Ch. 1 Flashcards
Life Expectancy:
average number of years a person is projected to live; 83 years for women and 79 years for men (varies by gender, culture, geographic region, education, birth cohort, and personal habits)
Life Course Perspective:
examines the interplay among individual life stories, our social system and institutions, and environments (this is a framework for understanding age-related transitions that begin with birth and entry into school system and conclude with retirement, widowhood, and death)
Functional Age:
concept that rests on the premise that a measure other than chronological age could better reflect one’s position in the ageing process. Functional health status assesses functioning at the level of the whole older person, describing how that person functions in daily life
Biological Aging:
changes in cellular, muscular, neural, cardiovascular sensory systems (influence number of years person is likely to survive/extent to which he or she is likely to experience illness or disability)
Psychological Aging:
changes in learning ability, memory, creativity: interaction of cognitive and behavioral changes with social/environmental factors/ INFLUENCED BY CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Social Aging:
changes in social roles/relationships; behavior and status are influenced by rights and responsibilities assigned on the basis of age or age group and by attitudes toward specific age groups as defined by society
Gerontology:
scientific (biological, behavioral, social) study of aging processes
Geriatrics:
biological/health science study of aging
Life course perspective
is a leading theory used in gerontology to study aging related issues
Three Elements: life histories and pathways (earlier life experiences affecting later ones, shaped by gender/ethnicity/social networks, etc), individual agency, micro-macro analyses of population
