Week 13 Slides Flashcards
Volunteering is associated with:
Increased longevity, better health and better cognitive functioning.
Physical and cognitive changes are responsible for:
Many of the inevitable role changes in old age, but some changes are the result of ageism
The loss of role definition can result in ___ but it can also result in a greater ___
isolation or alienation; “license for eccentricity”
African Americans and Latinos are overrepresented in:
Poverty statistics.
They are more likely to become ill, but less likely to receive treatment. Although their earnings contribute, many never reach the eligible age for Social Security and Medicare benefits.
Despite stress and discrimination, many ethnic minority individuals develop coping mechanisms for survival. These can include:
- Extended family networks.
* Churches.
Some developmentalists conclude that femininity ___ in women and masculinity ___ in
men when they reach late adulthood
decreases; decreases
- The evidence suggests older men may become more feminine (that is, nurturing or sensitive), but women do not necessarily become more masculine (that is, assertive or dominant).
- It is important to consider cohort effects
A possible double jeopardy is faced by many women:
The burden of both ageism and sexism.
What is “triple jeopardy?”
female ethnic minority older adults facing three levels of discrimination— ageism, sexism, and racism
In most cultures, three factors are important in living the “good life” as an older adult:
- Health
- Security
- Kinship/support
Older adults are more likely to be accorded a position of high status in a culture when:
Older persons have valuable knowledge, control key family/community resources, and are permitted to engage in useful/valued functions as long as possible.
What is successful aging?
individuals whose physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development is maintained longer and declines later
The idea of Successful aging includes three main components:
- Good physical health
- The retention of mental abilities
- A continuing engagement in social and productive activities
An additional aspect of successful aging is an individual’s subjective sense of life satisfaction.
The concept of successful aging is referred to as a:
paradigm because it presents patterns for examples of such aging
Many abilities can be maintained and/or improved in
older adults, especially when they have the following:
- Proper diet.
- Active lifestyle.
- Mental stimulation and flexibility.
- Positive coping skills.
- Good social relationships and support.
- Absence of disease.
In successful aging, ___ and ___ are especially important
being active and socially engaged
How are aging adults a growing resource to society?
Because they act as citizens who have deep expertise, emotional balance, and the motivation to make a difference.
The best educated show:
The least cognitive decline. Avoidance of learning may actually contribute to cognitive decline
The best educated show new learning helps to:
establish new connections between neurons, connections that may protect the aging brain against deterioration
The willingness to learn new things. Contributes to successful aging
Cognitive adventurousness
Higher life satisfaction is reported by those who:
have greater contact with family and friends
Social engagement contributes to successful aging because
it provides opportunities for older adults to give support as well as to receive it
Canadians aged 65 to 74 clocked the highest number of:
annual volunteer hours of any age group (234 hours), with those over 75 a close second (218 hours)
Other types of productivity (art and music lessons, academic classes, etc.):
- add purpose to life
- improve interaction with peers
- provide a sense of competence
—all of which helps elders stay healthy
A sense of personal well-being is an important component of successful aging.
Perceived adequacy of 2 things are critical (and perceived is a more important measure than objective measures):
- social support
2. income
______ may be the most significant predictors of life satisfaction and morale
Self-ratings of health.
Seeing others as worse off is an important self-protective psychological device.
Successful aging is related to three main factors:
selection, optimization, and compensation.
An aspect of SOC where older adults have reduced capacity and loss of functioning, requiring a reduction in performance in most of life domains.
Selection
An aspect of SOC that suggests that older adults can maintain performance in some areas through continued practice and use of new technologies.
Optimization
An aspect of SOC that becomes relevant when life tasks require a level of capacity beyond the current level of the older adult’s performance potential.
Compensation
Successful aging criticisms:
- It can give the erroneous impression that all the effects of aging are under one’s control
- An emphasis on successful aging may cause public and institutional support for disease related research to decline
- Critics concede its influence has been largely positive but suggest there is a need to balance the optimism of the successful aging paradigm against the realities of life in late adulthood
The components of successful aging:
- Health
- Mental activity
- Social engagement
- Productivity
- Life satisfaction
Robert Kastenbaum emphasizes that the death system in any culture comprises the following components:
- People.
- Places or contexts.
- Times.
- Objects.
- Symbols.
Two hundred years ago, almost one of every two children:
died before the age of 10, and one parent
died before children grew up
In the 1900s, most people died:
At home. They were cared for by family
Over 80% of deaths in the U.S. occur:
In Canada today, the majority of deaths (67%) occur:
in institutions or hospitals.
in hospitals. Individuals are cared for by
medical personnel
(The context in which people die)
Hospitals offer many important advantages, including:
- Professional staff members.
* Technology that may prolong life.
a period during which vital signs are absent but resuscitation is still possible – Presumably, near death experiences occur in this state
Clinical death
the point at which family members and medical personnel treat the deceased person as a corpse
– Family and friends must begin to deal with the loss
Social death
irreversible absence of brain function: no electrical activity in the brain, no response to external stimuli, no reflexes. If brain stem is intact (but not cerebral cortex), the person may continue to live.
Brain death
Whole-Brain death is most widely accepted today. Includes eight specific criteria, all of which must be met, including:
- No spontaneous responses to any stimuli
- No spontaneous respiration for at least 1 hour
- Total lack of responsiveness to even the most painful stimuli
- No eye movements, blinking, or pupil responsiveness
- No postural activity, swallowing, yawning, or vocalizing
- No motor reflexes
- A flat EEG for at least 10 minutes
- No change in any of these when tested again 24 hours later.
Death can occur at any point in the human life span:
• Miscarriages and stillborn births.
• During the birth process or in the first few days
after birth.
• Sudden infant death syndrome (S I D S), the leading cause of infant death in the United States.
• In childhood, most commonly accidents or
illness.
• Most adolescent and young adult deaths result from suicide, homicide, or motor vehicle
accidents.
• Middle-age and older adult deaths usually
result from chronic diseases
the process of patients thinking about and communicating their preferences about end-of-life care.
Advanced care planning
a legal document that reflects the patient’s advance care planning.
Living will
a document such as a living will that indicates whether life-sustaining procedures should or should not be used to prolong an individual’s life when death is imminent.
Advance directive
a more specific document that translates treatment preferences into medical orders.
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)
A good death involves:
physical comfort, support from loved ones, acceptance, and appropriate medical care
the act of painlessly ending the lives of individuals suffering from incurable diseases or severe disabilities
euthanasia
___ euthanasia is when treatment is withheld and ___ euthanasia is when death is deliberately induced
passive; active
A process that requires the patient to self-administer lethal medication and determine when and where to do this. Legal in several countries and in an increasing number of U.S. states.
Assisted suicide.