Speech Language and Hearing Sciences – �鶹��Ƶ

Sustainability for Adults Aged 65+ at the Fourth District Seniors Resource Center

Ada Inman — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 18:19:28 +0000

This report addresses the south and southeast region of San Diego County, particularly District 4, and the San Diego Urban Sustainability Coalition’s goal to better understand the needs of seniors and expand sustainability opportunities within these communities. Students of Dr. Henrike Blumenfeld’s SLHS 580 Communication Processes and Aging course conducted a Life Experience Interview and a Survey on Equity and Sustainability with seniors aged 65 years and over. About half of the interviews and surveys took place in the Fourth District Seniors Resource Center in Southeast San Diego, and the rest were conducted with participating students’ family members or friends. Three main themes emerged from the Life Experience Interviews. Most participants spoke about raising children. The second most common theme was adversity and how the participants dealt with that. The third theme that was shared amongst the interviews was about the importance of education. Results of the Survey on Equity and Sustainability revealed that participants have seen changes in their community and want to continue to see additional changes (such as better roads, more patrolling officers). Many prefer to cook with gas stoves over electric stoves. Half of the participants garden at home. Respondents also shared that recycling is generally accessible. Finally, respondents shared some concern about solar energy and electric vehicles. It is recommended that volunteers from the community or San Diego State University to build and maintain a garden at the Seniors Resource Center, provide information on how to compost with composting bins and easy-to-understand instructions, and provide information about electric vehicles and solar energy at the Seniors Resource Center.

Recreation for Adults Aged 65+ in Lemon Grove

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:46 +0000

This report addresses the City of Lemon Grove’s goal to better understand the needs of seniors and expand recreation opportunities for senior residents. Part one of this report analyzes data drawn from a class survey performed in Dr. Henrike Blumenfeld’s SLHS 580 Communication Processes and Aging Course. Part two of this report presents data gathered from a survey and supplemental phone call interviews with residents of Lemon Grove specifically. A team of students in SLHS 595 Research Practicum (led by Dr. Henrike Blumenfeld and Dr. Jessica Barlow), conducted these surveys and interviews and collected data about current recreation and the top recreation opportunities that seniors in Lemon Grove would like to see offered in their community. Drawing on the combined data, part three of the report proposes a set of low-cost recommendations for the City of Lemon Grove to enhance recreational offerings for seniors. These recommendations have three focuses: current recreational activities, desired recreational activities, and a senior advisory committee.

Kimball Senior Center & George H. Waters Nutrition Center

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:39:06 +0000

Ninety-seven students enrolled in the upper-division Speech, Language, and Hearing Science (SLHS) 580 course taught by Dr. Henrike Blumenfeld, titled “Communication Processes and Aging,” offered service-based work to support the staff at the Kimball Senior Center and the George H. Waters Nutrition Center. This work also benefitted the students by engaging them in real-world experiences. The class volunteered a total of 584 hours at the Kimball Senior Center and the George H. Waters Nutrition Center, where they were able to participate in several different activities, including meal delivery, meal service, ESL classes, game days, and senior dances. After volunteering, the class developed suggestions that would benefit six specific areas at the Kimball Senior Center, the George H. Waters Nutrition Center, as well as all senior residents of National City. These areas were chosen in collaboration with leaders at the Kimball Senior Center and the Nutrition Center. These areas were: (1) facility recommendations, (2) programming suggestions, (3) customer service recommendations, (4) processes and efficiencies recommendations, (5) community engagement recommendations, and (6) funding recommendations. As part of an end-of-semester project, each student in the class contributed to one of these areas. This report outlines all of the class’s suggestions in these six areas. Our hope is that, through future implementation of some of these ideas, the long term quality of the environment can be further improved, not only for the Kimball Senior Center and George H. Waters Nutrition Center, but for senior citizens throughout National City. SLHS 580

The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Henrike Blumenfeld
Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Local Government / Community Contact