Selected Topics Paper: Aging
Aging affects every individual and is inevitable, despite our valiant attempts to prevent it. The aging process beings the moment of conception however some can argue it begins at birth. The process of aging is heavily impacted by health, genetics and environmental factors. As people age we have to become accustom to the changes associated with life. The question becomes what changes happen and how? Although we cannot predict what will happen to us we can work to prevent specific things from happening by living healthier lives.
Projected Trends of the US Population
Aging Trends. Older women outnumber older men at 24.3 million older women to 18.8 million older men (Administration on Aging, 2010). Obviously each generation of elderly individuals benefits from the educational benefits and medical advances accrued during their lifetime (Smart. 2012). In the year 2000, individuals who were age 65 and older represented 12.4% of the U.S. population; this same segment will be 19% of the population by 2030 (Administration on Aging, 2010).
Gender identity becomes more androgynous in midlife as men and women become more like each other (Smart, 2012). Meaning the general roles begin to fade to grey, women are no longer responsible for taking care of the home and children and men are not responsible for being the sole providers of income.
Disability Trends. Advancements in medical science, technology, education, public health, and public policy, have placed the United States and other developed countries at the forefront of a new demographic trend—aging with a disability acquired before age 65—which is uniting the aging and disability populations (Washko, Campbell & Tilly, 2012). By 2050, it is anticipat...
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...tions in the number of synaptic spines and functional synapses contribute to annual reductions of as much as 0.5% to 1.0% in cortical thickness (the cortex is the outermost layer of the brain) and sub-cortical volume in some regions of the brain (Fjell & Walhovd, 2010). Working memory declines in both speed and function, so they forget names, locations of important objects, appointments and medication schedules (Smart, 2012). Both physical fitness and exercise in the form of stimulation among multiple channels aid in slowing cognitive decline and could potentially provide success to individuals (Whitbourne & Whitbourne, 2010). However, Horn and Cattell found that memory, crystallized intelligence, and fluid knowledge all decreased after age of 70 despite level of education, physical activeness and the number and variety of stimulating experiences (Smart, 2012).
Jacobsen, L. A., Kent, M., Lee, M., & Mather, M. (2001). America's aging population. Population Bulletin, 66(1).
During late adulthood, which begins around 65, many changes will take place. Death, sickness, and aging are some of the things you go through. Everyone is affected at some point. Individuals deal with these changes differently. Gerontology is the science that deals with the aging process. Vision can show impairment as people age. One of the changes in vision is the loss of accommodation of the lens. Most people 65 and older have hardened eye lens and have lost elasticity if the lens. Cataracts can form and vision becomes cloudy and is significantly impaired. Glaucoma is a serious condition that causes pressure to increase within the eye and it can result in blindness. Often hearing decreases with age. The hair cells in the Corti (inner ear) can cause a decrease in hearing frequencies. The ossicles and eardrum have a decrease in the transmittance of mechanical sound waves. Due to aging many elderly people have hearing impairment. Loss of appetite from connective tissue cells replacing taste buds. Skin can become thin, dry, and inelastic as it ages and the skin can fold and wrinkle from sagging.
I can tell you this, as I am quickly approaching my 70th year, like everything else in life, getting older is exactly what we tell ourselves it is, no more and no less. If we buy into the cultural stereotype of aging, then it probably means all of the above and we will march right to the rocking chair of life, and promptly fall asleep.
The existing U.S. population is over 315 million and rising. In the year 2030, 72 million Americans will be 65 or older, a 50 percent change in age demographics since the year 2000. The change is primarily due to the aging baby boomers, who were born at the end of World War II. Americans are living longer than ever befo...
After spending about a year volunteering at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and completing two field placements at local hospitals, I’ve found that my best work is done with the elderly population. These experiences have molded my personal goal to crusade for the civil rights of individuals with disabilities, especially those in the older generation. Additionally, I now have a better understanding of treatments and services that are provided to individuals with disabilities. Many patients at these hospitals were admitted due to an injury or life-threatening illness. There are millions of Americans with disabilities, yet feelings of helplessness, vulnerability, and depression are often evident, as if having a disability isn’t a common occurrence. In 2005, I was in a car accident, and it broke my pelvis, fractured my C1 vertebra and required emergency surgery to remove my spleen. I was unable to sit up or get out of bed for about 2 months and was re...
Old age is not a popular subject in our culture. We don't like to think about the prospect of growing old, so we put it out of our minds. Consequently, when it happens to us or a family member, we have no idea of what to expect. Many factors are involved in the aging process. Aging is an extremely complex process that affects all of us physically, socially and psychologically. It is important that we understand how aging affects us as individuals. As the old adage saus, “Take The Bull By The Horns” means we must do everything in our power to slow down the aging process. By slowing down the aging process, we are extending our life expectancy.
Globally, there are about a billion people living with disability. As the years advance, the prevalence of disability is bound to rise. This will be as a result of various factors such as ageing. As people age the risk of acquiring chronic health conditions such as diabetes, osteoporosis, mental health disorders, cancer and cardiovascular disease rises. Therefore, it is extremely vital for people to understand disability and what it entails.
America’s view of aging is of quintessential of successful aging. As discussed in class, successful aging is setting goals of attaining youthfulness. (Aldwin & Gilmer) The younger one looks and, more importantly feels, the better one is aging. Aldwin and Gilmer state there is only one way to age successfully and it must be without illness. Maintaining peak performance across mental, cognitive, physical, and emotional health and wellbeing encompasses a holistic approach to caring for ones-self with age. Not allowing for chronic illness or age related limiting factors, successful aging requires peak performance. Actively participating in giving back to the community in which one lives is a vital component to theories of successful aging. Theories
Upon preparation for another exciting semester, I have reflected upon application of an aging theory to help guide the clinical experience.
Aging can affect an individual in so many ways. Physical changes may be things such as wrinkles, but aging can go way beyond that if you do not take care of your health. For example,while delivering food for meals on wheels for my service learning I saw that aging can affect your ability to walk, cook, and clean. Majority of the people I delivered to were bound to a wheelchair or walker. One of the most heartbreaking people I
Future plans in addressing the ageing issues are dependent on how much a department or a person understands the demographic forecasts. In an example, demographics predict an increased number of ageing females more than males. For this reason, plans to offer help should be directed more on women needs with an accurate margin difference. Demographics also allows for understanding of the size of social plans required for the ageing population in a specific period of time. For instance, the government by be required to increase the size of medical care services offered to older adults by 2050 based on the demogra...
Ageing is an inevitable developmental phenomenon bringing along a number of changes in the physical, psychological, hormonal and the social conditions. Ageing is defined in terms of the biology as “the regular changes that occur in mature genetically representative organism living under reprehensive environmental conditions as they advance in chronological age.”
Healthy Aging is the process of achieving optimal levels of physical, mental and social status. Healthy aging begins at early stages of a person's life. Bad choices such as smoking or chewing tobacco, excessively drink, or abusing prescription and illegal drugs are all examples of things a young person can begin that will prevent healthy aging. Healthy aging requires three key things to be present; An adequately balanced diet, exercise of both the body and mind, and a time set aside to relax and stop stressing about life. Innovations such as organ transplantation, antibiotics, and vaccines have extended the average life by decades. Longer lifespans mean that the US has a much larger geriatric population than in decades past. Heart disease has
Aging is a progression of organic changes that take after a characteristic movement from birth through development to seniority and passing. For the vast majority, propelling age is described by turning gray or diminishing hair, loss of stature, wrinkling of the skin, and diminished solid quality. Still, a dynamic way of life, including both practice and sound nourishment, can contribute enormously to accomplishing a long and gainful life. Hereditary qualities (acquired physical attributes) likewise seems to assume a part during the time spent maturing and demise. Individuals whose parents or grandparents live to maturity appear to have a superior shot of living long lives themselves. Each species has an alternate typical life range. The purpose
The assigned readings and class forums all discus different theories on aging. The authors of the text delve into the different theories while the class discussions give insight into why those theories may be inaccurate. This is why we need to develop an account on aging that is more general and not limited to a particular time and place.