Older Adult Flashcards
1
Q
Life Expectancy
A
- 78.8 years
- women = 81 years (XX chromosome and reduced risk taking)
- men = 76 years
2
Q
a major factor in average life expectancy is what?
A
decline in infant mortality and advances in medical treatments
3
Q
what contributes to life expectancy?
A
health care access, housing, social services, and lifestyles factors. education and finances lead to increased life span
4
Q
ageism
A
negative views or myths about aging
5
Q
myths of aging
A
- expectations of senility, loneliness, poor health, and lack of interest in sexual activity
- expectations of ending up in nursing home, being poor, and becoming more religious
6
Q
negative stereotypes of aging
A
causes greater help seeking behaviors, more feelings of loneliness, worse self-efficacy
7
Q
senescence
A
period in which the body begins to age and weaken
8
Q
3 types of aging definitions
A
- chronologically: time since birth
- biologically: physical functioning of our body
- psychologically: how old we feel
9
Q
activities of daily living (ADL)
A
- after age 75 years, 9% have difficulty carrying out ADL’s
- ADL’s: bathing, eating, getting out of bed, dressing
10
Q
instrumental ADL’s (IADL’s)
A
- after age 75, 17% cannot carry out IADL’s
- tasks that require cognitive competence (shopping, food prep, housekeeping, paying bills)
11
Q
integumentary
A
- changes due to aging and also do to environmental exposures (sun, smoking –> accelerate how people look)
- dryness, thinning, loss of elasticity (wrinkles), skin tears, bruising (broken blood vessels). fatty layer of skin = lost
12
Q
musculoskeletal
A
- joints, ligaments, tendons – less flexible and more prone to injury
- loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia and atrophy)
- loss of bone density in women especially
13
Q
cardiovascular
A
- decrease in cardiac output (how much the heart can pump)
- alteration in electrical activity of heart (pacemakers are needed)
- may not be able to increase their heart rate
14
Q
blood vessels
A
- get clogged up w/ plaque and fat
- decreased blood flow to organs
- atherosclerosis (thickening or hardening of the arteries caused by a buildup of plaque in the inner lining of an artery)
- hypertension (high blood pressure)
- veins stretch and return flow to heart is less –> edema or clots
15
Q
respiratory
A
decreased efficiency of gas exchange
16
Q
what happens to the prostate?
A
it enlarges causing more urinary difficulty bc of decrease in testosterone
17
Q
renal
A
- filtering of blood is not as efficient
- kidneys more sensitive to drugs and contrast dyes
- kidneys and livers clear out meds, so if you take a lot of meds, it can be problematic
18
Q
endocrine
A
may be less sensitive the effects of insulin (at risk to develop diabetes)
19
Q
gastrointestinal
A
- decreased taste, difficulty swallowing (choking), loss of teeth
- slow digestive tract (constipation)
- GI tract absorbs less nutrients
20
Q
neurological
A
- should not just accept “confusion” as the norm without ruling out other causes or issues
- altered proprioception and kinesthetic senses
21
Q
incontinence
A
- involuntary loss of bladder function
- cognitive impairment: confused on when to go
- limitation in mobility: stroke = harder to move/squat
- decrease in bladder capacity
- difficulty emptying (especially for males bc prostate)
- inability to completely empty increases risk of UTI
22
Q
vision
A
- presbyopia (decrease in near vision) and loss of elasticity and accommodation abilities continues
- cornea thickens and dulls (cataracts = hazy) – sun exposure increases it
- glaucoma (increased pressure from loss of drainage)
- macular degeneration: breaking down of the retina –> central blurring
23
Q
hearing
A
loss of high frequency (presbycusis)
24
Q
immunity
A
- decrease in immune response
- immune system is more likely to malfunction and turn against itself (autoimmune and cancer –> your immune cells is letting them reproduce)
25
rest and sleep
- abt 7 hrs of sleep
- less time in more advanced sleep states such as REM
- nighttime awakening increases as we age
- takes longer to fall asleep
- insomnia: prescription and nonprescription medications can also create sleep disturbances
26
what cognitive ability declines first?
fluid intelligence (processing and speed). increase in crystallized intelligence can help offset this decline
27
language
- difficulty in word retrieval and in planning what to say
28
terminal decline
cognitive scores become more unstable -- often occurs as death approaches
29
episodic memory
difficulty with retrieval of everyday experiences. tells the same story agains
30
semantic memory
general knowledge. better preserved. doesn't rlly decline
31
explicit memory
declines. memory that requires controlled, strategic processing --> harder to learn new things like paying bills online
32
associative memory
declines. difficulty creating and retrieving links btw info
- remembering an item and where they saw it (or the context of the item)
33
remote memory
well intact. long term memory. may have a reminiscence bump or a period of heightened memory usually from age 10-30 years
34
prospective memory
remembering to engage in an upcoming event
- event based = better than time base
35
alzheimer's
- starts with memory problems
- progresses to judgment and personality changes
- see depression and anxiety
- loss of skilled movements and ability to perform ADL's
- brain deterioration -- build up of plaques or dense deposits of deteriorated proteins
- heredity plays a role
36
sexuality
- changes in sexual response
- myth that older adults do not desire sexual intimacy/pleasure
- menopause does not decrease sexual response but may cause more dryness in the sexual experience
- testosterone production decreases but remains stable after 60 years
- reduced sperm production = erection delay
37
psychosocial: erikson
- ego integrity vs. despair
- positive outcomes = coming to terms with one's life, sense of integrity leads to feeling of being whole complete and satisfied with their achievements
- negative outcomes = occurs when adults feel regret or did not feel they made the correct decisions, time becomes too short to find an alternate route to integrity, may exhibit contempt anger, bitterness, feeling of being overwhelmed or defeated
38
spirituality
- of those over age 65 years, 65% report religion as very important in their lives
- 50% attend services weekly
- they feel more reflective
39
self concept of the older adults
- more secure and multifaceted concepts of themselves -- self acceptance
- as the older adult ages, the "hoped for" self is often in the areas of physical health, cognitive functioning, social responsibility, leisure
40
are older adults agreeable?
in their 70's, yes. after age 80, they start to push back and become argumentative
41
positivity effect
- older adults selectively attend to and recall more positive information
- emotion focused coping strategies help this as well
- contributes to older adult's resilience
42
reminiscence
- telling stories abt ppl and events from the past and reporting those feelings and thoughts
- reminiscing is often a negative stereotype of the older adult
43
help in home
- home health, family assistance, someone checking in
44
independent living
living in own apartment and taking care of own needs but in a group setting
45
assisted living
living in own apartment but in a group setting and help may come in to assist with bathing, medications
46
30 day rehab skilled care
full support with rehabilitation in mind to return to prior living situation
47
memory care
aspects of both assisted and skilled care depending on how much help is needed. probs won't go home
48
skilled care
full support. won't go home
49
what threatens independent living for the older adult?
physical disabilities, frailty, unintentional injuries, mental disabilities
50
mental health: depression
- physical decline and chronic disease are the greatest risk factors
- those 85 and older have a very high rate of suicide
- older adults often do not receive enough mental health support
51
mental health: elder suicide
- risk factors: loss of job/retirement, widowhood, social isolation, chronic terminal illness
- more common in aging, white men
- underreported
52
elder maltreatment
- physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse
- usually from family members, caregivers, nursing homes
53
risk factors of elder maltreatment
- dependency of victim
- dependency of perpetrator: emotional or financial
- psychological disturbance and other traits of perpetrators
- history of family violence
- institutional conditions: more common in low-quality nursing homes
54
nutrition
- Limit fats
- Higher protein intake (decreases frailty in the older adult)
- Increase fiber intake
- Dehydration is not uncommon
- Vit B12 deficiency is common-- less gastric acid produced in the stomach
- Calcium and Vit D essential for bone health and strength
- Generally do not use weight loss interventions in the older adult even if overweight
- 15-30% of older adults are considered malnourished
- Socialization is an important factor in eating for the Older Adult
- Consider risk of aspiration, choking when eating/feeding Older Adult
55
physical activity
Recommend 30 minutes of moderate-intensity
physical activity for 5 or more days per week.
56
recommendations to reduce osteoporosis
- stretching = helps with balance
- muscle strengthening
- weight bearing = helps keep calcium in the bone
57
Falls
* Fall risk and fall risk assessment
* Consequences of fall: hip fracture, traumatic brain
injury, fallphobia
58
Factors contributing to falls
* Hearing and vision
* Foot deformities and gait disturbances
* Hypotension
* Cognitive impairment
* Environment
* Medications
59
health promotion
* Influenza, pneumococcal, shingles vaccines
* Breast cancer, Colorectal screening
* Osteoporosis (bone density screening)
* Diabetes screening.
* Glaucoma screening
* PSA and rectal exam
* Mental health screenings
* Blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring
60
Successful Aging: Volunteering
* “High-dose” volunteering: retired adults tutor and
mentor young schoolchildren 15+ hours per week
* Outcomes:
* Gains in physical activity and strength
* Fewer physical limitations and depressive symptoms
* Enhanced social support
* Gains in executive function
* Gains in size of cerebral cortex and hippocampus
(memory)
* Increased brain plasticity of regions supporting cognitive skills
