My topic of choice is life satisfaction of those over the age of eighty-five. What I want to study is the life satisfaction of those who have lived far beyond most their own family members. The reason why I choose this topic is from a personal experience, from knowing a sweet elderly woman who is ninety-six yrs. old. The conversations I have had with her about her life, inspired me to dig deeper into what causes people to age well or to not age well. There is something to admire in elderly that have not only lived a very long time, but also lived out their years in happiness and satisfaction. In one study, they found that anxiety and depression among centenarians was almost non-existent, and said to have a high quality of life (Richmond, Law …show more content…
The articles used in this paper were found on the McKee library databases like EBSCO, JSTOR and Digital Commons Network. These articles were all peer reviewed and searched under keywords such as life satisfaction, centenarian, etc.
Relationships
Life satisfaction is influenced by connections with family and friends. Contact with the outside, world whether it is with family, friends, or neighbors can be important for the elderly. A research study examined physical, mental, and cognitive functions of those who have reached over the age of eighty-five found that 59% had regular contact with friends, 62% had contact with neighbors and 72% had contact with families. In the same sample of participants, anxiety and depression was mostly non-existent and reported to have a high quality of life, despite the physical limitations of aging. Most of the participants in the study had fair to good scores of self-related health, lower scores for self-sufficiency (Richmond, Law & Kay-Lambkin, 2011). The social relationships scored well, with many having of the participants have a positive outlook about living to an old age of hundred. The findings found that even with poorer functional ability, these centenarians were well adjusted to loss of function of
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Ardahan and Mart (2013) studied how outdoor activities correlate with aging. They found women who participant in outdoor activities, have a high monthly income, are married, have an occupation, will have higher life satisfaction. Those who are men, single, older, with no outdoor activities have a lower life satisfaction. Even though many of these outdoor activities require a younger age, those that did participate in outdoor activities had a higher life satisfaction (pg. 900). There were a few gaps and weaknesses in the literature found while researching this topic. One gap that was found was the daily habits of those who had a higher life satisfaction. The studies often did not include the activities of daily living of these individuals, which could hint to the health habits that might contribute the longevity. A weakness that some the research had been how subjective the data that was collected. Many of these studies just sent out surveys and had little interaction with the participants of the study. There was no way to see measure the accuracy of the surveys sent out to the
Aging and old age for a long time presented as dominated by negative traits and states such as sickness, depression and isolation. The aging process is not simply senescence most people over the age of 65 are not Senile, bedridden, isolated, or suicidal (Aldwin & Levenson, 1994). This change in perspective led the investigation of the other side of the coin. Ageing is seen as health, maturity and personal Royal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generatively, coping and acceptance of age-related constraints (Birren & Fisher, 1995). Psychological und...
This unit explored desire satisfactionism, a term that generally speaks for itself. Though it is an umbrella term because there are different types. There is local desire satisfactionism, which is the idea that if desires are satisfied, one is happy. Then there is whole life satisfactionism. It means that to be happy is to have one desire satisfied. This is the overarching desire that your most important desires be satisfied. It is prioritized assessment of one’s life as a whole. To compare local desire satisfactionism with whole life satisfactionism would be like comparing quality and quantity from a hedonist perspective. It is similar in regard to desire satisfactionism, two different types. Several individuals discuss whole life satisfactionism
An interview was arranged with an older adult to discuss issues related to aging. The interview was designed to gain appreciation and understanding of an older adult. One theory of aging came into mind when I thought about this topic. Erik Erikson Life-Course and Personality Development theory, “Erikson described the task of old age as balancing the search for integrity and wholeness with a sense of despair.” NS is the older adult that I conducted the interview with. I’ve decided to pick NS to interview because she is very positive about life and her age. Everything that I have come across about aging is negative such as depression, isolation, and illness.
Healthy ageing impacts on the health system as more and more aged people are more likely to be active and healthy nowadays with an improved quality of life through various attributes such as physical and mental stimulation, along with the adoption of good behaviours, such as a healthy/balanced diet, exercise, regular health checks and having hobbies, which each help to improve their quality of life. Ultimately, healthy ageing impacts on the health-care system through adopted behaviours and values chosen – As more aged people are interacting regularly within social groups, sporting groups and many others, they are able to freely interact with others, along with participating within certain activities, which help to physically and mentally stimulate them. Through these actions, it reduces the risk of illness and disease, working to improve the physical and mental health of the aged as they move through the ageing process. It is impacting on the health system due to the fact that, as the aged become more competent, they are less likely to access certain services and facilities due to their physical and mental state. There will be fewer cases of certain illnesses and diseases amongst the aged population if individuals are more productive in their lives. If the aged are more independent,
...he final questions were used for comparison purposes with Vaillant’s longitudinal studies on personality of individuals in their 50’s and their life in their mid 70’s. “When individuals at 50 years of age were not heavy smokers, did not abuse alcohol, had a stable marriage, exercised, maintained a normal weight, and had good coping skills, they were more likely to be alive and happy at 75 to 80 years of age” (Santrock, 2013, p. 519). Neither respondent smoked, each drank less than 2 alcoholic beverages per week, they were in a stable marriage, only the male was marginally overweight, and they both had good coping skills. Based on their response and Vaillant’s study it is expected that they would fall into the “happy-well” category when they were 75 to 80 years of age.
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,
The article “What is Successful Aging”, thoroughly explained the author’s thoughts on what aging successfully actually means. I think it is extremely vital to try our best to be content with our lives and what we have done at a later age. Integrity versus despair, as we learned in class kept coming to mind while reading the article. It is important that when one reaches this age he or she doesn’t feel like there is more to look back on than to look forward to. I agreed with the author’s views on self-efficacy and different opportunities in aging successfully.
This reflection paper is based on the life history interview conducted on me and a 78-year-old woman who is soon going to celebrate her 79th birthday on Sep 21st. I would call her with a fictitious name “Smita” in the entire paper to maintain and protect her privacy. The interview was about our life. It was divided into six major life categories: childhood, adulthood, identity, the present, aging, and life lessons. Having an opportunity to interview a 78-year-old woman and writing this reflective paper about the life history and experiences had made me realize that I have a lot to learn about the stages of human life. Every individual lives are different and it varies tremendously. As an interviewee my goal was to collect the details of life, different stories, and experiences that makes our life unique from the rest of the people.
Wald, Rhoada. "Studies on Aging for the Older Adult." LLI Review 2.(2007): 99-104. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.
Active ageing does not stop when elderly people retire, as they can remain active through their families, peers and communities. Active ageing aims to allow elderly people to realise and bring awareness to their own psychological, physical and mental well-being. As the goal of active ageing is the autonomy and independence of elderly people (Alexandre, Cordeiro, & Ramos, 2009). Ageing is a continuing life cycle, it is an ongoing developmental event that brings about certain changes in one’s own psychological and physical state. It is a time in one's own life where an elderly individual reminisces and reflects, basks and lives on previous accomplishments and begins to finish his life cycle.
Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging.
“Because I am female I am expected to aspire to marriage, I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that, Marriage is the most important”. This is a series of lyrics from Beyoncé’s song Flawless. This quote is important because I feel this pressure when I am supposed to talk about ‘a rich and fulfilling life’. I almost feel obligated to mention ‘a family’ as one of my requirements to a rich and fulfilling life. As a woman, society expects me to mention children and a husband to complete my life. However, I don 't want to take the traditional route. To me, a rich and fulfilling life can mean different things. Important values to me revolve around my goals and dreams in life. I think a rich and fulfilling life to me includes
Tepper, L. M., & Cassidy, T. M. (2004). Multidisciplinary perspectives on aging. New York: Springer Pub. Co.
Aging is a fact of life. As the years progress, the amount of aging individuals in the United States has been projected to increase considerably. In fact, Wiener and Tilly (2002) expressed that, the number of aging individuals is estimated to increase by 135% between 2000 and 2050. Moreover, the number of aging minorities is expected to increase as well. By the turn of the next midcentury, they are projected to increase by 500% (Scharlach, Fuller-Thomson & Kramer 2002). With this substantial growth, I set out to uncover the underlying reasons to why the quality and longevity of life for those of the aging minority differ in comparison to their counterparts. Through critical analysis, theoretical perspectives, I intend to discover the societal views, strengths and differences that exists among minorities.
Happiness, what is it, and why do we strive to achieve it so persistently? Happiness in some points of view is portrayed as the state that is derived from self-awareness of a benefiting action or moment taking place. What of the moments that are not beneficial? Can a person still find moments of happiness and success in discord, a little glimmer of light shining from the deep recesses of our own consciousness? Plucking it from a mere moment, achieved from money, or is it so much more, happiness is the precipice that all strive to gain to better perceive their success. As a person lives, they are in a constant struggle to be happy. For instance, even the United States Constitution makes reference to the idea that every person has the inalienable right to pursue happiness. This was the resulting outcome of the enlightenment from France, spilling out into the rest of the world from 1650 through 1800. This revolutionized the idea that every single person has the inalienable right to happiness or in different views the right to succeed. As to how one peruses or conjures their happiness that is an entirely different concept and completely up to their preferred preference, but it is something that a person needs to find on their own for true success.