...Late Adulthood and the End of Life Marcia Fortson PSY 375 May 29, 2012 Judith Sugg, Ph.D. Late Adulthood and the End of Life Senescence is part of the aging process starting from adolescence. People go through various aging periods in life that will eventually lead to the late adulthood stage or old age. This is a natural stage where a person will reminisce and reflect on the various struggles they went through and accomplishments they made. The late adulthood stage is a period where reflection on the choices that were made within one’s life while growing up, whether they were good or bad, happy or sad are remembered. The different views and issues that a person will experience within the late adulthood stage will be discussed below. How Can Individuals Promote Health and Wellness into Late Adulthood and Mitigate the Negative Effects of Aging? To promote health and wellness within the late adulthood stage a person needs to get the proper rest because sleep is important for the brain and body to function properly. A senior will us selective optimization with compensation when and if they are capable of driving themselves places. It is important for seniors to take care of their nutrition and stay at a healthy stable weight. In this stage of life, fewer calories are needed but it is important for them to eat a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables including complex carbohydrates like grains and cereals (Berger, 2008). To help seniors maintain an active memory they...
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...Late Adulthood and End of Life Paper Yvonne Harris PSY/375 Matthew Warren 21 November 2011 Late Adulthood and End of Life Paper As one progresses through the many stages of life and eventually die, there are easily identifiable periods of growth; yet the older one gets the more indiscernible relative changes become. This paper will discuss late adulthood and death, placing emphasis on the following: how individuals can promote health and wellness into late adulthood and mitigate the negative effects of aging, an analysis of ageism and stereotypes associated with late adulthood, an exploration of different views of death and dying at different points in human development, and an examination of the attitudes of various cultures towards death and dying. Getting older does not have to mean that one gets sicker. Of course as we age our reflexes slow and the passage of time may appear more noticeably on one’s face. Yes we do get older, all of us; it is called senescence. Senescence is the process of aging and all humans go through it. But as previously stated one does not need to get sicker just because they get older. Some of the ways to promote wellness in an older adult include but are not limited to the following: exercise and dieting, eliminating unhealthy habits such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and establishing healthy personal relationships. Older adults should be proactive in the pursuit...
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...Late Adulthood and End of Life Verna Gillespie PSY/375 January 22, 2012 Dr. Lynn Seiser Late Adulthood and End of Life Life is a series of continuous ebbs and flows. Life span development goes through the cycles and stages of infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early or emerging adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood; it is the definitive culmination to the end of life (Berger, 2008). Descending toward the end of life in late adulthood can be despairing, but it does not have to be if one has psychologically prepared for and has accepted that death is inevitable. Senescence, primary aging and secondary aging each take place at this stage, but perspective, quality, and joy of life is still relevant. Eric Erickson, psychologist, defines the late adulthood stage—ages 55 or 65 to death, basically as adults assessing what their lives have cultivated throughout its development. Erickson’s theory of the final stage of development sequence is “integrity versus despair” (Berger, 2008). According to Berger, Erickson proposes in this eighth stage that the two opposing forces reference: Life brings many, quite realistic reasons for experiencing despair: aspects of the present that causes unremitting pain; aspects of a future that are uncertain and frightening. And, of course, there remains inescapable death, that one aspect of the future which is both wholly certain and wholly unknowable. Thus, some despair must be acknowledged and integrated as a component...
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...Through death comes the pain of life that can be hand in two ways. In the way to cry and let the pain show then the other one is to hand it the way u need to for your family. Death it the place that no one want it can be a blessing or a cures because now the love ones are died. Looking through the eyes of death through different development of life span leading to the end of life where it comes to a death of itself. These topics, late adulthood and the death of individual as a culmination, ageism and stereotypes associated with late adulthood, how individuals can promote health wellness into late adulthood, mitigate the negative effects of aging, the importance of relationships and social interactions as individual nears end of life, cultural and personal attitudes about death, and dignity through late adulthood. Late adulthood and the death of individual as a culmination Late adulthood for an individual that helps, they find a way to handle accepting death. Then an individual that see death through his or her own eyes learn how to handle this. Therefore, through culminating through the life span of development they build up different ways in how to see death and deal with it. Death is the process where lives have end or is it to mean a new life. Lives come and go through different meaning to them through death. It is time to just to see that death is right behind and just spend with family and love your life and all. Death is the real as life is death but in time it a new beginning...
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...Late Adulthood and Death Vee Dubb PSY/280 September 8, 2012 Jones Adam Late Adulthood and Death Most people agreed upon that “whatever has a beginning must come to a halt or reaches climax eventually”. The race of one’s life begins at conception in the womb and ends with death. This stage of life is a period of reminiscing, socializing with friends, family especially grandchildren, and maintain a sustainable health as one journey’s to dying. Meanwhile, human growth and development study made us understand that the race of one’s life is in stages from the point of conception to an infant, to a childhood stage, to an adolescent stage, to an adulthood stage, to an elderly, and finally to end of life and the study as well made us understand the extensive changes throughout lifespan; Consequently, it is known the reason why most toddlers says “No”, and why many adolescent pay attention to their body without criticizing any stage of these lifespan stages. The same concept is applicable to elders or late adulthood people and having a discriminatory ideology towards a person because of his/her age or people of late adulthood stage would be considered uncivilized or uneducated act or a novice to the study of human growth and development. Late adulthood can be a challenge because of the signs of aging from middle adult continues and increased as one aged. Late adulthood individual may face with significant changes including brittle bones, hearing impaired, visual problems...
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...Running Head: LATE ADULTHOOD & DEATH Late Adulthood and Death Paper Late Adulthood and Death The final years of an individual's lifespan mark the time for reflection of one's life while also spending time with family, including grandchildren, and maintaining physical and mental health throughout the entire stage of late adulthood. Quality of life in late adulthood is determined by genetics, the modification of destructive lifestyles and behaviors, and selecting healthier options not only throughout the earlier stages of development but especially in this stage for improvements to health and having an overall sense of well-being (Berger, 2008). Remaining socially active and independent for as long as possible instead of succumbing to isolating is key during this stage of adulthood (Berger, 2008). The more adults in this stage of aging that live socially active, healthy, and physically active lives while maintaining important family roles the more individuals will be refraining from the negative and stereotypical thoughts of ageism which will assist in their premature decline. High quality medical care assisted by technology can provide aging adults comfort knowing they are helping to protect and safeguard younger generations as science learns from the older generations. Ageism and Stereotypes In late adulthood, there are many stereotypes and unfavorable understandings of older adults (Emotional and Social Development in Late Adulthood, n.d.). Ageism...
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...Late Adulthood and Death Paper Late Adulthood and Death The final years of an individual's lifespan mark the time for reflection of one's life while also spending time with family, including grandchildren, and maintaining physical and mental health throughout the entire stage of late adulthood. Quality of life in late adulthood is determined by genetics, the modification of destructive lifestyles and behaviors, and selecting healthier options not only throughout the earlier stages of development but especially in this stage for improvements to health and having an overall sense of well-being (Berger, 2009). Remaining socially active and independent for as long as possible instead of succumbing to isolating is key during this stage of adulthood (Berger, 2009). In the stage of late adulthood living socially active, healthy, and physically active lives while maintaining important family roles is very important , which illiminates some stressor of aging that may be brought on by negative and stereotypical thoughts of ageism which will assist in their premature decline. High quality medical care assisted by technology can provide aging adults comfort knowing they are helping to protect and safeguard younger generations as science learns from the older generations. Ageism and Stereotypes In late adulthood, there are a lot of stereotypes and misunderstandings of older adults (Emotional and Social Development in Late Adulthood, n.d.). Ageism and perceptions against someone’s...
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...Late Adulthood and Death Paper Late Adulthood and Death Paper In regards to late adulthood and death, there are many complex and complicated sub topics that can surround this main topic. It is important to understand this though, and to be able to understand this will give you a better insight into how to deal with this. Every human being will be lucky to experience late adulthood, because there are some people who unfortunately don’t ever have the chance to live into their later life. This paper will go into detail about ageism and stereotypes as it pertains to today’s society. Health and wellness at this time is also very important to learn about and to apply to every day life when you are within your late adulthood timeframe. This paper will also discuss the importance and having relationships and social interaction; this will be a primary source of mental health. Last, this paper will go into detail about cultural and personal attitudes; this will be key when it comes to your behavior and view of yourself and others. Ageism and Stereotypes To begin, ageism and stereotypes related with late adulthood describes is known to be ones prejudice or discrimination that happens because of age. When thinking about ageism, we must look at the disconnection theory (Cumming & Henry, 1961) that suggests adults voluntarily decrease contact with society, rather than experiencing isolation later and the disappointment not selected. Other ageism statements describe older people being...
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...Late Adulthood: Death and Dying Late adulthood (old age) is generally considered to begin at about age 65. Erik Erikson, a famous psychoanalyst, suggests that at this time it is important to find meaning and satisfaction in life rather than to become bitter and disillusioned, that is to resolve the conflict of integrity vs. despair. Integrity occurs when the individual can look back on the events of earlier life with pleasure about what has taken place and the people one has helped to develop, and a sense of having lived a complete life (Carducci 193). Despair occurs when the elderly individual looks back on his or her life with a sense of incompleteness about what has not been done or will never be done and realizes that his or her time on earth is running out (Carducci 193). In late adulthood, attitudes about death shift: anxiety decreases, hope rises. According to the text, “this shift in attitudes is beneficial…many developmentalists believe that one sign of mental health among older adults is acceptance of mortality, increasing altruistic concern about those who will live after them” (Berger 580). There are three proposed explanations for the relatively low level of fear of death among older adults: “(1) they may accept death more easily than others because they have been able to live long, full lives; (2) they may have come to accept their own deaths as a result of a socialization process through which they repeatedly experience the death of others; and (3) they may...
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...Late Adulthood and Death PSY/375 October 13, 2011 Late Adulthood and Death * In this paper the author will analyze late adulthood and the death of an individual as a culmination of the life span development process. Examine ageism and stereotypes, how individuals can promote health and wellness. Explore different views of death and dying at different points in human development, and identify some cultural and personal attitudes about death and dignity in late adulthood. First people must know what late adulthood is, late adulthood is considered to be between the ages fifty five to sixty five years of age. By Erikson’s Developmental Stages this is the Integrity vs. Despair stage of development. Erikson felt that much of life is preparing for the middle adulthood stage and the last stage is recovering from it. Perhaps that is because as older adults we can often look back on our lives with happiness and are content, feeling fulfilled with a deep sense that life has meaning and we've made a contribution to life, a feeling Erikson calls integrity. Our strength h comes from a wisdom that the world is very large and we now have a detached concern for the whole of life, accepting death as the completion of life. On the other hand, some adults may reach this stage and despair at their experiences and perceived failures. They may fear death as they struggle to find a purpose to their lives, wondering "Was the trip worth it?" Alternatively, they may feel they have all...
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...Case Study of Human Development Development throughout life differs from individual to individual. Each person has their own agenda for cultural identity, growth, health, socioeconomic status, education, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and all inspire each person’s life story. Adulthood is frequently observed as when an individual is considered officially and developmentally prepared to hold responsibilities such as driving, voting, getting married, and entering the military. The course of becoming mature does not finish with adolescence but remains throughout adulthood as psychological, security and self-actualization requirements are met (Ehow, 1999-2011). Adulthood is separated into three categories, which are young adulthood, middle age and old age. In Erik Erikson's stages of human development, a young adult is an individual between the ages of 19 and 39. The early adulthood period in human development leads the middle adulthood phase. An individual in the middle adulthood stage is between 40 and 60 years old. An individual in their 60’s is considered late adulthood. During early adulthood the young adult phase includes the personal necessity for sex and intimacy. Isolation happens when an individual fails to achieve intimacy. The young adult finds out that love and compassion may help them to obtain what they desire. And when we don't find it easy to create satisfying relationships, our world can begin to shrink as, in defense, we can feel...
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...Late Adulthood and Death PSY/280 June 30, 2014 "Late adulthood is a time of reflection, enjoying friends, family, and grandchildren, and maintaining health in preparation for the final years of the lifespan. Although genetics play a significant role in the quality of life during these final years, individuals who modify destructive lifestyles and embark on healthier options will experience an improvement in their health and sense of wellbeing (Berger, 2008). During this stage of adulthood, older adults remain socially active and independent rather than subjecting themselves to isolation and withdrawal (Berger, 2008). As more aging adults continue to live healthy, socially active lives and maintain important family roles, it is important to refrain from stereotypical thought and the negativity of ageism, which can contribute to their premature decline. With technology and high quality medical care, aging adults continue to be a valuable resource for younger generations. Healthy habits and daily routines are essential for promoting health and wellness into late adulthood. Smoking, excessive drinking, lack of exercise, and overeating cost many individuals their ability to maintain an active and independent lifestyle as they age (Berger, 2008). Exercise and a healthy...
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...Later Adulthood Development Report Adriane McClendon BSHS/325 - HUMAN SYSTEMS AND DEVELOPMENT November 2, 2015 Susan W. Jernigan Over the time in their lives, most people can acquire protected attachments; cognitively, socially, and morally, and produce families and discover good jobs. Ultimately, though, as an individual enter into their 60s and beyond, getting older leads to quicker changes in our bodily, cognitive, and social capabilities and desires, and life starts to approach its natural ending, resulting in the last life stage, beginning in the 60s, known as late adulthood. "Social changes affect a person's decision. If they move, for example, to be closer to family, they will need to make new friends in the new environment, to cope with the loss of old friends, and to deal with the changing roles within the family dynamics as one becomes older." ("End-of-Life Decisions and Late Adulthood," 2007). When an individual enters late adulthood, they start to go through various changes in their role and social position in society. At one point in their life, they were young and had a prominent role in the decisions they made for themselves and others. Many elderly people are parents and grandparents and at one point had the role of being the caretaker of their offspring. During this time of their life this position changes, and it is usually their children taking care of them now. They do not have as much power over their life as they used to have and may not have...
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...phenomenon and changes are related to that individual’s biological status and social context. The article also includes views from Erik Erikson and American psychologist Daniel J. Levinson. According to Erikson, individuals are confronted by certain psychological demands at distinct parts of life. The example used is that young adults are faced with the expectation of getting married and starting a family, middle adulthood brings the crisis that develops between the sense of generativity and stagnation, while maturity, or old age, brings the crisis regarding the sense of ego integrity versus the sense of despair. Daniel Levinson also breaks up adult life, in men, into five periods called eras that, together, constitute an entire life-cycle structure. These eras are preadulthood (birth to age 22), early adulthood (age 17 to 45), middle adulthood (age 40 to 64), late adulthood (age 60 to 85), and late late adulthood (age 80 and over), with each era made up of different developmental periods and transitions. The article also describes the different transitional stages and includes a study that not only disagrees with Erikson and Levinson, but provides evidence for both change and constancy. The end of this section simply lists different studies that also focus on development, just with different parameters. The main reason I chose this article was because it seemed to be very credible. It included information that was both very...
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...Developmental Profile (Typical) Introduction Human development is the process of growth from a one-celled zygote through to a mature adult human being. Development occurs in the physical, cognitive and psychosocial realms and can be influenced by heredity, environment and maturation (Papalia et al., 2009). During childhood, typical physical development involves the acquisition of the fine and gross motor skills including coordination, control, movement and manipulation. Typical physical development during adolescence involves pubescent changes as the body develops and matures sexually. During young adulthood, physical development involves one’s organs and systems operating at peak efficiency. As an individual moves through to late adulthood, these systems slowly deteriorate along with overall health, stamina and strength. In terms of cognition, thinking and problem solving skills, conceptual understandings, information processing ability and overall intelligence develop throughout an individual’s lifespan. With respect to psychosocial, this includes how a person’s mind, emotions, and maturity levels evolve. In terms of this assignment, the purpose is to present a profile of a typical thirty-two year old male and to analyse his development through theoretical perspectives. My individual is named Andrew; he is single but dates regularly, Caucasian from North America, is university educated and works as an accountant for a bank. Andrew grew up in the suburbs...
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