I conducted my first interview over the phone with my Grandma, Judy Hinton. Judy is 76 years old and lives alone in Bow Mar, Colorado. The purpose of this interview was to gain an insight on what allows her to successfully remain in her home alone, her daily interactions with technology and the extent of her relationships with her doctors and family.
Date: February 28, 2017
Type: Phone interview
Location: Lives in Bow Mar, Colorado
Team Participant: Participated alone
User Characteristics:
- Post-retiree who remains in her house, living alone
- Age: 76
- Gender: Female
- Marital Status: Widow
- Occupation: Volunteer at Tabor Opera House and Preservation Colorado
Memorable Quotes:
- “I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, this is where I raised my kids and my grandkids. It’s full of happy memories”
- “Tabor and I love our walks because we get to have fun with our friends and be active! Its how we stay young!”
Key Insights:
- Desire to stay in her home
- Daily exercise is motivated by social aspect and her dog
- Willingness to learn technology if someone takes the time to teach her
Where are you currently living?
- “I live at 5*** Morning Glory Lane. Its been my home for 43 years”
- “I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, this is where I raised my kids and my grandkids. It’s full of happy memories”
Would you ever want to move out of your house?
- “No I don’t think so. I love it here, I have my yard for Tabor to run around in, I know all my neighbors, and my family is close”
- Her bedroom is on the second floor
- “If the stairs ever became too much, I would move my bedroom down to one of the first floor bedrooms before I left my house”
How often do you see a doctor?
- “I’d say I go in twice a year just for routine checkups”
- “I have been very lucky with my health”
Do you personally do anything to track your health?
- “I walk my dog with my friends or my son everyday and I wear a fitbit so I know how many steps I get in”
- “I mostly just try to stay active and hike with my group”
- Has a hiking group she meets with once or twice a week
- Went on hiking vacation in Costa Rica earlier this year. Her and her friends all wore and compared fitbits, and IPhone health trackers
- “As long as I am hiking and walking Tabor I feel healthy”
- “Tabor and I love our walks because we get to have fun with our friends and be active! Its how we stay young!”
- Her and her friends all walk their dogs together almost everyday
Would you like your doctor to receive your daily health stats and be able to monitor your day-to-day health without having to visit the him/her?
- “I don’t know if it would be necessary but I think it would be neat!
Would you want your family members to be able to receive this information too?
- “I would want to be able to choose what they could see, I wouldn’t want them to know everything”
How comfortable are you with technology?
- “I use my IPhone, and IPad everyday, but I’m no expert!”
- I defiantly get frustrated with it sometimes and I don’t understand everything they do or can do but I try to keep up”
- “If someone teaches me how to use it, I’ll use it! I just need someone to teach me!”
Takeaways:
The daily activity that allows her to stay healthy and completely independent is motivated by companionship. Whether she receives this companionship form her dog, her neighbors or her hiking group, the motivation to be with or socialize with others is what gets her walking and keeps her healthy, which in turn allows her to independently and successfully age in place.
