Hierchy of Needs

Unit 3: Project: Hierarchy of Needs

Course Title: Introduction to Human Services

Course Number and Section: HN 115

Instructor Name and Credentials: Angel R. Doring, M.S.

Student: Claudia Walton

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs allows one to gauge whether or not their daily needs are being met. It is alarming to discover that most many groups of people are not having even the most basic needs satisfied, like food, shelter and clothing. Obtaining food, shelter and clothing alone would make a world of difference. People who cannot obtain these three basis needs on a daily basis are vulnerable. The three populations considered to be vulnerable in this instance are the elderly, homeless, and children.

Our senior citizens are one of the fastest growing populations, as baby boomers are rapidly approaching retirement age (Sullivan, 2009). Our society’s respect for elders is dwindling as fast as senior citizens population is growing. As a person gets past the age of 70, their needs grow and are much more frequent and become as children, unable to fend for themselves due to frailty (Graziano, 2010). Also, with the fast pace of today’s society, from technology to food, the elderly seem to lose ground in keeping up with a ‘microwave’ society. While growing older, they become susceptible to conditions which other vulnerable populations face, one of which is neglect.

Isolation, neglect, theft, abuse, and ridicule are some of the issues the elderly are expected to face, especially those that do not have a loving family to care for them (Graziano, 2010). People who discard the elderly don’t understand that the elderly were once their age, and this is the route that they will take also, if they live that long. Unlike some cultures who practically worship their elderly, like Asians, Hindus, Native Americans, and West Indians, our American culture rushes to move the elderly out of the ‘fast lane’ into the ‘slow’ lane, regarding them either as hindrances...