Aging And Quality Of Life: Article Analysis

The article dated 09.06.2016 by, Greater Good Science Center was an interesting article that talks about aging and how some people have negative attitudes towards the concept of getting older. There are many people that fear getting older because they feel that old age will make them less popular and looked upon as an old person. They feel that young people will toss them aside and forget about them. Some even feel that their own families will push them away and will not have time to spend with them because their hearing gets bad or their walking gets slower and many other reason but they feel that there is a lack of respect for older people these days as well. Many people do not respect nor treat

Aging is very complex and highly individualized process which begins at conception and end with death. Variables such as physical or cognitive impairments, socioeconomic aspect, cultural values, and beliefs make an aging process unique to each individual. I interviewed an elderly woman using a set of guided questionnaires on the topic to further explore her aging experience. For the purpose of this assignment, I will refer to the client interviewed as a D.L., a changed name for a reason of privacy and confidentiality. During the interview, we explored a D.L. strategy to stay healthy, significant accomplishments of her life, hobbies and activities, retirement, and finally the goals for the future.

Largest among the growing populations is the age group 65 and older. This course required us to complete Dr. Woolf’s myths of aging quiz. This quiz has 25 questions all about aging issues. In our textbook, “Adult Development and Aging,” Cavanaugh and Blanchard-Fields (2011) state, “Everyone does not grow old in the same way. Whereas most people tend to show usual patterns of aging that reflect the typical, or normative, changes with age, other people show highly successful aging in which few signs of change occur” (p. 16). An analysis of Dr. Woolf’s myths of aging quiz will show several different areas to consider in regards to the

Admittedly, the older adults witnessed in the videos is yet captivating. The healthy take charge, life is not over yet attitude is not often seen or even advertised. The images seen were visions of strength, endurance, and resilience. It was obvious they did not adopt myths regarding aging as they rebelled against it. It was as if their images of aging were re-wired making new connections with their environment and all that was in it. The display of happiness through engagement, pleasure, and meaning was achieved as we saw a mixture of satisfaction. Truly they made aging a positive experience. Initiatives were introduced to give the older adults more choices, the community support was strong and holistic alternatives were made available centered on the current

Generally, modern society reinforces negative perceptions of the process of aging, and it is often portrayed in society as being a lonely and depressing experience. These perceptions are important because elderly individuals that have a positive outlook on aging have been linked to better health and psychological well-being. This study explores the impact of negative and positive perceptions of aging, held by society, and how they influence aging individuals.

We live in a culture who is highly against ageing and in result, “we ultimately oppress ourselves: Either we try to avoid the aging process or we lose self-esteem because of the selves we feel we are becoming” (Calasanti, 2005). With knowledge and understanding of how these elder people embody sterotypes about ageing we can start to diminish these sterotypes and as a society. Also, if we learn about the effect of steotypes we can help stop reinforcing them and bring ourselves to only think of the positive thoughts of aging so we, can try to age more happily. Studtying this subject can also help those who work with elderly individuals and give them the knowledge to understand them and care for them. Further studies should be done on if one can change there perceptions on againg and if it can reverse the advesr effects they had prior. If one can learn to internalize only the posotove sterotypes of aging can it incresase there health, even after they have suffered from effect of negatives

The AAL concerns and developments are in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) active ageing framework [7]. Active ageing emphasizes an enabling positive thinking. While a disabling perspective leads to isolation and dependence and increases the needs of older people, an enabling view focuses on maintaining the older adult’s functions and expanding their participation in all aspects of the society.

Regardless, the younger and older groups thus develop associations that characterize the elderly with negative portrayals that damage the opinions of themselves as well as being seen by others as a class of lesser individuals in society, causing serious detriment to their ideas of worth in society and providing a vicious and inescapable cycle that punishes someone for simply living to being older than the rest of society. Furthermore, there is a lack of general research into the actual status and opinions on aging in social psychology. This lack of data is a problem in the sense that the field is largely ignored and the mental and social health of these individuals who belong to this older group is largely unknown as very little is done in research of this group due to their perceived social irrelevance. General apathy towards the well-being of these more elderly individuals who are considered too old and without significantly good quality lives are also subject to this perceived social irrelevancy as they are deemed unworthy of physical resources that would improve their lives as certain organizations and individuals believe that said resources would be better spent on those individuals who possess the “good” and “productive” kind of

With aging there comes many issues that you might have to face, but there are also many benefits when you get to that point as well. Benefits that come with aging might include, you remembering the good things and forgetting the bad, you’re able to have less negativity in your life, and have a wiser perspective of life. With good things, there are also some not so good things such as social and emotional issues. Social issues that could develop include loneliness from losing a spouse, or long term friend, difficulty in not being as independent as you once was, and feeling as if you’re not as important to your children anymore. Emotional issues can include being alone, or having medical issues that could cause depression. Depression can impact

As we mentioned in class, there is a stigmatized view of aging. This article reflected what we mentioned in class about cognitive aging. Deterioration of the brain is not always seen in normal aging. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that older adults enjoyed great levels of affective well-being and emotional stability. Through this article, I confirmed a positive view of life events can help us to maintain a healthy brain. Moreover, avoiding negative thoughts or replacing it with positive ones can lead us to develop a healthy well-being. It is sad to learn that is always with age that we gain the wisdom to focus more on positive events rather than to focus on the negative ones. Because we become more aware of the time remaining we try to avoid negative emotions and enhance positive events that can improve our well-being. It is much better to focus in a beautiful and peaceful moment than focus in a conflicted or ugly moment. We also mentioned in class that agreeableness increased with age. As we get older, we learned how to accept others opinions.

Aging comes naturally and people should not be frighten be it. As it turns out the fear of this process is enough to speed it up. The negative attitude is a very powerful factor in this process and has a great effect on the physical aspect of aging. It is enough to put people into deep depression or lose their confidence with many other things like good posture. On the other hand maintaining a positive thinking can really slow the process down. In fact it can do miracles, regular exercises and healthy diet can bring new life. Often people feel threatened by aging and put a hold on their lives, while they should be constantly evolving as they go through life. With positive thinking, it is all possible. This paper will show that despite

I believe that our society will face an increasing scarcity of resources as the growth in the older population rises. My reasoning is that as our older population grows, the number of people consuming scarce resources but not contributing to their production will grow with them. Given this scenario, we will see decreases in available food, water, and living space. Our textbook supports my opinion in various ways. For example, the textbook proposes a question that is fairly similar to mine and it is, “Will there be enough young people to care for and financially support the growing number of elderly citizens?” (Carl, Pg. 264) This question is directly related to the notion that I put forth previously. As the number of elderly grow, and the birth rate slows down, who will be taking care of those too old to work?

The study of aging and old age is referred to as Gerontology (Stuart- Hamilton, 2011, p. 1). The study of Gerontology is concerned with the changes, which affect older adults (Stuart- Hamilton, 2011, p. 1). The main role of Gerontology is to not only explain the aging process, but to also improve older adults lives and experiences (Stuart- Hamilton, 2011, p. 18). Gerontology is interdisciplinary and there are three main disciplines, which are considered to be the essential foundations of the study (Alkema & Alley, 2006, p. 578). The disciplines include biology, sociology and psychology (Alkema & Alley, 2006, p. 578). The three disciplines allow aging to be considered from their own specific perspectives (Alkema & Alley, 2006, p. 578). The

Like most people in American society and culture, when I hear the term aging it is almost always thought of negatively. Americans have become obsessed with finding ways to live a longer and healthier life and when one of those people here the term ‘aging’ it is viewed as a detriment to their thought of living longer. It is often a scary thought because people assume that the best years of their life are behind them. I personally do not feel physically as old as I do mentally. I am weary, however, as life goes on that my body will eventually catch up to my mind. I hope however that I can be healthy all around at an older age because I would hate to be ill and not be able to enjoy life at its greatest potential. I believe that most people, including myself, have the perception that aging limits your mobility. People often assume that the once you get to a certain age you will be limited to where you can live and must be forced into a retirement home. This perception more than likely is false, and perhaps coming from individuals that have seen loved ones not being cared for and have taken a similar path. This perception most likely comes from observation of adults telling younger ones by word of mouth however untrue it may be.

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.