Nursing Students create living history books of local older adults
Senior News, a publication of the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, reported in its July-August 2014 issue on a life history projected conducted by 60 UNE nursing students under the direction of Donna Hyde, MSN/Ed, BSN, RN, assistant professor, and Barbara Haas, Ph.D., associate professor, in the Department of Nursing.
Thirty pairs of students were assigned either a Maine Agency on Aging volunteer or a Meals on Wheels client to interview about all aspects of life, including the struggles each person faced. The students designed and produced living history books about their subjects, complete with photos and quotations that represented the subject’s personal philosophies, careers, hobbies, and family lives.
The project was designed to give the students a greater understanding of the lives of older adults, helping them in their future careers as nurses to view their patient as a whole person rather than a disease or condition.