Practice Learning - Older People

A student on a practice learning opportunity in a day care/residential resource for older people participated in a 'reminiscence group'. The focus was 'Childhood experiences of school'.

During the group, themes that arose included the use/misuse of in school and at home, relationships with authority figures, peer friendships and rivalries.

The student considered the impact each individual's experiences might have had on him or her in later life and made links to her knowledge of child development. In her role as key worker, she was able to consider how the individual's experiences might have contributed to current relationships with their family and care workers. In her reflective diary and in supervision the student considered how the reminiscence session had helped her to reflect on the older person's experiences and gain a better understanding of them. She also considered how her own experiences of education, discipline, friendship, differed or were similar to the service users and the implications of this for her relationship with different individuals.

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