One of The Tacy Foundation’s core activities is to arrange for local students to give musical performances in numerous senior care facilities in the national capital area as well as in a few other locations in the United States. While seniors very much appreciate these performances, giving them moments of enjoyment and reflection, the relationship between student volunteers and seniors is a relatively passive one for the seniors.
To encourage more of a two-way, sharing relationship, The Tacy Foundation is developing a Life Stories Project as an opportunity for young people to interview senior residents and to document and share their stories. Through the interview process, we hope to bring to light some of our elderly neighbors’ interesting lives and achievements. We believe the shared memories will enhance the student volunteers’ appreciation of and respect for the elderly and help the elderly remember, reflect on, and appreciate all they have done in their lives. The interaction can also be a meaningful discussion for the youth to talk about school, family and friendship. It is hoped that the student interviewers can encourage the seniors to share their wisdom and that all participants will enhance their mutual understanding and respect.
Preparatory Arrangements at Senior Care Facilities
To initiate an interview program at a senior facility, the Tacy Foundation Adult Site Supervisor should discuss the initiative with the student volunteers and the facility manager. To address privacy concerns, we recommend that the Adult Site Supervisor suggests that the facility manager consult their legal department on their privacy policies. If the facility agrees to participate, the Adult Site Supervisor should inform the Life Stories Chief Intern at lifestories.tacyfoundation@gmail.com. The Foundation will provide two consent forms, an agreement for the facility to participate in the Life Stories initiative and an agreement for the participating individual to be interviewed (You can access the forms here). The Adult Site Supervisor should keep a folder with the signed forms.
Seniors have the option of declining to be interviewed and/or of requesting that the student interviewer not use their name in their written story but instead use a pseudonym and avoid any identifying personal details. Seniors may also request specific themes or questions agreed upon in advance.
Once or twice a year, the Facility Chief Intern should discuss with the facility manager which residents (no more than five) are most likely to be both able and willing to be interviewed. The Facility Chief Intern, accompanied by the Adult Site Supervisor and/or the facility manager will then discuss possible interviews with the selected residents and, in consultation with the student volunteers for the facility, will schedule interviews. Anyone participating in the initiative may contact the Life Stories Chief Intern with any questions, concerns or comments.
Interviews
Interviews will be one-on-one between a student and a senior resident in a public space, that is, a common area of the assisted-living facility. While interviewing the seniors, students must be directly supervised by a Tacy Foundation adult volunteer or an assisted-living facility staff member. Students should be prepared with the interview questions and take notes during the interview. Students can contact senior residents in advance to choose a topic or theme to discuss, and to explain the consent form and ask the senior to sign it. The interview can solicit a summary of the senior’s life or one or two specific recollections of interest. The conversation can also include a discussion of the student’s school life and plans to have the senior offer a different perspective and share the wisdom of experience.
Some possible questions the student can ask the seniors are:
When and where were you born?
Could you tell me about your childhood?
What was going on in the world when you were a child?
Do you have any special memories from when you were young?
Please tell me a little about your life as a young adult (e.g. about your family, about your work).
Did you have any special talents or interesting hobbies? Could you tell me some more about that?
Did you have any particular “adventures”? If so, please tell me more.
Did you have any special accomplishments? If so, please tell me more.
What things in life were most important to you? For example, music, religion, your family, your work. Please tell me some more about this.
How does it feel to become “elderly”?
Having lived for a long time, do you have any particular advice for younger people like me?
Steps for Finalizing and Disseminating Life Stories
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Once the student volunteer has completed a draft story, he or she should forward it to the Life Stories Chief Intern at lifestories.tacyfoundation@gmail.com. Please copy Ms. Holliday at thetacyfoundation@gmail.com.
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The Life Stories Chief Intern will forward the draft article to one of the volunteer editors (he or she will try to give each editor an equal workload).
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The Life Stories Chief Intern will ask the person who agrees to edit each story to make any needed revisions within one week and to send the edited version directly to the author (student volunteer), copying the Life Stories Chief Intern.
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The author will then give the senior subject of the article an opportunity to read or listen to the article and to make any needed corrections.
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Once the author has made any needed changes, she or he should forward the article to newsletter editor, with a copy to the Life Stories Chief Intern.
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The newsletter editor will read the article and make small, final edits, if needed.
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The newsletter editor will send all of the finalized articles to the Life Stories Chief Intern so he can post them in a special section of the Tacy Foundation website.
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The newsletter editor will include some of the articles in the newsletter. Completed drafts may also be offered to the senior facility’s newsletter for their residents and staff.
SSL Hours
SSL hours may be awarded by the Executive Director and Adult Site Supervisor of the Foundation. SSL credit will be determined as follows:
2 hours of SSL credit for the in-person interview in a senior facility.
2 hours of SSL credit for transcribing the Interview.
3 hours of SSL credit when the transcription exceeds 3 pages of printed text.
Please note that the students’ final work must be shared with the community in order to be granted SSL credit for the Life Stories Project. The interview includes two sessions, an initial interview and a follow-up session.
Conclusion
Capturing the stories of seniors has sparked the interest of a number of young musicians. The teens' stellar efforts to bring hope and memory to seniors through their music during the past 12 years have inspired us all. Youth have learned that these precious people generally are interesting, well-educated, appreciative of youth, and devoted parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. We hope this project can provide opportunities for student performers and seniors to get to know each other in a more comprehensive way. We believe this project will honor the seniors and inspire the youth, building a more connected community.
