Name: Mr John Smith
Age: 79 years old
Occupation: Retired Taxi Driver
Marital Status: Married
Wife: Mrs Elizabeth Smith, deceased 4 years ago
Children: Two Maria 51, Jenny 54
Grandchildren: 5
Mr. John Smith lives at a small house at Birmingham. He went there at the age of 20, after he got married to Elizabeth. He has two daughters, Maria and Jenny which live with their families at distant towns. Maria is currently living at London and the Jenny at Newcastle. He had been working as a taxi driver for 40 years, and therefore his wife was mostly responsible for the housework and cooking. After his retirement he was living with his wife at home, but unfortunately four years ago, his wife died of cancer. He has to cope by himself now, since his closest relatives live far away and it is very difficult to find a helping hand around.
Hobbies: Mostly spends his time watching television, specifically interested in sports like football and basketball.
Patterns of Behavior: Mr. John has always lived a life where he was independent and responsible for his family. He is a very proud man for managing to raise his family in times where the living circumstances where much more difficult and does n’t like to depend on other people for his well being. Being a taxi driver for such a long period of years he had faced enormous difficulties but still he managed to succeed in providing a safe family environment and to educate both his children. He is quite stubborn and has a lot of difficulties in accepting new ways of life and technology innovations. He prefers simple and efficient products.
Health Condition: Like most of the elderly Mr. John faces a lot of health problems. His most serious problems are a kidney removal operation due to cancer symptoms, and weak heart symptoms. He has difficulties in moving around his house, cannot stand by himself for more that a few minutes, gets easily tired and sometimes finds it too painful to get out of bed.
A day in his life: Likes to wake up between the hours 5 a.m. -7 a.m., like he used to do when he was working. Habits are hard to change after a forty year work period. He likes to make himself a breakfast, consisting of a few toasts and a coffee.
He then sits in front of his TV, on his favorite chair to watch the morning programs on the TV. He will take a break to prepare himself both lunch and dinner for the night. Living alone is not easy at his age, so he cooks only once during a day. Usually takes a nap for 3-4 hours in the afternoon. Sometimes when he feels good enough he gets outside his home in his small garden. He enjoys gardening as he finds it a very relaxing and easy way for time to pass by.
After his nap, Mr. John likes to watch the news, and maybe a football match. That depends on his mood and health. Every day around 6 p.m. his daughters contact him by phone to see how he is doing. He will go to sleep between the hours 8 p.m.-10 p.m.
Occasionally, mostly on weekends, he likes to read a newspaper so he walks to the kiosk, just outside his house to buy a newspaper. If the weather is good and sunny he likes to sit near his window and watch at the birds and people passing by. Every 2-3 weeks his daughters will visit him on Sundays.
