week 11

Question 1

define senility

Answer 1

: a group of symptoms that interfere with daily functions, physical and mental decline.

Question 2

whats ageism

Answer 2

Ageism may be defined as the prejudice or discrimination that occurs on the basis of age.
• Although it can be used against people of all ages, older people are most frequently its target and it may often result in forced retirement.
• Stereotyping of the elderly is also an aspect of ageism, as seen in such a statement as “He drives like a little old lady.”

Question 3

whats centenarians

Answer 3

: people ages 100 years and older. More resistant to disease than other people, resistant to cancer and circulatory disease. Diet, lifestyle, active can impact.

Question 4

physical changes old old

Answer 4

• The ageing process is subtle and the changes are slow. If you are with someone regularly you may not notice the changes.
• However, by the mid 60s the changes are more noticeable:
• Skin becomes thinner and less elastic – wrinkles appear.
• Bones become more brittle and more likely to break.
• Joints become stiffer and more painful.
• Height is reduced, the spine may become more rounded.
• Muscles become weaker.
• Sense of balance becomes impaired.
• Sense of taste and smell deteriorates.
• Hearing and sight deteriorate – cataracts can develop.
• Skin is less sensitive and so are more likely to burns or hyperthermia.
• Breathing is less efficient.
• Blood pressure increases.
• Insufficient insulin is produced therefore diabetes develops.
• Glands do not function so well so then the metabolism slows down which can lead to putting on weight.

Question 5

sensory changes old old

Answer 5

• Sensitivity to glare, increase problems with daily visual tasks
• Sharp loss in pitch discrimination
• Higher thresholds for detecting sour and bitter tates.

Question 6

intellectual changes old old

Answer 6

Some intellectual abilities dwindle with age. But, numerical and verbal abilities remain relatively steady over the years. Fluid intelligence declines.
People do not become less intelligent as they grow older!
Wisdom:

Question 7

emotional development old old

Answer 7

People’s concept of themselves.

• Retirement can affect people.
• Health problems
• Being stereotyped.
• Death of their partner, family members and/or friends

Question 8

social development old old

Answer 8

Either:
Some older people lead very active lives once they retire and they make new friends and get about more.
Or:
Health problems and impairments can create difficulties that mean they are very isolated and lonely.

Question 9

• disengagement theory: gradual retreat

Answer 9

According to Disengagement Theory, the period in late adulthood that marks a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels; people withdraw from the world and the world compels the elderly to withdraw (e.g., retirement).
The theory suggests that withdrawal is a mutual process

Question 10

• activity theory

Answer 10

continued involvement
• According to Activity Theory, successful aging occurs when people maintain the interests, activities, and social interactions with which they were involved during middle age.
• Happiness and satisfaction with life are assumed to spring from a high level of involvement with the world.

Question 11

coping with physical changes

Answer 11

fitness
- The physical changes of aging are multidimensional and variable across individuals.
Sleep and rest
- Older adults may have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Du to changes in circadian rhythm. Have less REM sleep, more shallow sleep, less quality.
Slowing down:
- One of the most commonly noted markers of aging is a gradual slowing in repose to stimuli: behavioural slowing.
- Age-related slowing is readily observable in complex tasks.
Independence:
- Health, illness, and functional independence are key issues that need to be negotiated in old and very old age.
- Mild and persistent declines in the immune system occur with age.

Question 12

psychological change

Answer 12

• Developing a psychohistorical perspective is one of the hallmarks of very old age.
• Elder adults are more aware of alternatives
• Psychohistorical perspective

Question 13

life structures in elder hood

Answer 13

• Changes in role relationships present significant challenges to the preservation of a coherent self-concept.
• Successful aging: avoiding disease, engagement with life, maintaining high cognitive and physical function

Question 14

psychological crisis of old age

Answer 14

Immortality vs. extinction.
• Immortality is when a person transcends death through a sense of symbolic continuity.
• Extinction is fear that one life and the end amounts to nothing more.
• Without social support and adequate physical or psychological resources, a significant number of the very old end their own lives.

Question 15

changing perspectives about death

Answer 15

Old age, introspection, disdain and wisdom
• Deliberate self-evaluation and examination of private thoughts and feelings.
• Process of reminiscence involves selection, immersion, withdrawal, and closure.
• Adjustment is linked to type of reminiscence: Integrative, instrumental, and obsessive.
• Disdain: is a feeling of weakness and frailty of oneself and others. Often a defensive response to one’s failed past.
• Five basic features of wisdom: factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, life-span contextualism, relativism of values and life goals, and, recognition and management of uncertainty.

Question 16

the process of dying

Answer 16

• A dying trajectory is the time during which the person’s health goes from good to death.
• People can experience death in many different ways:
- Gradual decline.
- Unpredictable, sudden death.
- Ambiguous decline.
• A gradual decline allows people more time to acknowledge their death and to plan for it.

Question 17

hospice care

Answer 17

An hospice is an integrated system of medicine, nursing, counselling, and spiritual care for the dying person and family.
Differs from traditional hospital care; as the focus is on enhancing quality of life for the dying person and his or her loved ones rather than treating the disease or intervening to delay the end of life.

Question 18

euthanasia

Answer 18

is the practice of ending someone’s life for reasons of mercy: passive and active euthanasia.

Question 19

mercy killing

Answer 19

Physician-assisted suicide

Question 20

ethical issues at the end of life

Answer 20

• Ethical principles focus on standards of right and wrong.
• End of life decisions are not only relevant for the elderly, but also for family members.
• The matter is made even more complex as decisions about ending life conflict with the commitment of the medical profession to prolong life.
• Despite public opinion supporting measures to actively end life, these measures are illegal in Australia, and continue to be a topic of ethical controversy.
• Some opponents argue that legalising assisted suicide might put unnecessary pressure on the elderly to end their lives.

Question 21

spirituality

Answer 21

Spirituality relates to our thoughts, feelings and actions concerning the meaning we make of our lives (Egan & De Laat, 1997).
- Spirituality as a subjective and personal construct must mean what it means to the individual within his or her experience (Unruh, Versnel & Kerr, 2002).

Question 22

define greif

Answer 22

• Grief is the cognitive and emotional reactions that follow the death of a loved one.
• Grief can vary in duration and intensity, and it can fade and reappear at unexpected moments.

Question 23

define bereavement

Answer 23

• Bereavement is the long-term process of adjustment to the death of a loved one and is more all-encompassing than grief.

Question 24

Lindemanns three phases of grief reaction

Answer 24

Emancipation from bondage to the deceased.
o Adjustment to aspects of the environment from which the deceased is missing.
o The person must begin to form new relationships.

Question 25

five patterns of beravemtn

Answer 25

• The common grief pattern. (low, then increases in the middle then drops again)
• The resilient pattern. (stays fairly stable)
• Chronic grief pattern. (increases over time)
• Chronic depression pattern. (remains roughly the same)
• Depressed-improved pattern (bad at start then drops)

Question 26

when can bereavement by more difficult

Answer 26

If death is sudden or ambiguous loss occurs.

• If the dying person is unable to receive effective pain control in their last days of life.
• If the survivor has experienced positive benefits of care-giving for an ailing spouse/partner.

Question 27

psychosocial growth through bereavement

Answer 27

• Bereavement brings new opportunities for psychosocial growth.
• Process of bereavement alternates between loss-oriented coping and restoration-oriented coping.
• Introjection allows the bereaved person to keep the dead person alive and to preserve their relationship.
• Thoughts are likely to turn to one’s own death.

Question 28

whatstheage discrimination act

Answer 28

aims to ensure that all Australians at all ages are treated fairly.

Question 29

our responses to the elderly abuse

Answer 29

• Gratitude
• Respect
• Neglect
• Elder abuse: According to the World Health Organization: “Elder abuse is a violation of human rights and a significant cause of illness, injury, loss of productivity, isolation and despair.

Question 30

what are pssobile warning signs of elder abuse

Answer 30

• Belittling, threats, and other uses of power and control by spouses are indicators of verbal or emotional abuse.
• Tense relationships and frequent arguments between caregiver and elderly person are also signs.
• Bruises, abrasion, burns
• Unexplained withdrawal from activities or unusual depression
• Sudden changes in financial situations from exploitation
• Bedsores, unattended medical needs, poor hygiene, unusual weight loss

Question 31

2. What did the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) small qualitative research highlight regarding elder abuse?

Answer 31

They always feel like its their fault, self blame, shame, wanted re-compensation for the financial and not criminal proceedings

Question 32

what are the risk factors for elder abuse

Answer 32

Isolation
Changing family structures, which can break down traditional structures of providing family care for older family members
Perhaps financial pressures on children, including rising housing costs, leading to so-called ‘inheritance impatience’
Even a desire for ‘payback’ by adult children where there has been perceived or actual mistreatment by parents when the kids were younger
Ageist attitudes to older people also play a part, as does the disempowerment of people as they age: These attitudes permeate all sectors: individuals, the commercial sector, media, service providers and policy makers.