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Application of the Ethnogerocounseling Model

Application of Ethnogerocounseling Model

I am a Nigerian male who arrived as an adult in the United states to pursue my education; my parents and grandparents all live in Nigeria, a country that is home to many different ethnic groups and which has experienced civil war and ethnic strife since the 1960s (Rubenstein, 1989). For my grandparents, aging (including raising my parents, making a home and running a business, leading to retirement from active work), has been a struggle for survival and for self system maintenance. The Gero Chi Model as described by Burlingame (1999) suggests that my grandparents can be understood as interdependent selves within a flexible extended family system in which kinship and tribal ties are of enormous significance.

Nigerian culture emphasizes respect for elders and the authority of elders within the family unit. For my male grandparents, a patriarchal family structure affirmed the primacy of the male in the family unit; however, for women, much respect is associated with the roles of wife and mothers, and mothers have a great deal of influence over their children and grandchildren as they age. Spirituality û my grandparents are Christian û is an essential component of the aging process, but my maternal and paternal grandparents also view the world through the lens of African and Nigerian culture and tradition, relying for example on indigenous medical practice more than Western medicine.

Both sets of grandparents live with one or another of their adult children and grandchildren. This is traditional in most Nigerian families, where the participation of older family members in family activities and decision-making is viewed as important. As my grandmothers have aged, they have taken on the role of a sort of "wise woman," being the givers of advice to younger female family members; the male grandparents fill much the same position with respect to younger male family members. My grandp...

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Application of the Ethnogerocounseling Model. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 00:46, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1706118.html