For my social justice document I wanted to focus on how the elderly have got miss treated. So I interview my grandmother Joanne Zander. Joanne is seventy seven years old and lives in Downers Grove, Illinois. She has three adopted daughters and has been a widower for the past thirty one years. Throughout this interview I wanted to focus on the three man topic from my research paper. The topics include; Transportation, Medicare, and Nursing Home problems. Since Joanne doesn’t live in a nursing home it was hard for me to ask question about that particular topic.
Do you have a driver’s license? If not why don’t you have one?
Oh gosh no. I haven’t had a license for about seven years. I don’t feel like it worth going through all the exams. I just haven’t got it renewed. Plus I don’t really go out to much. We have everything you need here.
If you wanted to go to the store wouldn’t it be hard to get there with no license? How would you get there a bus maybe the train?
Yea I would be hard I guess but that’s a big reason why I don’t live in the city anymore, and I live out here. I have everything I need right down the street it’s really effortless. Plus it’s good more me to walk and get exercise. Fooling around with waiting at bus stops isn’t for me, then lugging all of your items back and forth. You have got to be kidding me!
What if everything is right down the block? What if there was so activity you wanted to do further away?
Not everything is, so sometime one of you aunts would drive me or get a ride somehow. I would never talk the bus, maybe a cab.
Do you ever get bored sitting around this apartment complex all day?
Maybe I wouldn’t be that bored if you came to visit once in a while. But it’s not too bad I have a lot of friends that live here in this retirement community. We do play a lot of bingo and gin. You know how I love my day time television too. The Cubs are starting up soon right?
Is Medicare a problem or a concern for you?
Medicare is a big problem for many people. A lot of people don’t get enough support from Medicare. For myself I pay a supplement to Blue Cross Blue Shield each month like a lot of others do. What that does is let’s say I want to go to the best doctor for my eye problem. Medicare would only pay a certain amount given the plan you have. Depending on which doctor you go to it might not be enough money to cover. So Blue Cross would pick up the money that my Medicare plan wouldn’t pick up. So to answer your question it’s not too much of a concern for me, but it is a problem for some people that I know.
What about people that don’t have supplemental coverage to Medicare. Is it fair to them to not get the best treatment possible?
Oh definitely not. I know what you are saying and I don’t think it’s fair at all. I don’t like paying extra money each month either sweetheart. I think that Medicare should provide the best services for you but that’s life for you. Not everything is going to be prefect. It’s just not the way how things go most of the time and it is wrong.
Have you have heard of abuse or miss treatments that go on in Nursing Homes?
No, besides reading articles about it in newspapers some time or magazines. All the people that I talk to live here in this community and it’s not a nursing home. I know it goes on some place I guess but your asking the wrong person. I have never lived in a nursing home and I don’t plan on it. And if the next question your going to ask me is if I think it’s wrong to do to people the answer is yes of course I do.
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