Aging, Death, and Loss in Families Flashcards
1
Q
Current Trends in Aging
A
- Increase in population over 65
- Over 85 is the fastest-growing segment of the older population and the group most vulnerable to serious illness and debilitating conditions
- Life expectancy gender gap has widened (women 3x more likely to be widowed)
- Beanpole Family: each generation is smaller but there are more generations alive at any one time with more years between generations
- Age-compressed families with pregnant teens
- With divorce and remarriage there may be a complex web of ties with biological and stepchildren and children-in-law
- More racially and ethnically diverse
- With the economic downturn, many lack or lost retirement pension
2
Q
SES/Racial Influences in Aging
A
- Lower SES = Lower life expectancies (due to health & diet)
- Expectations about caretaking roles may create tensions between older immigrants who carry more traditional values from their cultures of origin and younger generations raised in our society
- In Latino families, the parent-child bonds are commonly stronger than the marital dyad, so retirement may unbalance the system
- Access to appropriate health and social services is affected by SES (Families in poverty are most vulnerable to environmental conditions that heighten the risk of serious illness, disabilities, early mortality, and caregiver strain)
3
Q
Heterogeneity
A
- With increasing age, the utility of “age” as a marker for development becomes less and less useful; the aging process is more variable and malleable than was long believed
- Extended middle age for those in 60s and early 70s = healthy, active, and productive
- Pathways through later life are becoming increasingly varied (Over a long time, 2 or 3 marriages, with periods of co-habititation and single living, are increasingly common, creating complex kin networks in later life)
- Ageism limits accurate views of older adults
- Dementia and depression should not be considered “normal” parts of aging
*Aging individuals have a long history of strengths, competencies, and coping strategies and should be approached from that standpoint
4
Q
Larger Vision of Older Life
A
- Change, growth, and new learning occurs
- Betty Friedan: “Strengths that have no name” - Older adults may integrate at a higher level, particularly in attending to ethical and contextual issues
- Traditional norms, rules, and rituals are less encompassing and restrictive
- Search for greater meaning in life
- Lawrence-Lightfoot related stories: Loss & Liberation Vulnerability & Resilience Looking back & Giving forward Vital engagement in life
5
Q
Tasks of Aging
A
- Grieving losses and facing mortality
- Managing physical health
- Financial security and “estate” planning
- Reinventing oneself and one’s future
- Awareness of past deficiencies, hurts, and disappointments are put into perspective = wisdom
- Defining a new sense of purpose and meaning
- Using leisure for new learning and experimentation or enjoying already established hobbies and pursuits
- Adapting to new structures and roles
- women who had held on most rigidly to earlier constraining roles end up being more frustrated, angry, and depressed later in life
- meaningful relationships are most important factor in men’s successful aging
6
Q
Good Aging
A
- Vital involvement in the present is essential and commitment to ongoing growth
- New lessons must fight an uphill battle against the patterns already ingrained = Negative Plasticity wherein existing established neuronal patterns can easily overwhelm novel experiences
- The nature of neurovitality ensures that it trims ambiguity from reality & portrays largely what has already been said
- Those who are most happy report feeling freer to be themselves, report less conflict and more balance, are better able to know and use their strengths, and are surer of what counts in life
- Such attributes such as humor, compassion, curiosity, and commitment contribute to a sense of integrity
- Older adults with a greater purpose in life have reduced risk of Alzheimer’s and mild cognitive impairment
*Research finds a strong link between social contact, support, and longevity
7
Q
Ageism and Gerophobia
A
- Current culture that worships youth and physical perfection
- Aging = Decay = Fear & Loathing
- Elderly stereotyped as old-fashioned, rigid, boring, useless, demented, and burdensome
- Workplace discrimination
- Medical and mental health professionals are not immune and may focus on disability and have pessimistic assumptions about older people’s ability for change
- Adult children may be patronizing and controlling
8
Q
Aging and Loss
A
You cannot escape loss.
Many forms:
- social roles and respect
- income
- relatives, friends, and beloved pets
- physical health
- Family bonds are central
9
Q
Family Bonds
What is the norm in terms of institutionalizing?
Benefits of intergenerational bonds?
A
- Stereotype of American families is that adult children don’t value their elders and dump them in institutions, but actually this is not the norm
- In fact, intergenerational bonds for most Americans are mutually beneficial (Old wounds may need to be addressed; families provide most social interaction, caregiving, and psychological support for elderly loved ones)
- The vast majority of older adults remain in their own homes or live with relatives & Most Americans in good health prefer to live in separate household from children
- The importance of siblings commonly increases over adulthood
- Companion animals may play a vital role in well-being and resilience of the elderly, particularly if living alone
10
Q
Grandparenthood
A
- Generativity of grandchildren eases acceptance of mortality (“passing the torch”)
- Interaction with children added to appreciation of life and new perspectives, i.e. learning computer skills from children
- Special bond not complicated by the responsibilities, obligations, and conflicts of the parent-child relationship
- When grandparents are the primary caretakers of their grandchildren, this may complicate their role transitions and take a toll on their own health and well-being, either positive or negative
- Offers opportunity for reconnection and to heal old intergenerational wounds (Adult children becoming parents may help them have more empathy for their own parents as they identify with the challenges of child-rearing)
11
Q
Role Transitions
A
- Retirement: loss or freedom, OR both
- Are the expectations for “grandparenting” synchronistic between the generations and differing FOO of spouses?
- Widowhood: Men tend to be less prepared for widowhood, but women may have more limited financial resources and remarriage prospects
- Increasing dependence, i.e. loss of driver’s license can be devastating
- “Boomerang” adult children moving home (often with children) as parents look forward to retirement due to financial stresses
12
Q
Retirement
A
- Loss of identity, status, co-workers, power, income, and purpose (traditionally a larger part of men’s identity)
- Time for relationships and interests both old and new
- Work no longer serves as a diversion so whatever personal or interpersonal issues are unresolved may loom (i.e. child has filled a void in the marriage)
- Role shifts within the couple (traditional - incorporating husband into house; dual-earner - out of sync if one is still working)
13
Q
Care-giving
A
- Increasingly, adult children past retirement age, with limited resources, are involved in caring for their elders
- 80% of caregivers help 7 days/week, about 4 hours/day
- Nearly 3/4 of disabled elderly rely on “informal caregivers” AKA family/kin
- Lack of useful management guidelines by medical specialists can contribute to confusion and frustration (lower SES caretakers may feel less entitled to demand clear guidelines)
- Caregivers have dramatically different responses: understanding why this is important
- Stress Process Model: stress comes from both the objective and subjective components of the process and providing care. (Problematic behaviors such as sleep disturbance and delusional ideas are the strongest contributors to role overload and “captivity” feelings
14
Q
Dementia and Caregiving
A
- Uniquely debilitating, especially to the spouse
- Spouses with more realistic expectations have fewer negative consequences
- Loss of identity, family roles, and relationships complicates the mourning process for both
- Caregivers report poorer health, greater substance use, more emotional symptoms, reduced social functioning, & poorer financial status.
- Stronger attachments may mediate the sense of burden vs. sense of obligation
- Asocial and disoriented behaviors are especially stressful to the caregiver
- Gradual memory loss, disorientation, impaired judgment, and loss of control over bodily functioning
- Most families try to keep their loved ones at home as long as possible
15
Q
Who are the caregivers?
A
- 70% are women; sons only likely to step up in the absence of a female sibling
- Hierarchical: spouses (husbands are the most common male caregivers), then adult children, followed by siblings, more distant relatives, and finally neighbors and friends
- Parental divorce may affect willingness of caregiving and amount of contact of adult children with the effects much greater for fathers than mothers
- Lower level of care given to elderly by adults facing separation and divorce
- Never-married daughter most likely to be sole caregivers for their elderly parents
