Successful Aging Definition

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)

Society is big on staying and looking young. People are constantly working out, watching what they eat, and getting surgeries such as botox and breast augmentation. Our society is too concerned on looking youthful. Morrie had aging in better perspective, "The young are not wise, they have very little understanding about life. Who wants to live every day when you don't know what's going on? When people are manipulating you, telling you to buy this perfume and you'll be beautiful, or this pair of jeans and you'll be sexy… It's very simple. As you grow you learn more. If you'd stayed at twenty-two, you'd always be ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, it's growth." Aging is more than the negative that you're going to die, it's also the positive that you understand you're going to die and that you live a better life because of it.

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.)

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.

Modern society view’s aging as a form of sickness and the elderly as persons who are closer to dying and death. This is what is often portrayed in our mass and social media. When considering issues of aging sociologists have found that more positive characteristics are often said for persons under sixty five years than for over sixty five years.

The debate topic centered on what is more important in aging mental or physical health. On one side of the debate is the premise that mental health is the key factor in aging successful. The opposing side holds that physical health is the key factor. Both arguments confirm that the relationship is reciprocal but they differ in regards to which one occurs first. That is, does mental health cause physical decline or vice versa.

The definition of “successful aging” excludes too many people for it to be applicable. The video, “Many Faces to Aging in Americas,” represents the diversity in how people age in our society (Many Faces of Aging in America, 2008). The concept “successful aging” needs to include the whole person: mind, body, and spirit in order to be inclusive of all the dimensions in

I personally define positive aging, as having a positive outlook on life regardless of your circumstances. I also think that positive aging does not require perfection, but progression and growth. Those who have accomplished Erikson's eight stages or who are able to correct any area they might get stuck in and move on to have a positive life have accomplished positive aging. I am most happy when my mind, body and soul are healthy and at peace. I am happy when I make the choice to be happy regardless of the circumstances around me. The bible says there is nothing to do under the sun, but eat, drink and be merry. It also talk about being a peacemakers and finding joy in the work that you do, so I am most happy when I am spending time with family

I have never heard the phrase “successful aging” before reading these articles. In, Successful Aging: Perceptions of Adults Aged Between 70 and 100 Years, I appreciated the author’s clarification of aging success as individualized. In society we tend to want to “pidgeon-hole” everyone into neat, defined categories this portrays the value of diversity. Their participants reporting that they “selected activities that best suited their capabilities” and how over time they “compensated for losses” (Knight & Ricciardelli, 2003). This reveals a generation that seems to make more thoughtful, pragmatic decisions based on their individual capabilities. They have learned to craft their lives to their needs. The study also revealed that seniors may score

I agree on Western culture on the definition of successful aging. In China, there has some different for successful aging. I ask my mother what kind of successful aging for her. My mother told me that I have the stable work and the income. Also, I have a lovely home and a lovely family. You may not know people have their own house and their own car is very important in China. If you don't have a house that means may be nobody gets married to you. Definitely, peephole must have the house and car in their successful aging, it seems like a standard configuration. In order this, young people need work hard in the city to make a fortune to earn a successful aging in the

World history is full of stories of people trying to find eternal youth. Wealthy people going to private centers for magic elixirs. Many people who take high doses of certain vitamins, drink green tea, use coenzyme Q10 etc., hoping to find the "fountain of youth". Let's take a look more closely and see what happens in our bodies when we age.

The beginning of the 21st century has been the most remarkable time in the history of human life with respect to life expectancy. Individuals on a planetary scale are living longer than was previously envisaged. More than 36 million people in some of the world’s largest economies, along with a number of European countries, are above the age of 60. Better living conditions, improved health standards and proper medical care are key determinants of longevity of life. Individuals who are 40 years old can prepare to age well if they understand certain aspects that can aid them to age gracefully. Ageing well is dependent on the extent to which individuals are able to remain conscious of the social, psychological, and physical challenges of the aged.

High levels of activity do not necessary mean they will live longer but that they will have a high life satisfaction. • Conflict: The elderly compete with younger generations for jobs and resources. • Age Stratification: The elderly both affect and are affected by social change.

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,

There are numerous ways to define successful aging. The word “aging” usually has a negative connotation. However, when putting the word success behind it introduces positive aspects that can essentially promote a long-term developmental outcome for an individual. Happening around midlife and late adulthood, successful aging is simply when an individual has complete development and maintenance of control throughout life, has achieved in the selection of goals and purposes, as well as maximization of gains and compensations of failure. This is the complete and ultimate goal for those in their late adulthood and is quite fascinating to developmental scientist. Those who engross themselves with attempting to achieve a successful aging will most likely have characteristics which in turn encourage and advocate for things such as health, growth, and vitality, maintaining social encounters and productive activities, and lastly maintaining high physical and cognitive functioning. Two developmental scientist, Vaillant & Mukamal, have discovered the factors that predict satisfaction of life are those an individual is able to control. These factors include are health habits, marital stability, years of education, and coping strategies. On the other hand those factors that are out of an individual 's control can not predict the level of happiness or satisfaction with life. These include the length of life of a family member, early health status, parental SES, and family warmth in