What do you really know about the lifestyles of aging population? What do you know about aging and its effects? There are more myths about older people than they are of any other stage of people’s lives. Aging in America is a success story for public health policies and socioeconomic development, and as a society it forces us to maximize the health and functional capacity of the ageing American. A portion of Americans 65 years and over will make 13 percent of the U.S. population and is expected to rise in fewer than 25 years, which will increase, to 20 percent by the year 2050. A number of ageing Americans are living longer and staying increasingly active and for older adult’s good health ensures independence. With millions of Americans aging they struggle daily with health challenges, physical changes, psychological problems which all can impact their quality of life.
Effects of Aging
As you age so does your body, the aging process affects more then just what meets the eye. The aging process will affect a lot of different parts of your body, physically, internally and externally. The immune system, bones, joints, muscles, eyes, ears, organs, the brain are all affected during the aging process. These elements are affected differently and while they all happen for different reasons some they is research that help you to deal with the different issues.
It is not clear as to how, but aging affects you immune system. A study lead by Laura Santambrogio M.D., P.H.D, an associate professor of pathology and microbiology and Immunology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, showed several ways that aging affects the overall function of the immune system. With out going in-depth of the biological side, stud...
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... to combat this issue that faces aging in America. Care need to be the top quality administered from all medical professionals. This will make customers of healthcare feel at ease with coming to them for help. If more aging customers are utilizing healthcare, then this will provide them with the fundamental knowledge of how to properly take care of them and most importantly dispel myths about the elderly. To meet the future demands of the aging population, policymakers, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders are going to need to take action in order to build a high-qualified workforce. Making it affordable to students and substantial enough for teachers is key for the future medical professional. Hopefully in the future for aging Americans, many of these problems in this healthcare system will be resolved and the ones that aren’t will be pacified to a minimal.
Jacobsen, L. A., Kent, M., Lee, M., & Mather, M. (2001). America's aging population. Population Bulletin, 66(1).
Prominent musician, Celine Dion, once said, “There’s no such thing is aging, but maturing and knowledge. It’s beautiful, I call that beauty.” To many, growing old is just a natural, beautiful part of life. It is inevitable. It is inescapable. The functionalist perspective of sociology states that the elderly perform a function in order to keep society running with ease. Functionalists focus on the disengagement theory and how people tend to disengage from society as they approach death. Symbolic interactionists focus on how environmental factors and relationships with others affect the aging experience, focusing on the activity theory and the continuity theory (Carl, 2011, p. 220). Conflict theorists focus on the discrepancies that arise between different age groups. They also focus on the economical side of aging and the issues that may arise due to an active elderly population (Carl, 2011, p. 221).
A lot of things seem to change as we age. Our perception of things and how we tend to view life naturally changes. Also, we are bound to change physically. A transition from youthful days to the old age days will definitely leave us weaker than we used to. This can be attributed to the loss of bone mass after the age of 30. Both men and women will reach their maximum bone mass at this age after which it will be a matter of maintaining it.
The term “ageism” is not easily understood by most of the population because of its acceptance as normal behavior due to the ingrained attitudes that most people develop in their youth, but health care workers must fully embrace the term within their profession in order to avoid becoming a contributor to the historical prevalence of prejudices and discrimination. The term ageism is defined by Klein and Liu (2010) as “the discrimination of individuals based solely on age” (p. 334). “Ageism is a social construct that is internalized in the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of individuals” (Klein & Liu, 2010, p. 334). Robert Butler, a well-known gerontologist, coined the term “ageism” citing that the discrimination and prejudice associated with this term is often based on the lack of a person’s experience with older people (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). Ferrini and Ferrini (2013) refer to the strong influence that cultural beliefs and attitudes as well as a person’s current age influence the perception of aging (p. 6). Everywhere within society there are influences that encourage ageist attitudes such as media conveyances through movies, books, television, greeting cards, magazines and the Internet (Ferrini and Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). These negative connotations related to growing older begin to influence all people at a very young age and therefore impact their attitudes as they make career decisions. This has directly impacted the number of health care providers who specialize in geriatrics as well as the attitudes of those who do provide services for older adults. These false perceptions and negative attitudes are currently impacting the q...
The cardiac muscle of the other adult is extended and the contraction the heart muscles are decreased. Although, this occurs it usually does not affect them unless they are suffering from some type of physical or mental illness. In the musculoskeletal system of the elderly person the bone density is reduced to the loss of calcium. Thus, leading to poor posture, joint pain, and brittle bones which can lead to an increased risk falls or accidental injuries.
Aging occurs in every species. Over time a change occurs on a cellular level in a person’s body, which causes degenerative effects on the brain, muscles, organs, bones, hormones, and DNA. In 1991, the book Evolutionary Biology of Aging, offered the following definition of aging: a persistent decline in the age-specific fitness components of an organism due to internal physiological deterioration.1 Aging affects the body physically and mentally. Many people dread getting older due to the numerous changes the body goes through. The geriatric population experiences many pains and is inflicted with various diseases. There are a few who are lucky enough to not get diagnosed with a life altering disease, such as Alzheimer’s, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, macular degeneration, or some form of cancer. Studies have shown that genetics play a vital role in the aging process.
The existing U.S. population is over 315 million and rising. In the year 2030, 72 million Americans will be 65 or older, a 50 percent change in age demographics since the year 2000. The change is primarily due to the aging baby boomers, who were born at the end of World War II. Americans are living longer than ever befo...
As the population of the United States ages and lifespan increases, the U.S. is being faced with challenges that could either hurt the country or benefit it if plans are executed correctly. By the year 2050, more than thirty-two million Americans will be over the age eighty and the share of the 80-plus generation will have doubled to 7.4 percent. Health care and aging population has become a great deal considering the impact it is having on the U.S. The United States is heading into another century with an outstanding percentage of people within the aging population. Today’s challenges involving health care and the aging populations are the employees of health professions being a major percentage of the aging population, the drive into debt, and prevention and postponement of disease and disability.
Today, the world’s population is aging at a very fast pace and the United States is no exception to this demographic change. According to the U.S Census Bureau, senior citizens will account for 21% of the American population in 2050 (Older Americans, 2012). Although living longer lives may not seem like a negative sign, living longer does not necessarily mean living healthier. Older adults of today are in need of long-term health care services more than any generation before them (Older Americans, 2012). Because of the growing need for senior care, millions of families are facing critical decisions on how to provide care for their parents.
Older adults are a very knowledgeable population and have had a lot of life experiences. As people age, things start to change physically, mentally, and socially. It’s important to understand the process of aging, so that older adults can be taken care of properly. I interviewed P.R. who is a 71-year-old male that lives alone in his home. P.R. is a retired coal miner, and is currently living off his social security and savings. He lives close to both his daughter and son, who frequently help him out with things that are needed. P.R. was able to give me a lot of insight about specific challenges that he has experienced in his life that is associated with aging. I will be discussing challenges that P.R experienced physically, mentally,
As we grow older our bodies begin to degenerate, and stop working. There are many different kinds of diseases that we are subject to as we age, cancers, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, and many others. All have a negative affect on our lives, making it difficult to function. Arthritis is the second leading chronic disease in the United States.
Late adulthood should be a time in a person's life where they feel fulfilled. They can look back on their memories and be happy with the way they have lived their life. Now, too many elderly people are not satisfied and look at this stage as depressing. Most fear death of either a loved one or for themselves. This topic is interesting to me because elderly people should make the best of their last stage of life. This topic discusses about getting older, the life changes that they go through physically, emotionally, and mentally. We should know more about it so that we can help our family and friends get through one of the best, yet toughest part of our mortal life.
As American society has evolved in the past 100 years and technology has increased and improved, so has the life expectancy for individuals. Currently, females can expect to live for 81 years on average, while males can expect to live for 75 years, giving an average life expectancy of 78.3 years (Santrock, 2013, p.536). According to Santrock (2013), “since 1900, improvements in medicine, nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle have increased our life expectancy an average of 30 additional years,” but another important factor is the decreasing infant mortality, allowing a larger population of people, including older adults (p.536). Making good choices in diet, regular exercise, avoiding drugs and alcohol, along with getting enough sleep and maintaining a low and healthy stress level can all increase life expectancy. Relationships, emotional well-being, and having purpose all also play an important role in determining how long an individual will live. As people are living longer, more ...
Some health concerns come with aging into middle adulthood. Physical changes that one might see is that of gray and thinning hair, wrinkles,
As a person grows old, it is inevitable to have both physical and cognitive changes happen throughout their lifetime. In an average life span, a person’s physical and cognitive changes will normally vary depending on what age group they are in. For example, it is said that from birth to age five, a child will absorb more information including how to talk, language, form relationships, and fine motor skills than any other age. It is also said that that most rapid decline in physical ability is in older adults ranging from a loss in eyesight to severe dementia.