Biopsychosocial Assessment of Dr. A. Elizabeth “Bessie” Delany Essay

The following information for this biopsychosocial assessment of Dra. Annie Elizabeth â€Å"Bessie† Delany was found from the autobiography of Bessie and her sister, Sadie (Delany, Delany, & Hearth, 1993). Bessie Delany was born in 1891, she is the third daughter of Henry and Nanny Delany. she studied at Columbia University and she became the second female dentists in New York. In that time the segregation, violence, and discrimination took a big part of Delany family, and her parent had a very difficult time raising their family. Bessie and her parents were involved in politics social activism known as the civil movement. Bessie’s parents were an example of life for their children and others in their community. By being a family who succeeded in life. In those days, white people thought that the success for black was waste of time since at that time it was unusual for black people to become successful in their life’s. sheets (Delaney, Delaney, & Hill Hearth, 199 3). In the book, â€Å"Having Our Say†, Bessie and Sadie Delany reflect on their personal, professional, and social experiences. Both Bessie and Sadie would be considered in Older Adulthood as defined by Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2010). At the time that the book was written, Bessie was criticizing the positive and negative. She often got upset as she sees that people were doing the right things. Bessie was the younger of the two sisters, she was a leader, her personality showed anger comparing to her sister that she was very calm. Bessie was reliant on her sister Sadie. For example, Bessie didn’t have a pension and depended upon Sadie’s Board of Education pension to live throughout retirement. (Delaney, Delaney, & Hill Hearth, 1993). Biological Issues During the adulthood stage, people have many biological issues like when a person reaches this point in life they begin to face aging problems. One of those issues is the senescence that an individual is affected in different parts of the body, at various rates due to some parts of the body being stronger and resist aging. Older people regularly suffer the most visible effects of physical appearances, like shakiness of the hands and legs. Problems with bodily coordination, shoulder struggles, reduced agility, an increase in wrinkles of the skin, and the slowdown of the Psychomotor skills all occur currently (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010, pg. 588-589-590 According to the textbook, Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment, the slowdown of the Psychomotor skill specifies that the central nervous system is slowing down the information processing. Older people may come across problems such as difficulty remembering things as well as learning or retaining new information from memory. Problems can arise in certain activities such as driving a car. This can cause an increase in the risk of accidents while they drive. Even in older adulthood, however, if an individual has a healthy physical and mental state, Psychomotor skills can be highly functioning, and the person doesn’t have to have these challenges. Not everyone ages at the same rate, this is true for biological functioning (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010, pp. 588-590). Bessie Delany’s Biological Development Based on descriptions of Bessie in the book, there are a few of examples that may show signs of aging in her adult biological development. Bessie was walking along with her sister and mother when a boy called them â€Å"grandmas† because of their grey hair, slow movements, and wrinkles (Delaney, Delaney, & Hill Hearth, 1993, p. 250). Her body showed her that her youth was gone because they were walking slowly as elders do. Bessie stopped driving a vehicle because of her body changes as her hand movements are diminished, reflexes are different from when she was young. Because of her age, Bessie had also stopped cutting her trees. She did not feel confident to be climbing a ladder and utilized sheets (Delaney, Delaney, & Hill Hearth, 1993, pg. 297). Assess Bessie’s Development Normal or Healthy? Yes, Bessie’s biological development was healthy because she still functioned at a high level. She always ate healthily, ate different vegetables every day, and they also included fruits and vitamins. Usually, in her daily routine, she took Vitamins A, B complex, C, D, E, as well as minerals and zinc. Bessie participated in exercises such as yoga, and she also enjoyed cultivating their garden that helped to maintain mental and active physical conditions. Identified Biological Strengths. Bessie had many strengths, despite her age, and she did not lose her vision. She was very independent, motivates her father to become a professional. Her professional goal became a dentist. (Delaney, Delaney, & Hill Hearth, 1993, pg. 297). She decides to be a professional instead of being a mother. She had a very strong character, where she didn’t like what she sees, she will protest, especially when she suffered racial attacks. She had a great memory. As she could remember her early childhood. (Delaney, Delaney, & Hill Hearth, 1993, pg. 289). Bessie’s Biological Needs Bessie did not have any outstanding biologicals needs, she was healthy at the age of 101 years old. Reference Delaney, Sarah L., Delaney, Annie Elizabeth, Hill-Hearth, Amy (1993). Having our Say. The Delany Sister’ First 100 years. N. Y. New York. Dell Publishing a Division of Random House, Inc. Zastrow, Charles H. & Kirst-Ashman Karen, K. (2010). Understanding Human Behavior and Social Environment. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning