I am responding to question number 3. As people start to grow older many aspects of their lives change. As I learned in previous chapters, elderly people have many diseases to worry about. They also might have some trouble doing tasks that they once could do easily by themselves, and now may need help with. It is hard to give up this independence they once had. The elderly population are also dealing with death of friends and loved ones along with new challenges every day. This where informal social supports and other social supports come in. Informal social supports are crucial to the well-being of older adults because they provide a connection to others. They can also be very helpful throughout life and especially as we get older. The book …show more content…
One benefit of having strong social support is, as I mentioned before, having people there for you in tough situations, whatever it may be. The book talked about how elders who have a good social support system show “improved health status, increased moral and self-confidence, reduced depression and anxiety; reduced risk of disability and even death,” among other benefits listed. (Hooyman, Kawamoto, Kiyak. Aging Matters: An Introduction to Social Gerontology) Being able to reduce depression and anxiety just by having a strong support system is great because many …show more content…
This might be because “older adults experience a decline in friendship and other informal relationships with age.” (Hooyman, Kawamoto, Kiyak. Aging Matters: An Introduction to Social Gerontology) The elderly have more of a change in the make-up of their support network, and they tend to have less interaction with the younger generation or couples. The roles of the people in their network might change as well. An example of this that the book briefly stated is when your grandchildren get older, the elderly person may ask their grandchild to give them a ride places or help them with other things around the house. The change might also be because people that might have been part of their support system may have died or moved away. Also, they can gain new members of support if their children have children. Another way they could gain new support is if they make new friends. “Some elders actually expand and diversify their networks by helping others through clubs, religious institutions, or volunteering…” (Hooyman, Kawamoto, Kiyak. Aging Matters: An Introduction to Social Gerontology) There are many ways for elders to make new connections even though they may be losing some. I also learned that elders like to give back to people within their social networks that help them, which I now notice in my own
However, some variation and possible novelty surfaced in this period of the lifespan. According to (Clark, Ouellette, Powell, & Milberg, 1987), in late adulthood, social interactions are more about communal orientation. Meaning that in this stage, friendships are deeply about the welfare of friends, concerns for friend’s well-being, and support, which portrayed this stage mainly about high quality relations. In his research, Field (1999) reported that late adults’ deep care for friend’s well-being is understandable for the fact that, older adults are in the stage where health issues often emerge, therefore, a sense of vulnerability arised. However, normative life events that retained social interactions in middle adulthood decrease because they are most likely release from family restraint, workforce responsibility and past personal obligations (Field,
Gerontology provides different perspectives of the aging process and the evidence base from which health and social care practice with the older population is founded. Older people are affected differently by the ageing process. The disengagement theory provides a greater insight into why some older people withdraw from the society. According to the disengagement theory perspective, successful ageing is best achieved through abandoning social roles and relationships and by the individual reducing both activities and involvement. Disengaging from social activities and involvement put the older person at risk of being socially excluded. Social exclusion affects older people, although the risk increases with
Their findings indicate that socially isolated seniors seem to have higher ties to community agencies as indicating their higher utilization of services in general. This association of social isolation with higher service usage confirms the theory that isolated individuals use more services as a substitute for social ties” (Coulton and Frost, 1982 p. 336). In another work, Choi (1994) examined the effect of family support on social service use. In his study seniors were divided into three groups; those who lived with children, those whose children lived apart and those who were childless. The study confirmed the importance of children as informal care providers to those seniors with the most functional and physical problems. It also noted the role of family members as enablers to service
Aging is universal and it is a process that everyone has to go through. The only difference is that everyone goes through this process at their own pace influenced by factors that will be discussed later on in this paper. When we think about factors that have an influence on older adults and how their life may be affected, we must consider the different social institutions while analyzing influences from social factors, cultural factors, and personal values. Abuse to older adults, stereotyping and informal care and technological advancements that affect older adults are the three topics that will be discussed in this reflection. Furthermore, will connect the three topics I have chosen to the knowledge that I have gained from my interaction
According to the U.S. census bureau older adults are an important and rapidly growing segment of the United States’ population. There are about 40 million older adults aged 65 and older residing in Unites States and it is projected to be more than double by 2050(Population Reference Bureau, 2015). This projection is due to advancement in health care facilities and better education (Population Reference Bureau, 2015). As people age they face various physical, psychological and social roles changes which affects their quality of life.
At the stage elderly people don't involve in as much interaction with others. They do enjoy being around family and friends for the support and love. They are more interested in being around individuals who can help to enhance their emotional state. They are not really interested in going out much and moving around a lot. Many in the late adulthood have retired and become committed to younger ones in their families. Some older people still may have to work to support themselves financially.
Residents on wing 2 East at Leisure world Brampton, Wood was the target community of interest that was assessed. My aggregate are elderly resident age 80 – 90 years living with social isolation in wing 2 East at Leisure World long term care center, Brampton, Wood. The assessment was focused on the causes of social isolation; observed among the resident during windshield survey and interview with key informants. Social isolation and loneliness are described as feelings that are often experience by Older adults (Lucie,Gavin, Gosselin &Laforest 2009).
Older adults are a very knowledgeable population and have had a lot of life experiences. As people age, things start to change physically, mentally, and socially. It’s important to understand the process of aging, so that older adults can be taken care of properly. I interviewed P.R. who is a 71-year-old male that lives alone in his home. P.R. is a retired coal miner, and is currently living off his social security and savings. He lives close to both his daughter and son, who frequently help him out with things that are needed. P.R. was able to give me a lot of insight about specific challenges that he has experienced in his life that is associated with aging. I will be discussing challenges that P.R experienced physically, mentally,
Active ageing does not stop when elderly people retire as they can remain active through their families, peers and communities. Active ageing aims allows elderly people to realise and bring awareness to their own psychological, physical and mental well-being as the goal active ageing is the autonomy and independence of elderly people (Alexandre, Cordeiro, & Ramos, 2009).
America is a country where everyone is free to live however they like, but it is possible for some people to live a happy life, if no one is around to take care of them. Nearly three hundred million people reside in the America, and out of those three hundred million populations, senior citizens make a 12 percent of the entire population. A senior citizen is commonly known as a person who is over the age of 65 and living on retirement, or known as social security benefits (Census Bureau). Ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt implied the act of Social Security in 1935, seniors are regularly provided a financial help, but seniors, along with financial help, seeks also accompany of someone who can look after them. Because of constantly growing needs of senior citizens, government as well as many non-profit organizations is working on helping seniors. Therefore I decided to research on this particular issue in my community, and I found that 64.5% of seniors are living alone in metropolitan area of Atlanta.
This essay will first look at the benefits of social support among individuals living in rural areas and how social support has a positive effect on their mental health, improved suicide rate and with new mothers in isolated areas. The essay then looks at social support in relation to the elderly and its effect on cognitive decline, better eating habits and nutrient intake as well as an increase in life expectancy. The next paragraph looks at the positive effect of social support with women w...
“Social interaction refers to any relationship between two or more individuals. It is the result of the environment where this relationship takes place and it has an impact on people’s behavior.” (Holster, 2016) Social interaction exists everywhere in the world. And with the advanced technology, the ways we interact with others are changing rapidly.
A social support system is a network of family members, friends and different types of organizations a person belongs to. These social support systems can be tied to the individual based on the persons age, gender, relationships, number of years known and have close ties to the geographical proximity one lives in. These support networks provide emotional and instrumental support. Some of the benefits of these networks include emotional support which include a sense of belonging, increased feelings of self-worth and feelings of security. Some of these social support networks provide instrumental support which include provided financial assistance, provide goods or services or even provide information and guidance. Instrumental support helps
Aged care is becoming such a huge part of our health system and society in general. It is so important that we come to an understanding on not only how it affects the community and society that we live in but the requirements that need to be met in order to care for older adults. Throughout this paper, we will discuss active ageing and the cultural, physical, economic and social well-being of older adults, as well as the affect that community as on the older population and visa-vasa. Accompanying this essay is a flyer that well be used to define active ageing, why it is important to individuals and the community. It is important to understand what active ageing is and that health is measured by more than just physical
The very aim of social gerontology since its beginning as a discipline has been to understand and improve the lives of older adults, and to improve the problems of aging. Hence, social gerontologists are interested in the influence of cultural, political, economic and social forces and conditions on the processes of aging. Moreover, it deals with the statuses and well-being of older people. Social gerontology instigates the ways in which the older population and the diversity of the aging experience influence and are influenced by social organization, social system and social structures (N, M. Putney, &etal, 2005; Onyenemezu,