What Is Successful Aging?

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.

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.

Over the course of the film they presented the successful aging paradigm. The successful aging paradigm is a theory that suggests that we will have more positive outcomes

During the interview, my grandmother commented on not feeling as old as she is. While some of her friends have passed away or gone on to nursing homes, she continues to maintain an independent, high functioning lifestyle. However, she knows a time will come when she is not going to be able to continue to live the way she has been living. She described those in her age cohort as varying tremendously in function as they all proceeded into late adulthood. As the research attests, for those in late adulthood, age is not a true indicator of functioning. Research has confirmed that, the better that older people function, the younger older people they feel. Function and development are directly

The term “aging out” typically refers to children who are in the foster care system. Children that are beginning to reach the age of eighteen, twenty-one or are graduating from high school that have not found a permanent home tend to age out of the foster system. Several states have different ages at which children age out of the system. By aging out the system believes that these individuals are ready to go out on their own. Once many children reach a particular age it is less likely for them to be adopted, there for they continue to move from one foster home to another. Children that age out of the system stand a lower chance of not graduating high school, or going to college.

Rowe and Kahn’s model of successful aging includes the lack of disease or disability, preservation of mental

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).

It is a medically proven fact that after a certain age, usually in our middle years, physical and cognitive health will start declining. Our bodies simply begin shutting down when we reach a certain age, regardless of how well we have taken care of them. For some, old age is synonymous with dread and foreboding. For others, it is only a number representing another phase of life and it should be enjoyed thoroughly. This prescription for successfully aging is applicable to both the individual aging as well as those who interact with elderly individuals. Every person will have their own definition of what it means to successfully age. Theories of successful aging developed over the years attempt to explain what it means to successfully age.

Aging! We all do it every day, but have you ever thought how it is going to affect the rest of your life or more importantly your career? Aging isn’t something that we get to choose if we participate in, however working is, and aging may affect that choice. Right now, I want you to think about the age of sixty-five. What words pop into your head when you think of someone sixty-five? I’d imagine some of the words you thought of were retired, old, fragile, slow, as well as many others. Those words right there all help to explain the many concerns that one’s employer may have when hiring someone that is of the older population. When we think of the older population in the work force we don’t necessarily think of positive things, instead we think of things. When we think of this population in the workforce we generally think of lower production rates and higher costs. These can create issues among the older population, as employers must consider all the possibilities when hiring someone. We know that more people in the older population are continuing to try to continue their careers, but why? How hard is it for them to continue? What changes have made it easier? How are the younger and middle aged populations perceiving them in the work place? This are only some of the many question surrounding the increase of aged workers.

Nursing strategies to promote healthy aging in the presence of normal age-related changes would be to adapt to the gerontological age group needs whatever they may be. What comes to mind after reading our text is making sure the patients can see what ever paperwork we give them because their vision usually is decreased or impaired the older they get. The nurse “in the hospital or nursing home, could use some means to identify patients who are visually impaired and include visual impairment in their plan of care" (Touhy, 2016, p.138).

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

The belief that people cope with life better by applying familiar strategies based on their past experiences is the continuity theory of aging. This paper will review this theory, as well as discuss an interview done with an elderly individual, and how the interview relates to the continuity theory.

Aging gracefully is not about a 60 Year old grandmother attempting to look like her 20 year old grandchild. In lots of ways it is disturbing to say the least. The art of aging gracefully is much more about accepting how old you are. From there it is about seeking to appear the very best along by having great pores and skin, as well as the best health care that you can.

Humanity has come a long way as we evolve and adapt to the changing environment. Through the years, we have managed to overcome several limitations, which in the past were nothing more than dreams. We succeeded in landing on the moon and communicating over long distance, yet there are still some boundaries we have yet to cross despite our best effort. Aging is an inevitable process of nature. While we cannot stop the ticking clock in our body, we have made it possible for aging to be delayed and relieved to a great extent through advance technology and modern governance. High-tech equipments and medications are available for the treatments of more illnesses as our understanding of medicine improves and governments nowadays are doing