Mrs. K: Late Adulthood Stage Of Life

Mrs. K is a woman in the late adulthood stage of life. She and her husband are celebrating 37 years of marriage, have two adults sons and an adult daughter, and three grandchildren. Mrs. K recently retired within the past few years, and her husband retired less than two months ago. Mrs. K stated that her life is busy, between babysitting her grandchildren, working part time, and keeping connected to the community. She looks forward to planning trips with her husband in their retirement such as New York City and Ireland. She appears to have a close bond with her adult children and greatly enjoys when her grandchildren visit. Mrs. K retired from a successful career at a local high school where she worked with students who faced developmental

challenges, helping them obtain job skills and training and transition from high school to the workforce.
According to Erikson’s theory, a person in late adulthood is facing the crisis of ego integrity vs. despair. The major crisis in this stage of development is reflecting on the previous stages of life and experiencing satisfaction or despair. It is during this stage the person evaluates whether their life had meaning and value. At this point in human development, health challenges and limitations become more frequent due to aging, however, successful reflection leads to the accumulation of years of experience and learning which can be passed on to the next generation (Wong, Hall, Justice, & Hernandez, 2015).
According to Mrs. K, the most rewarding aspect of her life is having time to help others now that she is retired, while the most challenging items are health issues and finding the time to fit in her numerous activities for the day. According to Erikson, Mrs. K appears to handling late adulthood well. She is enthusiastic about her accomplishments in life. She has maintained close relationships with her family, remained satisfied with her career accomplishments, and remains connected to her community. She is using her free time and experience to help her children and engage in her community. Despite some minor health challenges, she remains energetic and eager to remain active in her retirement. Hommel and Kibele (2016) suggest that remaining cognitively, socially, and physically active may be essential in fighting the neurological decay associated with inactivity after retirement. Mrs. K’s close relationships, positive outlook, experience, and flexibility garnered in her previous stages of development are helping to transition into a new stage of life.