Older Adult 's Beliefs On Aging

According to an article in the New York Times, aging wisely is all about how you feel, your attitude, health and how productive you are. Therefore if we have a positive attitude as we age we will tend to take better care of ourselves, exercise and eat healthy. Graham mentions in the article that the stereotype that as we age we become useless the attitude can become that person. On the other hand if there is satisfaction and production the older adult is more likely to work hard to be healthy and may even recover more easily from illness (Graham, 2012)

The most rapidly growing age group in the United States is the elderly, or those individuals age sixty-five and older (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2011). Late adulthood stretches from age 65 to the end of the lifespan (Laura E Berk, 2010, p. 1). Or it can be called gerontology which is the study of the aging processes and individuals as they grow from middle age through later life. ("Association For Gerontology For Higher Education ", n.d.). In order to understand the changes in late adulthood I interviewed a sixty eight year old African American male, who I will refer to as the participant. He is retired from Military and Law Enforcement each he has

Successful aging is a complicated and multifaceted concept that varies contextually among individuals, disciplines, and even time. Gerontologists have traditionally considered a person to have aged successfully upon having reached old age with their physical health, mental well-being and spirit still intact. Ultimately, successful aging is a matter of personal perspective, largely influenced by an individual 's values and experiences. Even those within America 's elderly population hold conflicting perspectives on what it means to have aged successfully. A qualitative study published by Reichstadt and Sengupta titled Older Adults ' Perspectives on Successful Aging, concluded that “older adults viewed successful aging as a balance between self-acceptance and self-contentedness on one hand and engagement with life and self-growth in later life on the other” (Reichstadt, "Older Adults ' Perspectives on Successful Aging: Qualitative Interviews", pp. 567-575.)

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.

Cultural patterns are likely to change, as the average of age of the population rises and the share ever age sixty-five climbs higher. Younger will see more seniors everywhere like shopping malls, sporting events and walking around outside if they can. Older people and seniors are now welcome to continue school if they want to because colleges now are opening their doors for them. Some elder people actually try to complete their degrees so they could get a new career so they don’t have to retire. Between the ages of sixty-five and seventy-five are more likely to live independently with good health and financial security, they are called the “young old.” Past the age of seventy-five, are more likely to have money and health problems and tend to

After spending an afternoon interviewing my elderly father-in-law, I gained insight into how he perceives the aging process and the impact on the quality of his life. First, and foremost he viewed aging in a very positive and healthy manner. He believes that a positive attitude assists in accepting physical and psychosocial changes and enjoyed the fact that he and his wife are both physically fit and cognitively alert. He felt confident that advances made in health care and the quality of their lives would continue to be empowering. He enjoys the benefits of being a senior citizen including discounted travel, free education, and other incentives marketed towards seniors. He expressed a sense of well-being with respect to the numerous

“It 's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn 't appeal to anyone.” – Andy Rooney

Aging to me represents a normal cycle of life and normal part of my life path. However it’s up to me how I age. Trying to lead a healthy lifestyle will hopefully allow me to age well.

The process of aging and becoming an elder has almost been a right of passages for eons. In many cultures, mostly outside the United States aging and older adults are a cherish part of society, and are given the utmost respect. Over recent years, this respect and praise that s given in many cultures does not necessarily hold true in modern society in the United States.

Another supporter of changing the way aging is conveyed is author, Margaret Cruiksbank, of the book, Learning to be Old. In her book she is a proponent of changing the way the aging process is described. Her position is that the underlying meaning of popular terms to describe aging weakens its value. She denotes that the term “successful aging” is a false phrase for the elderly as it “masks both the wish to continue mid-life indefinitely and the white, Middle-class, Western values of researchers, causing them to emphasize productivity, effectiveness and independence” (Cruiksbank, 2009, p. 2). She also concludes that the term “productive” aging symbolizes “economic usefulness and social conformity” (Cruiksbank, 2009, p. 2), especially for the female gender. More importantly, these terms can be used to measure. This ability to measure is subjective to the questioner and an individual’s self-worth. She suggests the term “aging comfortably” as it signifies easiness, and a “faint hint” of pleasurable self-indulgence which may not have been possible in younger years (Cruiksbank, 2009, p. 3).

If there is prejudice against people of different cultures, sexual orientation, and class, it is no surprise that there is also prejudgment towards people based on their age. Ageism, coined by Robert Neil Butler is the discrimination against groups or individuals on the basis of their age. As it was discussed in Todd Nelson’s “Ageism: the Strange Case of Prejudice Against the Older you”, there are lot of factors on why people may have certain prejudicial attitudes towards the elderly. It could all be sourced from the society’s perspective on change, fear of death, institutionalization of ageism, etc. Since the study of age prejudice is fairly new and constantly expanding, researchers are still finding new discoveries on factors regarding ageism (Nelson, 2011, p. 37). Studies done by Lee, Carpenter, and Meyers suggests that television advertisements may alter the viewers attitudes about older adults by portraying them a certain way. These findings are important because among all forms of media, television is perhaps the most pervasive in society (Lee et al., 2006). Another study, “the role of individual difference variables in ageism” reveals that empathy traits, personality traits, and gratitude have influence on ageist beliefs. The researchers claim it may be crucial in weeding out certain characteristics of people who may show age

Chronological age is the major maker of personal and social, preferences, identity, expectations, and behavior. Older adults have got the highest score when it comes to consciousness and agreeableness. At old age, there are several health issues which are encountered, for example, impairment in vision and communication (Cuddy et al., 2005). Worst of it is that when such problems occur, the victims are never taken for any medical attention. Some of these health problems are treatable and should not be assumed to be as a result of old age, and therefore the old should also be taken through the healthcare facilities. Another stereotype and misconceptions people have towards the aged is that they would experience reduced heterogeneity across the

Knowing and having an understanding of what ageing stands for, remains an important step, growing-up or growing older and ageism are theories about older individuals. Ageism includes preconceptions that elderly are categorized for their age and perceived as weak, and incapable of performing tasks and needy of others (Quadagno, 2014). Another view about elderly individuals is the way they are looked down on by the younger society, i.e. elderly are not as intelligent as their younger competitive working force. People fear what they do not know and do not understand. Age transpires as something that must be lived through in order to understand what ageing means; looking back on one’s life and seeing accomplishments made,

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.

“The best classroom is at the feet of an elderly person,” said by a famous American radio and television writer, Andy Rooney. Elderly has so much to teach the younger generation because they have been through an array of events in life that are worth sharing and knowing. The purpose of the study is to understand the experience of aging and late adulthood by using case study method through interview and informal interaction with an older adult. Given the circumstance of long distance, Skype is used to conduct the interview and informal interaction. Mary, is a vibrant and healthy Chinese elderly woman who turned 75 last summer. She is an atheist who has lived in Hong Kong for her entire life and would be classified as middle class lifestyle. She is widowed and lives alone but she has four children and eight grandchildren. Since she is active, healthy and independent, the “young-old” would be the best term to describe Mary according to gerontologists (Berger, 2014, p.675).