Topic 12: old age + death + bereavement Flashcards
What is the current life expectancy?
- In developed countries = 75 men + 80 women
- 30 years longer than it was in beginning of 20th century
- Life expectancy increased BUT birth rate fallen
- Proportion of elderly population = increasing
Describe each adult stage + basic conflict + important event + outcome
YOUNG ADULTHOOD = 19-40
- Conflict: Intimacy vs isolation
- Important event: Relationships
- Outcome:
>Success = strong + intimate relationships
>Failure = loneliness + isolation
MIDDLE ADULTHOOD = 40-65
- Conflict: Generativity vs stagnation
- Important event: Work + parenthood
- Outcome:
>Success = create something that leads to feeling of usefulness and accomplishment
>Failure = Shallow involvement in world
MATURITY = 65-death
- Conflict: Ego integrity vs despair
- Important event: Reflection on life
- Outcome:
>Success = look back on life and feel fulfillment + feeling of wisdom
>Failure = Feeling regret + bitterness
Explain the increase of the elderly population
- Proportion aged over 65 will increase from 15% to 25% by middle of century
- Due to control of infectious disease = lower disease in young + death in elderly = people stay well for longer
- Increase of elderly population = greater proportion of medical consults concentrated on older people
Give stereotypes of elderly
- Stereotypes often contradictory
- Positively = seen as knowledgable + experienced
- Negatively = seen as weak + senile + demented
- Societies view on aging is generally negative = seen as loss of youth + decline in physical/cognitive/social functioning = not treated with respect
What are the statistics on dementia?
- 3% people aged 70-74
- 25% people ages 85+
Explain the link between elderly and intelligence
- Untrue that all elderly = intellectual decline
- Intellectual functioning expressed:
1) Crystalline intelligence = experience + LTM
2) Fluid intelligence = processing + STM - IQ tests = fluid intelligence tests = suggest old people mentally disadvantaged
- However crystalline intelligence compensates for decline in fluid
Describe how stereotypes of elderly are evident in medical practice
- All patients should be treated with equal respect
- Not all but some elderly experience decline in cognitive function = important for doctors to check patients capacity + adjust accordingly = allow time to process info + ask questions
Describe depression in older age
- More prevalent in older age + in women
- Associated with decline = functional ability + cognitive impairment + social deprivation + role loss + negative life events + bereavement
- Older people more likely to experience death of partner + friends
- Life expectancy of women about 5 years longer than men = widows > widowers = higher rate depression in older women
Define grief
- Natural emotional reaction to loss
- Complex emotion = incorporates psychological + physical responses
- Personal process of how we feel
Define mourning
- Process of adaptation to loss
- References to cultural + social rituals/expectation = public display
- Interacts with grief response
Give examples of acute grief responses
- Disbelief/shock
- Anger/hostility
- Crying
- Disrupted sleep
- Inactivity
- Hallucinations
How long does grief response last?
- Hard to estimate
- May last around 6 weeks
- Long-term response may last 3-12 months
- Differs with individuals
Give examples of long-term grief responses
- Social withdrawal
- Sleep disturbances
- Anxiety
- Decreased concentration
- Decreased/increased eating
- Reduced libido
- Depression
