Persona: Margaret Baxter

Overview

Margaret Baxter is a 69 year old retired vet. She lives by herself in a small bungalow in the middle of a small village near Oxford. Margaret has been married but lost her husband to a heart attack 10 years ago and has lived by herself ever since.

Household & Leisure Activities

Margaret has always and very much enjoys being active. Within the last few months however, her arthritis has worsened and she now finds that she is unable to do many of the tasks she previously could.

Whereas before Margaret would take part in a fitness exercise class for over 70’s 3 times a week, now she can only go at most once depending on how much pain she is in.

Margaret is a keen bowls player. Up until a few months ago she was a key part to the Thame bowls team and played weekly matches against other teams from all over the country. She has now had to give up playing in matches as she cannot rely on being fit enough. She does still however play socially when she can with her friends.

Margaret enjoys shopping at her local shops for fruit, vegetables and meat. She is friendly with the shop keepers and makes an effort twice a week to visit them. The local shops are a short bus journey away from her house but the bus stop is 10 minutes walk away from her bungalow. Margaret cannot visit the large supermarkets anymore as she cannot drive and she finds the long journey on the bus along with carrying all of her bags to much to handle.

Goals, Fears & Aspirations

As Margaret has lived by herself for so long, she has learnt to cope very well by herself. She can still perform day to day activities and look after herself and the house.

Her recent deterioration in health is a worry to her . Margaret does not get pain all of the time and on good days she is able to be fairly active. On a bad day however she often finds it very difficult to get out of bed and most of the day is spent not doing much at all as she experiences great pain when she moves. Margaret fears that if she continues to get worse that she will not be able to look after herself properly.

Margaret’s main objectives on a day to day basis are to look after her health and makes sure she stays active. She doesn’t like staying at home and makes an effort to get out every day to visit friends or go for walks.

Computer Skills

Margaret has been taking computer lessons at a local college for over a year now. Before she started the course she had never used a computer before. She has learnt simple tasks such as sending email and writing letters which she really enjoys. She now likes to keep in contact with friends and family over the internet. Margaret has never used any form of internet shopping to date. She is aware of it but does not feel confident enough yet in her computing abilities. She does plan to explore this area once she has built up enough courage. Despite her skills being very limited, she is still a keen learner.