Summary: Cognitive Decline With Aging

For our group’s final term paper, I’ve been working on the part that requires the application of Erikson’s psychosocial theory and Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model to better understand and analyze the issue of dementia on older adults. From what I have gone through researching for my parts, I found the discourse of dementia has been dominated by a “medicalized” notion of dementia. Such “medicalized” notion has presented us and the general public a gloomy view of ageing: a horrible disease that only associated with irreversible deterioration of intellectual functioning, and that “nothing can be done” to it. For me, I had been fortunate not to have any personal experiences with dementia as no one in my family had this disease, but before

As we age and become older we change physically and mentally. Delirium, Depression, and Dementia are some of the most common psychological diagnoses in older people today.

Dementia is a chronic and progressive syndrome that affects the elderly resulting in the deterioration of intellect and cognitive function such as memory, judgement, orientation and the ability to process thoughts. Dementia is estimated to affect 50 million adults worldwide every year [1]. In Singapore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported that dementia affected approximately 20,000 Singaporean elderly in 2010, corresponding to a prevalence of 5.7% among elderly aged 65 years and above [2]. More recently, a cross-sectional survey done in 2015 reported that the prevalence of dementia had increased to 10% in the elderly population of Singapore [3]. Given the high prevalence of dementia in the elderly population, it is no surprise

The process of aging in not an unfamiliar topic to society and is an inevitable phase of life. Since 2011, the number of older individuals are increasing annually particularly those from the baby boomer generation. The life expectancy has been increasing with people living longer thanks to modern medicine. These occurrences are proof that civilization is growing exponentially, however the process of aging also means that the older individuals are facing dilemmas such as decreased physical functions, financial instability from retirement, and abuse. Even older adults who are independent may face some limitations. To address these issues, Congress has passed several acts to decrease the number of elderly abuse and improve living conditions.

A large collection of evidence has been accumulating over the past two decades, revealing the impact that social factors have on health at both individual and population levels [1]. This is not to say that medical has no impact on health outcomes, rather that evidence suggests medical care is not the only contributor when determining who is more vulnerable to becoming injured or ill [2]. This has been highlights in an early study by McKeown [3], who attributed the large increase in life expectancy since the 19th century to be due to a change in living conditions. Although advances in medical care would likely have made significant contributions towards

My grandfather is socially active and if ever he becomes socially disengaged the health care sector will try and help him find a solution where he could prevent becoming more disengaged to the public. Also, the health and social care sector still encourages elderly who are active to stay active in order to prevent social disengagement. To conclude, old age people feels that sometimes society shuts them off because they have limited set of skills but they need to make sure that they would try to avoid being socially withdrawn by being more active to prevent them from being fully disengaged.

As I emerged myself into this week’s material, my main takeaway is that I do not think about aging. I know most men in my family live to be in their 70s and women into the 70s to 90s, but I do not think about aging from a personal aspect. I am aware that death will eventually come but with my son about to turn two, it is not something I sit and ponder. Not to mention that I will be reaching the 25 year mark next April, which to me is still very young. This made me recall the comments that Dan Buettner made in his TED lecture and how he compared other cultures to the American culture in terms of aging. I think one of the things that concerned me was the increase in isolation it appears that Americans have put themselves in. Buettner explains, “That fifteen years ago the average American had three good friends, and that is now down to one and half” (2009). This leads me to two questions and whether or not the make an impact when it comes to increasing the life spans of Americans. The first deals with friends and whether having them can help to expand one’s life or not? The second deals with

Memory is an important aspect of life as you are able to remember old memories and create new ones as well. In this paper, the focus is primarily on dementia. Declarative memory, procedural memory, and recall are various topics that are used to understand the roles they may play in dementia. Each topic is discussed in a paragraph. In each paragraph I introduce and explain the topic, then provide an example from the movie, The Notebook (Emmerich, Harris, Johnson, Kaplan, & Cassavetes, 2014). As I discuss each example, I will also explain how it demonstrates and links to the concept. The paper concludes with a brief discussion about the struggle between portraying accuracy of psychological topics in movies, as it was confusing for me to understand some of the connections.

Santrock (2015) defined socioemotional selectivity theory as the tendency of older adults to become selective of their social networks. Elderlies are believed to withdraw from social contacts with individuals peripheral to their lives and maintain or increase their contact with individuals with whom they have rewarding relationship such as their close friends and family members which can help them to maximize positive emotional experiences and minimize emotional risks (p. 571). This can be supported by Zettel-Watson and Rook (2009) who stated that new friendships are less likely to be forged especially following the death of a spouse and Charles and Piazza (2007) who discussed that elderlies experienced less intense

Long life has always been considered a blessing. Today, the people of the United States are enjoying the benefit of living much longer than ever before in history. However, there is a flipside to this coin of longevity. The population of the United States is aging at an unprecedented rate. “In 2010, 40 million people age 65 and over accounted for 13 percent of the total population in the United States.” (An Aging Nation) These numbers are expected to double by 2050, with one in every five Americans older than 65. Experts agree that this “Graying of America” will have enormous effects on society. Consequently, society must find ways to adapt to its changes and challenges.

This article journal is from: The Gift of Years by Joan Chittister. In the past, we often hear of people who wanted their name to be remembered throughout history. Whether it be a Roman gladiator, a foreign ruler, or a philosopher, many just wanted their name to be known for all of time. They believed that they left a legacy if their names went down in history. One of the most painful things is that there are graves of unknown soldiers or unclaimed bodies (Chittister 215). She explains that it is not the death, but rather that we have no way of knowing what legacy that the person left behind. In modern times, a legacy does not mean what it meant in the past. In modern times, leaving a legacy is often thought of as leaving physical items or

Isolating from the public allows so much of a difference to be made in mental health which leads to physical health. Without public interaction, humans will not have the estate of normality. Isolation is destructive to the body. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” ,a short story, and Social Disconnectedness, Perceived Isolation, and Health among Older Adults, explains how mental health generates to physical health in a way that is very invidious. Social isolation is not only unhealthy to younger adults, but it also causes older adults to feel socially disconnected and seemingly isolated.

treatment plans, and are forced to give up autonomy (Williams 2012). Ageism is often a part of the psychology of older patients themselves and their families, and can have untoward effects on medical outcomes by underestimating the capacities of older people. Negative elder bias continues to be socially acceptable and bears impact on the ways in which younger people interact with them. Different tones of voice, speaking slower or more loudly are methods often employed when younger people communicate with older adults. This behavior can be seen as demeaning, and the elderly see the message it sends as one of devaluing them (Williams 2012). Improper attitudes by healthcare staff toward the elderly can lead older patients to become complicit with their physicians, believing that the stereotypical symptoms of aging, such as cognitive decline, functional impairment, pain and others are to be expected to accompany all people into old age (Williams 2012). This shared, semiotic attitude of fatalism can prevent physicians and older patients alike from seeing the elderly as capable and productive managers of their own lives.

Dementia has become a major health problem because of the worldwide increase in elderly populations, especially those 80 years of age or older. From the results of 47 studies, the prevalence of moderate or severe dementia was estimated to be 10.5 percent among those 85 to 89 years old. Few people were studied in these age groups, which makes the available prevalence figures uncertain.

Elderly people need special attention. One of the common age-related problem that affects a person’s ability to think, decrease in daily functioning, and memory loss that gets worsen through time is what we called dementia. It commonly occurs to elderly but is not considered as a normal part of aging. Dementia is defined as: