Unit 4 : P4

Over the Christmas holidays, which was a good opportunity for me to see whether the disengagement theory or whether the activity theory has a bigger affect on Elaine and her Husband. They say that as individuals get older, they are expected to physically decline , which increases the likelihood of them excluding themselves from society, however this wasn’t the case for Elaine and her husband. Throughout their life, they have experienced factors from both the social disengagement theory and the activity theory, which I will be explaining .
I also asked a few questions to Elaine and her husband Jim regarding their daily life:
1. How much physical activity do you take part in daily?
They both answered by saying they start their day with a morning jog to the gym which lasts a duration of 20 minutes to the gym and then they have an hour workout session and a jog back home. Personally this shows that both individuals are very active as they take part in physical actives to ensure that they are fit and maintaining a healthy diet, and this shows that the activity theory is proven to make sure individuals are happy when taking part in physical activity and they both said that they feel fresh and relaxed when exercising , and it’s must do everyday.
2. How do you feel about getting old and have you experienced any change physically?
Jim said he hasn’t thought of getting old as he physically feels the same however he has experienced a problem with his skin as it has became thinner and hair loss and Elaine has experienced hair loss and menopause which suggests that both individuals are getting older however haven’t become disengaged ad they meet their friends and family on a regular basis.
A factor from the activity theory, which is seen and identified is that Elaine and her husband still remain active during their middle age, as they was working which allowed them both to stay physically active as they experienced a sense of movement in order to work and receive an income to provide for their family, also this allowed them both to have a good social life ad they was able to meet their colleagues and interact with one another. Elaine’s development was affected physically, intellectually , emotionally, and socially as she was able to learn new things and meet new people and also her husband was able to have time to himself and go out with friends to do things he enjoyed, which kept them both busy and stress free and this also prevented depression as they was both happy. They also had family around each other as well as themselves , which affected them both positively as they was able to see them often, and this enabled them to feel valued and have a high self esteem which made them confidence and reduced the risk of them becoming depressed as they knew that they support if they need it, to overcome their problems. Also the activity theory also may not apply to Elaine and her husband during later adulthood, as during this stage both the individuals began to smoke and drink, which made them experienced a sense of physical change such as they wasn’t able to breath properly and had to regularly visit the doctor and counselling in order to prevent them both experiencing health problems such a damaged liver in the future which would require them to go to health and social care services to receive medical treatment, such as they will be smoking and drinking which will increase their likelihood of ending up in a care home when they become older and this will be the stage when they will experience disengagement as they will have an experience physical decline and this will be the main factor of why they won’t beable to into engage with their friends and visit new place and this will decrease their knowledge on geographic areas. A factor of the disengagement theory that is applied to Elaine and her husband is that they’ve both became older, and they’ve both began to withdraw from society, as they’ve gotten older they have less energy and physical ability to see their colleagues and family anymore, due to the limitation of transport and capabilities .this will be the main cause of them being isolated as they have no contact with anyone but each other which will affect them emotionally, as they’ll feel low and insignificant and they’ll experience a change as they don’t have the same social life ad they did before. However the disengagement theory can be seen as not being applied to their life, as in their working life they was seen as very active and fit, however the activity theory could be used to improve their well-being and health as it will ensure that they’re social life will be how it was before, they was in hospital having a heart operation due to the intake of alcohol and tobacco.