Late adulthood

Question 1

What is the maximum lifespan?

Answer 1

About 120 years (this has not increased, only life expectancy has increased over time)

Question 2

What is ageism?

Answer 2

Treatment, stereotyping and discrimination of a person’s age

Question 3

Successful Ageing - what are some interests and activities?

Answer 3

Growing older also enables new opportunities. Along with aging comes the decisions of whether or not to retire (or to what extent).

• Do the things they couldn’t do because they didn’t have the time
• Rest and relaxation period
• Leisure: the ability to take time out do recreational activities that are enjoyable and fulfilling to the soul
• Getting involved (or staying involved) in the community and further developing a sense of purpose and contribution. This can involve forming new social connections/relationships. Many older persons are also involuntary positions and make a substantive contribution to Australian society.
• Education: this time can be an opportunity for learning new knowledge and skills - both informally (e.g., through self-directed learning) and formally (e.g., through university or TAFE)

Question 4

What does being in late adulthood mean for a person’s sexual functioning?

Answer 4

A decrease in the frequency of sexual intercourse, especially for women.

Question 5

What does being in late adulthood mean for their wellbeing? (relationships with family and friends)

Answer 5

May take many different forms

• Many older adults have experienced a number of diverse relationships throughout their lives
• Loneliness may also occur

Question 6

Where can accommodation for older age people take place?

Answer 6

• Nursing homes:
  Restricted freedom & low personal control
  Low social interaction & mental stimulation
  Inadequate staff training
  Caring for elderly seen as low-status work
• Retirement Villages:
  Offers care, support, entertainment and sense of community
  Enhances life satisfaction
• Own home

Question 7

What are Atchley’s phases of retirement?

Answer 7

Preretirement 
Honeymoon
Intermediate retirement routine 
Rest and relaxation 
Disenchantment 
Reorientation 
Retirement routine 
Termination of retirement 
(see textbook p975, 16.15)

Question 8

What are the theories of physical aging?

Answer 8

• Cellular physical theory – focus on the processes that take place within the cells and lead to the breakdown of cell, tissue and organs. Often referred to as the wear and tear theory. Influenced by environment and lifestyle choices.
• Programmed: programmed to live a certain number of years with a maximum lifespan

Question 9

What is optimal ageing?

Answer 9

Optimal ageing refers to the maintenance of psychology adjustment and wellbeing across the full life-span.

Question 10

What ages are considered late adulthood?

Answer 10

65 years and older

Question 11

Outline factors that lead to changes in physical functioning during late adulthood

Answer 11

Protection from sun and other elements early in life can prevent some of the skin changes, and regular exercise can prevent some of the bone and muscle mass loss.

Question 12

Outline the chronic illnesses that become common in late adulthood

Answer 12

• Cardiovascular disease- responsible for most illness and death among men during middle adulthood and both men and women in late adulthood.
• Hypertension can cause arteriosclerosis, which puts a person at risk for heart attack, kidney damage and stroke
• Cancer is a set of more than 100 diseases characterised by uncontrolled cellular growth
• Arthritis consists of more than 80 diseases that attack the joints and connective tissue

Question 13

What is fictive kin?

Answer 13

Constructed relationships such as a foster child or godparent, that, by merging voluntary and obligatory relations take on the significance of blood kin

Question 14

What is social convoy?

Answer 14

The lifelong social network of family and friend relationships that develop over the life course and provide social support from infancy to old age

Question 15

What is the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST)?

Answer 15

The theory that, in response to their perceptions of time left to them, people moderate social interactions in order to maximize emotional functioning.

Question 16

Is major depression more or less common among older adults than among younger adults?

Answer 16

Less

Question 17

What are some gains in cognitive functioning that occur in older adults?

Answer 17

Wisdom is a positive cognitive change associated with later life

Question 18

Explain the factors that influence how retirees adjust to their new life circumtances

Answer 18

Retirement is not simply a work or stop-work decision; many individuals follow non-traditional retirement patterns. Health status and financial security affect satisfaction with retirement.

Question 19

Define senescence

Answer 19

The degenerative phase of the ageing process that causes an individual to become more vulnerable to disease and mortality as the years go by

Question 20

What stage of Erikson’s is late adulthood associated with?

Answer 20

Integrity versus Despair. Older adults assess the value of their life’s work and fight the tendency to lose hope about life in general

Question 21

What is the disengaging theory?

Answer 21

The theory of ageing that views a reduction in social involvement in late adulthood be a natural and mutual process between older adults and society

Question 22

What is the activity theory?

Answer 22

The theory of ageing that assumes older people who maintain social, physical and intellectual activity levels similar to those during their middle years age more successfully than those who are less active