Activity Theory of Aging Essay

Activity theory of aging suggest that when elderly people interact with the community and include activities in their daily routine they are their happiest (Baird, 2011, p. 187). Ariel stated that “everyone need some form of release” (Lemmon, 1995).

The main definition of “aging successful” is said to be, “successful gaining includes three main components: low probability of disease and disease-related disability, high cognitive and physical functional capacity, and active engagement with life” (Rowe & Kahn, 433). The first component of low probability of disease-related disability does not only refer to the physical disease itself being present in the persons body, but also the severity of the risk of the factors of such disease(s). High cognitive and physical functional capacity depicts what the individual can do and not just what they do. Finally active engagement with life deals with how the individual interacts with others (interpersonal relations) and creating societal value without any return (productive activity) (Rowe & Kahn, 433). We are going to look into the lives of Roger Gentilehomme and Earl Blassingame and analyze if they are considered to be “aging well” based on variety of articles as well as personal opinion.

During the aging process, the elderly may take different approaches to aging and may apply to different theories of aging such as the disengagement theory and the activity theory. All elderly individuals will deal with aging in different ways, they may wish to stay active or they may wish to disengage themselves due to depression or they may be unable to deal with the processes of becoming older. Both of these theories of aging have completely different thoughts and views of the aging process.

on the theory and practice in adult learning and action research. This creates a kind of social space in organization that is important in the facilitation of a practice-based example. Making it

Activity of orientation: how culture views human actions, expression of self and their values through their activities. This is broken down into 3 subjects:

Routine activities theory or RAT was originally proposed by the classical school of criminological theory. Classical school theorists believe that humans are rational individuals who make decisions based on their own free will. In short, humans oftentimes make decisions after taking into consideration the risk versus reward associated with the behavior. Essentially, routine activities theory draws from Amos Hawley’s (1950) theory of human ecology. This theory explores the terrestrial aspects of human behavior in community environments. Hawley (1950) theorizes that collective life is viewed as an adaptive process. Thus, making the environment the problem with adaptation. Hawley notes that human beings deal with issues through collective action, therefore the approaches of sociology and ecology tend to merge into one another. Hawley establishes three key aspects of collective human activities: rhythm (the normal recurrence of events), tempo (the number of events in a certain period of time), and timing (the coordination and intersection of behaviors in the environment).

The activity theory is when you will carry on with any activities or interests that you will have. This is to stay physically and mentally active. You may start to disengage with some things such as leaving job or leaving family however you will start new activities that you may have an interest in. A theory is an explanation or reason for that fact.

The source of the activity theory lies on the need to stay occupied in actions persists into older life, but the connotation and the focal point alters. Older individuals have the similar requirements, desires, and motivations as with the individuals in their

Activity: A distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during the course of a project. (This is also referred to as a Task).

Most social gerontologist chose activity theory. Activity theory is widely supported opposing theory to disengagement in old age. This theory argues that actively engaged older persons have greater life satisfaction (Activity Theory 2014). Activity theory is also known as normal theory of aging, implicit theory of aging, and lay theory of aging. There is a positive relationship among an individual satisfaction and level of activity, which can raise positive views they may have of themselves (Activity Theory 2014). Active theory is usually contrasted with disengagement theory. Disengagement theory is a social

As aging is a stage of development that cannot prevented, the question of “can one’s aging be more successful than another?” is posed my many. Researchers continually consider the differences between aging successfully, and aging unsuccessfully. As researchers work to complete their studies, many find a reoccurring basis of successful aging. A basis of successful aging can be set including: physical health disease free, chronic illness free, mental health disease free, among many others. The only problem with this basis is the difference from person to person in terms of what makes aging successful. As individuals age, their mental state is a large predictor of how the person will age. A positive mental state about aging, will have a more positive effect on a person’s aging process. Many factors may influence the positivity of aging, such as negative aging stereotypes and discrimination because of older age. These negative aging stereotypes include but are not limited to: older adults are not as smart, older adults are angry all the time, older adults are bad drivers, older adults are isolated and never socialize. In adult aging and development, having a positive outlook on aging will lead to better mental and physical aging.

2. Ericson, M. (2004, April 22). Activity Diagrams: What They Are and How to Use

In this theory it is believed that activities are needed in order to reinforce the information that the student has been given. This is what reinforces the learning that has taken place in the classroom. Activities make learners think and thinking motivates learning O’Neil, Fisher, & Newbold, 2009). In this lesson the material that is presented in the classroom lecture will be reinforced during the small group sessions when the learners are given activities to do in regards to the information that they have been given.

An activity is any portion of a project which consumes time or resources and has a definable beginning and ending. For example, "laying of pipe" is an activity requiring the use of resource mainly effort. Activity may involve labour, paper work, contractual negotiations, machinery operations, etc. Commonly used terms synonymous with "activity" are "task" and "job".

1) The article from The Gerontologist supports the activity theory of aging. This states that as people age, it is very important for them to be engaged in various activities and social roles. As described in the lecture, studies have shown that those who stay involved have less signs of depression and have a lesser decline in mental health. In addition, they are considered more competent than others in their age group by the general population since they are actively participating in society. The research described in the article proved that those who had moderate or high participation in activities such as working, volunteering, and caregiving had a better psychological well-being. It is not necessarily just taking part in these, but the level in which one does so is also crucial. It appears that moderate participation is the best way to a better psychological well-being, as one does not want to be overworked, but should still be involved.