Healthy Aging: Growing Older and Facing the End of Life

James M. EddyTexas A&M University

Growing Older

• Gerontologists are specialists who study the social, biological, behavioral, and psychological aspects of aging.

• Aging Theories• The Wear and Tear Theory contends that the

effects of disease and damage over time produce aging.

• The Free Radicals Theory suggests that foreign elements in the blood build up over time and produce aging.

• The Biological Clock Theory assumes a relationship between time and biological decline.

Growing Older• Measuring Age

• Chronological Age is a number representing the number of years since birth.

• Functional Age is a number representing the ability to function.

• Psychological Age is a number representing a perceived age (how old you feel).

Aging Body and Mind: Changes that Occur over Time• Health Status

• More chronic conditions• More illnesses related to a weakened

immune system• Reduction in energy

Aging Body and Mind: Changes that Occur over Time• Telltale Signs

• Loss of fatty and connective tissue results in wrinkles.

• Changes in hair• Change in weight

Aging Body and Mind: Changes that Occur over Time• Bone Density

• Osteoporosis is a disorder in which bone density decreases, making the bones more likely to break.

• The Senses• Presbyopia is a difficulty in reading

materials at close range; common in older persons.

• Cataracts: a clouding of the lens of the eye.

Aging Body and Mind: Changes that Occur over Time• Sexual Activity

• 90% of women over 60 reports that sex is still as good as when they were younger.

• Impotence is due to factors other than aging.

• Sexual activity is possible well into the 80s and 90s.

Aging Body and Mind: Changes that Occur over Time• Mental Ability

• Neurotransmitters are chemicals that facilitate the passage of impulses in the brain.

• Dementia is a disorder characterized by the general and often slow decline of mental abilities.

• Alzheimer’s Disease is a degenerative disorder that causes dementia.

• Incontinence occurs when control of the bowels or the release of urine is lost.

Preventable Health Problems• Sadness in Old Age

• Depression is a mental disorder marked by sadness, anxiety, fatigue, underactivity, sleeplessness, and reduced ability to function and relate to others.

• Medication Abuse• Overmedication is consuming a high

dose of medication, or combination of medications, resulting in symptoms (side effects) that compromise accurate medical care.

The Benefits of Health Promotion Across the Life Span

• Life Span• Life Expectancy• Delaying the Onset of Chronic

Disease• Reducing the Period of Infirmity

Preventable Health Problems• Falls

• Hip fractures are the most dangerous fractures associated with falls.

• Some causes of falls: mental changes, cardiovascular problems, environmental hazards, medications.

• Help from Exercise• Regular Physical Activity may reduce the

risk of chronic disease.• Recommended types of exercise for the

elderly: walking, T’ai Chi.

Preventable Health Problems

Table 14.1

The Meaning of Death

• Thanatology is the study of death and the psychological and social problems associated with it.

• The Biological Perspective• Brain Dead: a state that occurs when

there is no longer brain activity.• Electroencephalogram (EEG): a device

that measures brain activity.

The Meaning of Death• The Legal

Perspective

Figure 14.1

Dying as a Process• Living-Dying Interval: the time

between the diagnosis of a terminal condition and death.

• Stages of Dying• Denial• Anger• Bargaining• Depression• Acceptance

For Survivors: A Time of Decisions and Bereavement

• Decisions about the Body• Bereaved: a survivor of someone recently

deceased who feels loss and grief.• Autopsy: a surgical examination of the body

to determine the cause of death.• Embalming is the use of chemicals,

internally and externally, to temporarily preserve the body.

• Cremation is the burning of a dead body into ashes.

• Columbarium: a special vault for urns containing ashes of cremated bodies.

For Survivors: A Time of Decisions and Bereavement

• Decisions about the Body

Figure 14.2

Key Terms

• Bereavement-An Objective Fact• Grief- The Response to Bereavement• Mourning-Culturally Patterned

Expressions of Grief

For Survivors: A Time of Decisions and Bereavement

• Planning a Funeral• Brings a sense of closure to the person’s

life.• Cemetery burials: casket choice,

selection of headstones, epitaphs, etc.• A Time of Bereavement

• Grief is a deep sadness caused by a loss.• Bereavement is the period during which

a sense of loss is felt following the death of a loved one.

• Mourning is expressing grief at someone’s death.

For Survivors: A Time of Decisions and Bereavement

• A Time of Bereavement• Impact is when a loved one reacts with

shock, disbelief, and denial.• Recoil is when the bereaved superficially

carry on and try to return to normal.• Recovery is the stage of bereavement in

which the bereaved begin to show signs of returning to a more normal life.

Bereavement & Grief Response

• Grief Response-A Variety of Factors may Influence the Grief Response• Culture• Relationship to the Deceased• Personal Characteristics• Other Life Events

Ordinary Grief Response•Stage I: Denial ,Shock and Disbelief

•Stage II: Despair, and Mental Images•Stage III: Recovery, Resolution, Return to Normalcy

Morbid or Atypical Grief Response• Factors

• Sudden death• Suicide• When no body is found• Closeness of the Relationship• Guilt

Morbid or Atypical Grief Response• Manifestations

• Over-activity• Acquiring symptoms of the deceased• Mummification• Delayed grief response• Extreme hostility