Week9 Old age, Death, and Bereavement

Question 1

Future and old people?

Answer 1

-aged over 65 will
increase from around 15 per cent today to around 25 per cent by the middle
of this century

• Control of infectious diseases means that there is lower burden of disease

• means a greater
  proportion of medical consultations and expenditure will be concentrated on
  older people

Question 2

Society and views on old people?

Answer 2

• Stereotypes of the elderly are often contradictory.

• On the one hand elderly people as sages with lifetime knowledge’s and
experience and on the other hand they are seen as senile and demented.

• Society in general has negative view of aging as it is seen as the loss of
youth and a decline of physical, cognitive and social functioning.

Question 3

(Intellectual functioning)

• Crystalline Intelligence
• Fluid Intelligence

Answer 3

• Crystalline Intelligence: which reflects experience and long term memory
• Fluid Intelligence: that reflects processing, speed and short term memory

Question 4

(Intellectual functioning)

• Crystalline Intelligence
• Fluid Intelligence

Answer 4

• Crystalline Intelligence: which reflects experience and long term memory
• Fluid Intelligence: that reflects processing, speed and short term memory

Question 5

-Crystalline Intelligence
-Fluid Intelligence
and their correlation

Answer 5

• In fluid Intelligence tests (IQ) suggests that many older people are mentally
disadvantaged.

• Often their behaviour does not reflect this description.

This is because their crystalline intelligence compensate for decline in their fluid intelligence.

Question 6

Negative stereotypes for old people:

Answer 6

• physically and psychologically frail,
• cognitively impaired and
• that they have diminished social engagements.

Question 7

What should a doctor do Duringa consultation with elderly people who have clear decline of fluid
memory

Answer 7

• allow more time for information to be considered and processed before asking further questions.
• It is important not to fill the gaps with additional questions as this might lead to a communication breakdown.

Question 8

Depression and old age

causes?

Answer 8

• Depression is more prevalent in older age and as in other ages this is more
prevalent in women than in men.

• Depression tend to be caused by:
• functional disability,
• cognitive impairment and
• social deprivation.
• Role loss
• Negative life events
• Death and Bereavement

Question 9

Grief

Answer 9

is a normal, natural emotional reaction to loss.
Complex - Incorporates psychological (cognitive, social, behavioural) and physical (physiological, somatic) responses. This is the personal process of how we feel

Question 10

Mourning

Answer 10

is the process of adaptation to loss, with particular reference to the cultural and social rituals and expectations. Includes the public display of grief and social expression. May interact with the individual grief response.
(Raphael, 1983).

Question 11

Acute grief response

may last around 6 weeks or so –individuals differ

Answer 11

• Disbelief/ shock/ numbness/yearning
• Agitation/anger/hostility/irritability
• Crying, tearful, sadness
• Disrupted sleep
• Aimless activity / inactivity
• Illusions or hallucinations
• Preoccupation with images of the lost person

Question 12

Longer term grief response

May last 3 -12 months plus – individuals vary

Answer 12

• Social withdrawal
• Sleep disturbance
• Restlessness or anxiety
• Decreased concentration
• Decreased or increased food intake
• Reduced libido
• Depressed mood

Question 13

Five stages of grief

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Answer 13

• Denial, numbness, disbelief, isolation
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression, despair
• Acceptance

“Not linear
Stages may/will repeat”

Question 14

Diffirecnce between traditional greif Theories and newer models

Answer 14

• Traditional grief theories have focused on ‘letting go’. Newer grief theories recognize the frequently adaptive role of maintaining a continuing bond with the deceased. Shift from severing to maintaining bonds

• The focus on facilitating grief is now on how to change connections
to hold the relationship in a new perspective, rather than on how to separate.
• Expanding focus on cognition and meaning in addition to emotion
(post traumatic growth)
• Challenges concept of an endpoint in grieving

Question 15

The health of people who are bereaved may be compromised in several ways:

Answer 15

• They are more likely to suffer mental illness
• They are more likely to suffer physical illness

• They have higher rates of medication use, disability
and hospitalisation.

• They are more likely to die