Lecture Script: The Elderly – Living Life to the Fullest
Today, there are approximately 53.5 million elderly people aged 65 years or older living in the United States, accounting for about 16% of the total population (United States people, 2019). This demographic group is also the fastest growing in the country, and current projections indicate the there will be far more elderly people in the foreseeable future who are living to even older ages. Indeed, some scientists believe that due to ongoing innovations in health care and medical device technologies, humans born today could live to reach 150 years and even older (Glor, 2012). Given these astounding trends in human history, the question emerges concerning how the elderly can best maintain their quality of life as they become centenarians and beyond. The purpose of this lecture script is to provide a review of the relevant scholarly literature concerning these issues, followed by a summary of the research and key findings in the conclusion.
Review and Discussion
The World Health Organization (WHO) has advocated an aging model wherein the elderly remain robust and active. In this context, the definition of quality of life provided by WHO states that this is “individuals’ perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns” (as cited in Singh & Srivastava, 2014, p. 12). Maintaining the quality of life, however, becomes increasingly difficult as people grow ever older. In this regard, Olson (2018) advises that, “The frail elderly often suffer from a combination of multiple chronic diseases that produce disability and predispose them to vulnerability [to] acute illness. The proportion of those who are limited in their ability to care for themselves has been rising” (p. 548). In fact, an unfortunate and undesirable concomitant outcome of innovations in health care and medical device technologies has been the extension of life for many elderly people who experience profound suffering due to their age-related disabilities and infirmities. Moreover, it is reasonable to posit that these issues will become even more pronounced as people grow even older in the foreseeable future.
One issue in particular deserves mentioning at this point. One of the most common methods of prolonging life for the elderly is the use of feeding tubes. These devices require painful surgical insertion and deny the elderly with one of the fundamental pleasures they have enjoyed all of their lives – eating and tasting...…with others, including family members and friends who may be geographically distant. In addition, a growing body of scholarship is being devoted to identifying opportunities to reduce the negative effects of loneliness among the elderly, including depression, anxiety, elevated blood pressure and cortisol as well as heightened responses to stress and cardiovascular diseases (Singh & Srivastava, 2014). This does not mean, of course, that loneliness among the elderly is going to be solved overnight, but these findings do underscore the fact that the problem is widely recognized and young researchers recognize that they too will join the ranks of the elderly and will need timely and effective solutions to these issues. In other words, the heat is on!
Conclusion
The research showed that there are currently around 53.5 million people aged 65 years and older living in the United States, and this demographic group is the fastest-growing in the country. The research also showed that people are going to be living far longer in the foreseeable future, with some scientists projecting life expectancies well over 100 years and even as high as 150 years Taken together, these trends are merging into a perfect storm for the elderly unless their quality of life requirements are taken into account as they grow…
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