It is an unfortunate fact that Alice's self-perception and its reinforcement by social and media images of age and aging is hardly unique. Older people, and especially those in retirement and care communities, tend to be perceived as old, frail, and unable to continue any sort of contribution to society. This tends to hasten the aging process and, in cases like Alice's, perpetuates a vicious cycle in which aging becomes a curse rather than the blessing that she was first to those around her and then to her husband.
According to Holstein, Parks, and Waymack (2011, p. 11), one important component of care giving and retirement communities is respecting the autonomy of older individuals by providing them with meaningful choice. This means that older people in such communities should be provided with choices that match their remaining cognitive and physical abilities.
When applied to Alice's case, her residence in the retirement community probably means that she is perceived as a person who no longer can or wishes to make meaningful contributions to society in terms of volunteer work. This has been gradually reinforced, first by her move away from the banana group and their active social roles to the mild friendships within the retirement community, and finally to the extreme isolation created by her care for her husband after his stroke. This isolation created for Alice a sense of loneliness that she did not perceive until after his death. All the meaning she derived from life during the last years with her husband derived from his care. Hence, her isolation from her social connections and roles were reinforced by her withdrawal from these connections.
To help Alice reestablish her sense of self-worth, more will be needed than simply calling her "pretty" or trying to convince her that she is still physically attractive. Alice's perception of her mirror image as an "old lady" should be recognized as far more than a physical condition. It is an emotional and spiritual condition...
The service provider should then be able to assess the specific needs of the elderly person and give advice about the best option for living facilities. Becoming older and more frail often also means being the victim of not only increasing financial constraints, but also of various types of abuse. Elderly abuse is a concern that has increasingly come to the attention of authorities as an unfortunate by-product of an
Aging The social issue in which I am interested is how the aging of society will affect the way that we view the elderly. The idea here is that population growth via the baby boom created a generation that had the economic means -- by virtue of the ratio of working age people to elderly -- to remain at a distance from the elderly. The textbook describes how this generation (and
The strike at Heligoland Bight was not intended to seriously hurt the German fleet. Rather, it was intended to distract Germany from the landing of marines at Ostend in Belgium. Catching the German fleet completely by surprise in its own port, German light cruisers engaged the Royal Navy without proper cover. The Germans lost 3 light cruisers and a destroyer, as well as more than 1,000 men. In great
As she points out, researcher Leonard Hayflick realizes the difference, and notes that ending aging and curing signs of aging are two very different issues. According to Hayflick, even if all causes of disease and signs of aging were cured, the human being could only extend life by 15 years or less. This is because, while signs of aging may be reduced by such products as Relastin Skin Revitalizer™,
Neither is any proper information available on the cost of treatment and care giving. In the absence of old age homes and nursing centers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there is lack of information on how to properly take care and handle those old aged people who are suffering from the Alzheimer's disease. Such patients who live with their families and relatives are unable to receive proper treatment
How is this achieved? By focusing on what one has accomplished in life and taking pleasure in it: the knowledge that one has raised strong, smart children; that the life one has lived as been one full of meaningful relationships; that one has given something to society; and, that their life has had meaning because of all of these things. This is what Erikson called "generativity," (2009) though Peck
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