G&D: Young Adult to Older Adult Flashcards
What stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development do young adults go through ?
Intimacy vs. Isolation
(20-35 yrs old)
What stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development do Middle-aged adults go through ?
Generativity vs. Stagnation
(35-65 yrs old)
What stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development do Older-Adults go through ?
Ego Integrity vs. Despair
(65+)
Intimacy vs. Isolation
increased sense of competency/self-esteem where you learn to develop reciprocal intimate relationships (requires mutual trust)
- “Will I be loved or will I be alone ?”
- Being able to form healthy relationship with friends, family members, acquaintances, and others
- plays important role in creating supporting networks of physical and mental health
- if you fail in intimacy then you will feel lonely and can develop unhealthy diets, depression, cardiovascular disease, stress
What stage of Piaget’s cognitive development do young adults go through ?
formal operational
What physical developments do young adults go through ?
- full growth by age 20
- optimal muscle strength and you’re at your healthiest
- stable period of physical development
- usually quite active
- tend to ignore symptoms
What cognitive changes do young adults go through ?
- critical thinking skills improve
- where you curate and teach how to tone their critical thinking skills that will pertain to their profession
- optimal time for both formal and informal educational experiences
- memory peaks in the 20s
What are some psychosocial changes that young adults go through ?
- insecurity with home, world, and life causes stress and rigidity in the early young adult period (do you move away from home and siblings ?)
- maturing relationships and roles
What are some health concerns/promotions for young adults ?
- preventative care like screenings
- decrease incidence of accidents, injuries, and violence
- develop behaviors to promote healthy lifestyles
What are some injury and violence prevention measures for young adults ?
- suicide and depression
- occupational hazards/stressors
- chemical agents
- sexual assault
- intimate partner violence
- accidents (unintentional falls, overexertion)
Generativity vs. Stagnation
during this stage you strive to create or nurture things that will outlast them and want to contribute to society and promote future generations
- “How can I contribute to the world ?”
- generativity refers to “making your mark on the world” and to contribute to things to make the world a better place and desire to care for others
- If you fail in this generativity then may feel unproductive in and uninvolved with the world and you may be self-centered & fail to get involved with others
What stage of Piaget’s cognitive development do Middle-aged adults go through ?
formal operations
What cognitive changes do middle-aged adults go through ?
- continue to accumulate “ learning” intelligence
- abilities for complex problems of reasoning
What biological changes does your body go through as a middle-aged adult ?
- thinning, graying hair
- skin drier, wrinkles
- decreased muscle mass/density, fat disposition changes
- hormonal changes in women
- leading causes of death are heart disease, cancer, and accidents
What perceptual changes occurs with middle-aged adults ?
- presbyopia (farsightedness) develops
- decreased visual sensitivity and peripheral vision
- auditory acuity for high pitched sounds decreases (presbycusis)
- diminished sense of taste
What are some psychosocial changes middle-aged adults go through ?
- midlife crisis (time of reassessment, turmoil, change) and it occurs as an abrupt and drastic shift in priorities and values
- caring for aging parents
- multiple responsibilities and stresses (single parent families, civic responsibilities)
- divorce, death, work
What does the sandwich generation refer to ?
middle-aged adults that have to care for both their kids and their aging parents
What are some sleep habits that change for middle-aged adults ?
- less time in deep sleep and less sleep overall
- occasional napping
What are some health concerns and promotions for middle-aged adults ?
- recovering from an injury or illness may take longer
- chronic illnesses affect roles and responsibilities
- assessment of health promotion activities (regular exercise, nutrition, sleep, leisure activities, screenings, smoking cessation)
What are some injury and violence prevention for middle aged adults ?
- look first, wear the gear, get trained, buckle up, driver sober, seek help
- intimate partner violence
Ego Integrity vs. Despair
when you look back at life and feel satisfied with how you lived your life, or you look back and have lots of regrets
- success is where you feel good with the community you are a part of and feel invested in this and have a complete and reliable support system
- unsuccessful is where you feel like your life was “lived in vain”
What are some cognitive changes in older adults ?
- memory loss (to be expected)
- language difficulties
- impaired judgement/reasoning (not always)
- keeping active and engaged in ADL can help keep cognitive function
What are some psychosocial changes in older adults ?
- loss of former roles like child, sibling, spouse
- gain a grand parenting role (can bring happiness and joy)
- retirement (can be positive and negative)
What are some psychosocial concerns in older adults ?
- depression (older adults at a higher risk) because they can see themselves as a burden
- suicide because of social isolation, believes “they are going to die soon anyways”, highest risk in elderly
What are some nutrition and sleep concerns in older adults ?
- can be malnourished because of inaccess to food, GI decline, anorexia because of medication
- high prevalence of sleep disorders (decrease in total hours slept)
What are some nursing interventions that can be done for Older adults ?
- teach about normal changes in aging sleep
- increasing physical activity
- pain management
- environmental adjustments (lights/sounds)
- short term sleep medications
What are some health concerns for older adults ?
- falls: leading cause of morbidity/mortality
- osteoporosis
- preventing injury
- influenza: major cause of morbidity/mortality
- pneumococcal infections
- tuberculosis
What is delirium ?
it’s an acute confusional state that can occur after recover from infection, surgery, etc
- results in confusion and other disruptions in thinking and behavior, including changes in perception, attention, mood and activity level
What are some prevention strategies for delirium ?
- keep things as consistent as possible
- protect sleep time
- meet physical needs
- give them something to do
- get family to spend time with patient
What is dementia ?
it’s a chronic, overall decline where you will not recover
- associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities
- caused by damage to brain cells
How do we help lessen the symptoms of dementia ?
- encourage older adults with dementia to take classes, read, engage in stimulating conversations to keep their minds active
- pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods to manage symptpms
What are some health promotion strategies for older adults ?
- participating in screening activities
- regular exercise
- regular dental visits
- smoking cessation
- immunization
What link does spirituality and aging have ?
- allows a person to experience a transcendent (beyond) meaning in life
- gives them a sense of meaning and purpose in life
What is the difference between spirituality vs. religion ?
Spirituality:
- individual and non-institutional/not organized
- “where do I find meaning ?”
- texts have personal meaning
Religion:
- institutional/organizational
- “what is true or right ?”
- religious text of tradition
What is the link between religion and health outcomes ?
- research suggests that being involved with a religious organization is correlated with improved health outcomes
- for each of the 3 leading causes of death in the U.S people with religious beliefs have lower rates of illness
