1 - What is aging? Flashcards
1
Q
The term ____ aging has recently emerged when discussing aging, which is a more positive view of aging.
A
Successful aging: This means being able to live and function independently in a healthy way
2
Q
What do the current aging tendencies show?
A
- People are living longer
- Women tend to live longer than man
- In 2023, we have more different age groups living at the same time
3
Q
What is a centenarian?
A
A person who has lived to 100
4
Q
True or false: The number of centenarians in Canada has decreased since 2001.
A
False: It has increased to 29.3 per 100 000
5
Q
True or false: We are going to continue to have people who are living longer (over 85)
A
True
6
Q
With age, changes are seen at multiple levels within the individual, what are these 4 levels?
A
1) Physical / biological
2) Social / emotional
3) Cognitive
4) Perceptual
7
Q
Changes with age occur also in the interaction between the person and their ___. Give examples.
A
- p.ex: transportation (being able to drive or not), not being able to go upstairs (then needing to downsize, mobility in the house), not being able to work or participate in hobbies
- Modifying living spaces
- There are also environmental preferences, where older adults seek quieter and safer environments
- Technological adaptations
8
Q
Define life expectancy
A
- A measure of the estimated average years that a person may expect to live
- This varies between places
9
Q
Why has there been in a dip in life expectancy in the last 3 years in Canada and around the world?
A
- Due to covid
- young and middle-aged adults are dying before they reach their old age, we aren’t sure why there are many reasons, however one reason is the opioid crisis
10
Q
What forces influence aging?
A
- Biological
- Physiological
- Sociocultural
- Life-cycle
11
Q
How does the biological force influence aging?
A
- Genetic and health-related factors that affect the development
- Puberty, menopause, facial wrinkles, changes in the organ system (heart problems) diabetes
- Genetic predisposition also influences the development of aging
→ specifically things like genetic irregularities like APOE status for alzheimers
→ vision declines, contrast sensitivity, depth perception (which are all common in aging) - The senses of taste and smell also diminish with age
12
Q
How does the psychological force influence aging?
A
- Internal perceptual cognitive emotional, and personality factors that affect development
- Factors that influence certain characteristics we see in people that makes them unique
→ declines in memory, shifts in agreeableness
→ research has shown that as we get older, we often become more cooperative, compassionate and tolerant
→ conscientiousness also increases with age which will affect social interactions and well-being
13
Q
Older adults show improved ___ ___ compared to young adults with a tendency to focus more on ___ experience and emotion, which we now call the positivity effect.
A
Emotional regulation; positive
14
Q
Older adults prioritize ___ relationships over ___ ones, they focus more on emotionally fulfilling interactions
A
Close meaningful; superficial
15
Q
How does the sociocultural force influence aging? How does the type of culture (individualistic vs communal) influence the person?
A
- Interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors that affect development
- Provides the overall context in terms of how older adults develop
→ p.ex: language development is highly influenced by the languages spoken in one’s environment - Differences in cultural norms can influence them as well, this influences how we view older adults
→ Some places describe older adults with a certain amount of value on aging, while others do not, which can affect the society as well as the individuals themselves, especially in terms of self-esteem and social norms (concept of ageism comes in here)
→ older adults can face discrimination, loss of status, exclusion from the work force and other activities
→ more altruistic communal societies look at older adults as holding wisdom, so they hold more important roles in the community
→ this provides strong family ties or community support, older adults experience less loneliness because of a sense of belonging
→ more emotional and practical support - In more individualist communities, older adults can face isolation
16
Q
According to the sociocultural force, what happens to older adults in marginalized ethnic groups?
A
- Ethnic backgrounds will also have an influence on health outcomes due to inequities, access to healthcare and socioeconomic status
→ older adults for marginalized ethnic groups may experience higher rates of chronic diseases (shorter life expectancy)
17
Q
How does the life-cycle force influence aging?
A
- Reflect differences in how the same event or combination on biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces affect people at different points in their lives
- This takes all the other factors into consideration
- p.ex: transitions such as retirement and changes in health status represent significant milestones which affect older adults distinctly from young adults
→ younger adults don’t have to deal with the brick wall of retirement, but once it comes up, you have to start making specific moves to deal with it
→ retirement and health status are big hurdles in aging
18
Q
Explain the biopsychosocial framework of aging.
A
- A way of organizing the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces on human development
→ these 4 factors interact to influence our development
→ each person, even exposed to the same level of each of these factors may come out differently
→ that is why those growing up in the same family have different friends, jobs, partners, and even different views of the way they grew up
19
Q
Using the biopsychosocial framework, how would you attribute forgetting in a 75-yr old to these factors?
A
→ biological; due to some underlying disease or condition, maybe menopause, dementia
→ psychological; how has their memory been their whole life? Has their cognition always been so?
→ sociocultural; Do people around them have expectations of them always forgetting?
→ p.ex: “you’re just old and will forget”, comments like these will influence performance – you could have older adults who are not cognitively impaired, but upon hearing this, will perform poorly on cognitive tests
20
Q
What are the 3 types of normative influences? Explain each and give examples.
A
-
Normative age-graded influences: experiences from the biopsychosocial forces that occur to most people at specific age
→ indicate major change in a person’s life
→ these influences can also be sociocultural such as the age someone retires, also related to our social clock
→ p.ex: puberty, menopause -
Normative history-graded influences: events that most people in specific culture experience at the same time
→ often give a generation their unique identity
→ p.ex: epidemics, stereotypes -
Non-normative influences: random or rare events that may be important for a specific person but are not experienced by most people
→ makes them unique because it can turn your life upside down
→ p.ex: winning the lottery, experiencing an accident
21
Q
Name some aging myths.
A
- All older adults get dementia
→ dementia is not a normal part of aging - Older adults cannot learn new things
→ older adults have the ability to learn and create new memories, as well as improve performance in a variety of skills - People feel lost in retirement. They often get sick and die after they retire
→ untrue, most stay engaged by volunteering, dancing, playing cards, etc. - Most older people feel depressed and bored
→ most report better well-being and less stress
→ Sexual activity and interest in sex decline in later life
22
Q
What are the 4 ways we define age?
A
1) Chronological age
2) Biological age
3) Physiological age
4) Sociocultural age
23
Q
Explain chronological age.
A
- Based on the passage of time and is limited significantly in terms of health
→ this is what we typically refer to, it’s how we measure age since birth
→ it’s often used because the likelihood of developing a health problem increases with age
→ key point: helps predict many health problems and it has not just research but also legal and financial uses
24
Q
Explain biological age.
A
- Based on changes that occur in the body as people age
→ measuring how different or various functions work with older adults, such as the cardiovascular system p.ex
→ changes in this system as we age is typically due to biological or genetic underlying issues for people older than 65
→ research has shown that similar to what we see in chronological age, bio age is often impacted by your lifestyle, habits and subtle effects from disease, rather by differences in actual aging
25
Explain physiological age
- Based on functional level of *psychological* abilities
→ memory, intelligence, feelings, motivation and other skills that foster and maintain personal control and self-esteem
26
Explain sociocultural age.
- Based on the set of roles we adopt in relation to our society and culture
→ based on behaviors and habits in terms of how you dress, interpersonal style, the language that you use
→ things that cultural influence us as we age
→ plays a role of our family, our lifestyle
→ many stereotypes that we have regarding aging have actually come from faulty socio cultural assumptions about how we age
27
Aging is a ___, ___ process of natural changes that begin at ___ leading to ___.
Gradual; continuous; birth; senescence
28
Define senescence
- The final stages of normal lifespan
29
True or false: Aging is a process that occurs later in life, at about 30 years old.
False: aging is a process that occurs throughout life (every stage is aging), not a specific point in life
30
Some changes in aging are ___ and others result in declines in functions (marker of aging).
Benign; meaning they have no effect on our ability to function such as graying hair, or wrinkles
→ others such as senses (hearing, vision), and an increased susceptibility of disease progression ARE declines in function
31
What are the 3 categories used to describe a specific older age group?
- **Young-old (60 – 74 yrs of age)**:
→ Often have fewer responsibilities, can pursue leisure activities
→ Evidence of cognitive and emotional stability
→ High levels of emotional and personal well-being
- **Old-old (75 – 84 yrs of age)**:
→ Increased risk of health conditions like hypertension and arthritis
→ Slight changes in cognition often occur
→ May require adjustments in social networks due to death of family and friends
- **Oldest-old (85+ yrs of age)**:
→ Typically, at the limits of their functioning with increased rates of diseases increasing
→ p.ex: rates of cancer and dementia increase dramatically
→ Evidence of cognitive deficits are often apparent
→ Problems arise with quality of life and dying with dignity
32
What are the 3 types of aging that can occur?
1) **Primary Aging**: normal, disease-free development during adulthood
→ inevitable part of the developmental process
→ everyone’s gonna go through this
→ p.ex: menopause, loss of friends, etc.
2) **Secondary Aging**: developmental changes that are related to disease, lifestyle, and other environmentally induced changes that are not inevitable (e.g., pollution)
→ p.ex: the progressive loss of intellectual abilities in people developing dementia
→ not EVERYONE develops dementia, so it’s only seen in some people
→ p.ex: lifestyle: smoking
3) **Tertiary Aging**: rapid losses that occur shortly before death (last few years)
→ known as *terminal drop*
→ intellectual abilities show a mark decline in the last few years before death
33
What is the *terminal drop*?
- It is the tertiary aging
- It's the rapid decline and losses that occur shortly before death
34
Why do we study changes in older adulthood?
- Our population is aging
→ due to increased life expectancy and lower death at birth rates
→ we need to be well prepared
- To improve the length of primary aging
→ we want people to live longer but in a healthy way (high quality of life)
- Reduce effects of disease
→ especially if they live to a long age
- Examine lifestyle factors that improve functioning
- To reduce ageism
→ more education always = lower rates of ageism
→ understanding aging reduces the anxiety and stereotypes in society about it
- Older adults are important to society and family
→ they have important roles within a family, but they continue to contribute to society by volunteering for example or doing unpaid work like caregiving
35
How do we study changes in older adulthood?
- Following people over time
- Comparing different groups
→ Young vs. old
→ Healthy vs. unhealthy
→ to see the differences, and that way we can determine what occurs in different age groups
- Neuroimaging or behavioral designs
- Interventions
