lot of places where seniors can go to get help or to be a part of a community. The website http://www.providenceri.com/senior/senior-centers gives a comprehensive list of websites where seniors can go in order to find out more about these places. Examples of places for seniors to go to feel included in a community are the many senior centers that I was unaware even existed in Providence. There is also a list of nursing homes, adult day care facilities, and places that provide assisted living. These could be very useful to families who are looking to find places to care for their elderly parents, or even elders who feel that they need help. For seniors who are still mostly independent, there are links to help with meals, such as Meals on Wheels sites, or information about the RIde program or RIPTA passes for seniors. This website impresses me, because it truly shows how much Providence has to offer in terms of care for the elderly. There are far more options for seniors than I had initially imagined, and it is clear that the people of Providence truly care what happens to their elderly. Seeing this website is what made me want to choose Providence as a field site, because it really shows how many options are available to seniors, and it is a field site that is easily compared to the broad spectrum of senior care throughout the country. I also found out quite a bit of interesting information recently while researching scholarly sources for my literature review. One of the books that I read was the story of a woman, Ruth, and her journey through aging. She spent time in assisted living, a dementia unit and a nursing home, just to name a few, but it really helped by giving me a look into what it is truly like to experience these things. I also read another very interesting book that talked about many different aspects of senior care, like the importance of having a community of people to tell your story to and relate with, and also some therapeutic activities. This was also confirmed later by my interview with my grandmother, whom I learned quite a lot about through the course of the interview. When talking about what it was like to be at the senior center that she volunteers at, she told me that seniors love nothing more than to tell their story to someone who wants to listen. One specific moment that made me feel happy was when she told me that being old was a blessing. Compared to everything I had been reading about nursing home life, and living in total dependence, seeing someone so happy and hopeful at the age of 92 was a real blessing. Even though I don't have a physical field site, I am overall quite happy with the way that my research is going, and I am learning a lot, especially recently from the books I have read and from talking to my grandmother.