Reflection : Aging And Disability

Answer the following questions in 100 to 200 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use.

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.)

Working in a hospital setting predominantly with older people, I have encountered many who have been diagnosed with dementia. Dementia is a term used to describe the symptoms caused by certain diseases or conditions of the brain of which there are two main types; Alzheimer’s disease and Multi Infarct dementia more commonly known as Vascular dementia. Dementia is caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain which cannot be replaced which means that dementia is a progressive condition that gets worse over time and cannot be reversed. It is also a long term condition because it takes months or even years to progress and there is no actual cure. (Alzheimer’s Society 2014) This degenerative condition is more common in older people, however,

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

The humanity of aging is a concept sometimes hard to grasp. Understanding why we are

     It is inevitable that eventually each of us will grow old and begin to face more and more health problems as our age rises. Elderly people are challenged by many illnesses and diseases that unfortunately, are incurable. One disease that becomes more common as people age is Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s a common cause and a form of dementia and can severely damage a patient’s cognitive functions and can ultimately cause death. Living with Alzheimer’s disease can be saddening for both the sufferer and the family. Family and friends will find it very hard to cope when a loved one begins slipping away and losing memory of who they are.

More than 5 million Americans currently have dementia in the United States and this number is projected to rise to between 8 and 13 million by 2050 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015). Dementia is known to become more prevalent with age, increasing from 5 to 10 percent in people over 65 years of age to almost one half of people over the age of 85 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015). Although family members provide the majority of care for people with dementia, increasing needs over time often lead to placement in a long-term care setting. Dementia is the most common reason for entry into long-term care facilities (Zimmerman, 2013) and nearly 90% of persons with dementia will have at least one stay at a nursing home in their lifetime (Grunier, 2007).

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

Maxine thought this question was quite basic. However, after much thought she stated that aging is simply "advancing in age." Upon further questioning she explained that her definition is a view of the "total process" of aging. She does not define aging in a biological, functional, psychological, sociologic or spiritual domain.

In February of 2000, I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's disease. She was diagnosed with the disease just less than two years prior to her death. Throughout that time, I watched changes in my grandmother that made her seem like an entirely different woman to me. She gradually began losing her short-term memory and we began to see signs of her long-term memory degrading too. It began to get harder and harder to take her out into public without being afraid of what would happen next. Her emotions would fluctuate with the changing of each minute it seemed. Physically she became weaker and weaker and would often scare us with falling while she would be walking. Eventually she had to be moved into 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.

It was warm that day. I walked to the bus with my hands shaking and eyes wide. I knew this was going to be a big day for me but I had no idea that Saturday would be the first day of the rest of my life. At first glance, this may seem like a big statement but my first day of volunteering with Camp A.N.C.H.O.R. (Assisting the Needs of Citizens with Handicaps through Organized Recreation) sent me on a journey with social justice that I am still taking. At 16 years old I thought I was going to go in and change lives but, the individuals I met ended up changing mine. I didn’t know what I was doing or much about the populations I was dealing with. However, I did know the individuals I was working with were incredibly funny, smart, talented, and had so much going for them except for one thing, their disability. I realized that these individuals were being portrayed as incompetent, unintelligent, and incapable because of one small aspect of their life. After speaking to some of their parents over the course of two years, I realized the immense difficulties these families go through. My initial reaction was anger, and then it dawned on me. If I want people to treat me like an individual and give me full human rights, have access to a public education, not receive discrimination during job interviews, they should have the exact same rights. This is not something they choose to take on each day. It is a part of their life that they deal with everyday as so many of us do with other

Prior to the course, Perspectives on disability, my understanding of disability was a fundamental, concept of disability, in which I knew it existed, and also have seen and interacted with people considered to have a disability. I never took a deep look at all the social and political factors that exist within the spectrum of disability. This course has allowed me to examine all aspects of disability, which has changed my view and approach of what a disability is and how it is viewed. "Historically, disability has been viewed fundamentally as a persoal tragedy, which has resulted in diasbled people being seen as objects of pity or in need of charity. They have been subject to descriminatory policies and practices in which the predominant images of passivity and helplesness reinforced their inferior status"(Barton 4). Uncovering the framework of disability, by studying the historical, soicial political and educational standpoint, I see the intricacies in which gives me a greater understanding and awareness of the topic.

In reviewing the required videos and reading on low incidence, there were a large range of how it affected individuals are processed by individuals without disabilities, these videos demonstrates what it is like to try to be normal with a disability. The first video called, Autistic Basketball Player,” presented an enlighten outcome, that people should not assume that individual with disability are not able to contribute to a job or sport. Jason Mcelwain’s a young man with Autism that id given to chase an individual with a disability self-worth is just as valuable as the rest of the team when it come to sport. The second video called, “Breaking Barriers of Autism: The power of Kindness and friendship present how individuals with disabilities are able to leap bounties id one person will acknowledge them. In his lecture he was able to present insight on how lonely it is on another side of the disability spectrum.