Introduction
Welcome to the Illinois 4-H project, Walk in My Shoes. Since you cannot tell by its title, you are probably wondering what this project is about. You will not actually walk in another person's shoes, but you will learn to understand older people better by sharing their experiences. You will learn, through many activities, what it feels like to grow older and what happens to our bodies as we age.
You will also learn, through many activities, what is true and not true about aging and older people. You will have the opportunity to participate in activities with older people in your 4-H Club meetings and also with your own older family members and older adults in the community.
This project will give you an opportunity to understand your own attitudes about growing older, to develop new communication skills that can be used all through your life, and finally, to form new or enrich current friendships with older family or community members.
In this 4-H project, you will:
- Become aware of your own attitudes toward aging and older people.
- Learn what is true and what is not true about aging and older people.
- Learn more about the aging process and the physical changes that occur
as people grow older.
- Understand how living with physical and sensory changes affects older
people.
- Learn to communicate with older adults who have sensory losses.
- Develop linkages across generations within families and communities.