Aging Flashcards
Why is the need to explore the impacts of age on health essential?
General populations are starting to live longer
Two categories Gerontologists use to distinguish the aging ppn
1) Maximum life span
2) Life expectancy
Maximum life span
Maximum number of years a member of a species can live
Life Expectancy
The number of years at birth an average member of the ppn can live
Maximum Life Span Average
Somewhere between 110 to 125 years old, which has surprisingly stayed relatively the same for the last 10,000 years
Increases of Life Expectancy
Has increased substantially over time (average LE in Ancient Rome was 22 years old to now with an average of 75-83 years old depending on other social factors
Intrinsic Aging
Normal changes to the body to ‘wear and tear’, genetic mutation and internal sources of change
Four criteria of Intrinsic Aging describing senescence
1) Takes place for all members
2) It is basic to the organism
3) It is progressive
4) It leads to the decline of physical functioning
Extrinsic Aging
Changes to the body due to external circumstances, including pollution, UV exposure, and noise
What percentage of people aged 60+ experience disease
23% (Globally)
What are older people at increased risk for
- CVD, Malignant neoplasms, chronic respiratory disease, neurological and mental disorders; strokes, chronic pulmonary disease & eye/vision impairment (cataracts)
- More at risk of complex disease experiences, as in many cases there are multiple diseases or histories to treat, which puts pressure on HC services to create treatment plans for LT success/outcomes
Ageism
- Systematic issue w/in the healthcare sector w/in Canada
- OA often rendered invisible w/in medical & social research, even for diseases they are overrepresented in
- The lack of research & evidence equates for a lack of knowing how to support OA through disease & sickness
- We are living longer, yet system is not set up adequately enough to support impacts of in/extrinsic aging
DOH impacts on Aging
- Social vulnerability
- Biological (genetic & diseases)
- Lack of research and lack of treatments
- Lack of gerontologists
- Ageism + intersectionalities
- Context, history, society & biography
- Environments (whether a facility or area of living provides accessible opportunities to promote a healthy lifestyle (physical activity)
Negative Health Behaviours
- Older ppl often ignored for these
- Alcohol abuse and the ways in which alcohol consumption impacts OA on a social and physiological level is relatively unknown and under researched
- Mental health behaviours are also rendered invisible, with research suggesting OA are either underrepresented or not represented at all
How a large portion of this inequity may be due to ageist stereotypes
- Stipulations of mental and physical capabilities of elderly folks (don’t live inheritance)
- Increase in the dismissing of symptoms voiced by older ppl (“just a symptom”)
- Increase risk of elderly abuse
- Internalization of (-) stereotypes leading to OA avoiding HC services or dismissing their own symptoms, self isolation, poor MH outcomes and lower cognition
Social Vulnerability Model
- We have talked about the intersection of identities impacting the ways in which we experience inequality and inequity
- Research reports that some individuals who seek medical care for ailments can have differing experiences regarding treatment and health outcomes
Concept of social vulnerability
- Operationalizes the wats in which SDoH collectively impact health outcomes
- Most notably this concept often examines how social factors (ex. race, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc.) along w factors such as poverty, inaccessible transportation & housing result in adverse results
- Higher social vulnerability leads to higher risk of mortality, disability & cognitive decline
Three Components of Social Vulnerability
1) Risk of Exposure to Illness or Prolonged Illness (Social factors/location, social support/networks, like the broken arm syndrome)
2) Sensitivity to Illness or Prolonged Illness (SDoH, affluent vs low income neighbourhoods, pollution or not, systematic racism or not, clean water or not)
3) Adaptive Capacity to Illness or Prolonged Illness (Macro-level structures, can we climb out of illness as easily as others, social/economic/cultural capital, whether we can afford to get ourselves out of social vulnerability (higher economy, higher education, higher social)
