Week 4: Social healthy aging Flashcards
What are the social issues of aging?
- Role change and loss
- Changes in occupation, family and community roles
- Social contributors
Social contributors that cause issues with aging
- Loneliness
- Inability to manage daily activities
- Difficulty coping
- Frustration w medical problems
- Increased meds
- Social isolation
- Feeling inadequate
- Boredom
- Financial stress
The socioemotional selectivity theory
- Explains the progression of social networks while aging
- Older adults have greater emotional response
- Older adults have fewer social partners but more meaningful interactions with people they care about most
Why do older adults have less social connections?
- See themselves as having less time to waste and more risk-adverse
- Don’t want to involve themselves in painful social interactions (ex. death of a friend)
- More vast knowledge so they don’t need to seek more knowledge from others
The disengagement theory
With aging there is a mutual withdrawal or disengagement btwn aging person and their social system
- Older adults decrease activity levels and interact less
- At same time, society frees older adults from employment and families responsibilities
Is the disengagement theory a good thing?
Not always
Can make older adults feel lonely if the withdrawal doesn’t happen at the same time
What is loneliness defined as?
A state of solitude or being alone
The perception of being alone and isolated (not actually the number of people around you)
**reported to be more dangerous to health than smoking
What can loneliness lead to?
- Suicidal ideation
- Para-suicide (attempt)
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Dementia
- Neg effects on immune system
- Neg effects of cardio-vascular system
- Increased risk of hospitalization
- Increased risk of LTC facility placement
Types of loneliness
- Developmental loneliness
- Internal loneliness
- Situational loneliness
Developmental loneliness
Lack of balance btwn individualism (understanding who you are) and the innate desire to relate to others
Internal loneliness
The perception of being alone
Associated with low self-esteem and worth
Situational loneliness
Direct effect of the environment on self perceived loneliness
ex. poverty, trauma, internal or relationship conflict
**usually lasts as long as the situation
Interventions for loneliness
- Activity involvement
- Volunteer roles
- Developing and keeping quality relationships **most imp
- Pharmacological management of physical ailments
- Staying in contact with family and friends
What is social isolation defined as?
A state in which the individual lacks a sense of belonging socially, lacks engagement with others, has a minimal number of social contacts and are deficient in fulfilling and quality relationships
How prevalent is social isolation?
43% in community dwelling older adults
What health effects does social isolation lead to?
- Increased risk for all-cause mortality
- Dementia
- Increased risk for re-hospitalization
- Increased number of falls
What three factors should patient care efforts be focused on assessing and improving?
- Physical well-being
- Mental well-being
- Social well-being
Impacts of social isolation
- Health behaviour
- Psychological
- Physiological
- Other outcomes
Health behaviour impacts
Behaviours of older adults
Smoking, drinking, sedentary behaviour, poor nutrition
Psychological impacts
Cognitive decline, dementia, Alzheimer’s
Depression and death from suicide
Physiological impacts
Increased risk for getting a disease such as coronary heart disease or a stroke and increased risk of dying from them
More likely to develop the common cold or flu (immune system worsens)
Other outcomes resulting from social isolation
Re-hospitalization
Institutionalized
Hospitalization from an injury
Retirement and social aging
Retirement and mental health have been shown to be both positively and negatively associated with healthy aging
Effect of involuntary retirement
Increases the possibility of loneliness, isolation and mental disorders
**psychiatric illness has been linked to 20% of early retirements
Family and friends and social aging
Older adults rely more heavily on family and friends for imp matters
Intimate, confiding relationships are very valuable to a person’s wellbeing and mental health in old age
Being socially involved and depended on by others is imp for successful aging (ex. taking care of grandchildren)
Marriage and social aging
Normal bereavement in older adults does not produce a loss of self-esteem or inappropriate guilt (more accustomed to the concept of death)
Separation from spouse
When older adults are separated from their spouse (ex. when one goes into home), more likely to have neg health effects
How do widows respond and cope with loss of their spouse?
1/2 of new widows cope with relatively low levels of distress
- More at peace
Violence and seniors
1/3 of seniors were victimized by a family member
Includes physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse
**family violence against seniors is increasing
Elder abuse in females
More commonly by family members
Elder abuse in males
More commonly by non family members
Elder abuse urban areas vs rural areas
More prevalent in rural areas
How does social media and technology improve healthy aging?
- Maintaining social relationships and bridging generational gaps
- Enjoyment and fun
- Social and medical support
- Personal empowerment
- Advocacy
Barriers to social media use by older adults
- Lack of instructions/knowledge
- Lack of confidence
- Financial
- Health abilities
- Trust
Who came up with the disengagement theory?
Cumming and Henry 1961
