Summary
Summary SLK 210 Chapter 6 notes- Successful Ageing and mental health
An in-depth summary of chapter 6 of the prescribed textbook 'Adult Development and Ageing'. These notes are based on the exam scope for the June exams.
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CHAPTER 6INTRODUCTION
The Older Persons Act, No.13 was put into effect in 2006.
o Evidence that the elderly are begging to receive the awareness they have been denied.
The objects of the Act are to:
o Maintain and promote the status, well-being, safety, and security of older persons.
o Maintain and protect the rights of older persons.
o Shift the emphasis from institutional care to community-based care to ensure that an older
person remains in his or her home in the community for as long as possible.
o Regulate the registration, establishment, and management of services and the establishment
and management of residential facilities for older persons.
o Combat the abuse of older persons.
SUCCESSFUL AGEING
Successful ageing became a popular term as it focused on the positive part of being elderly, rather than
focusing on the negatives.
Successful ageing brought new terms:
o Positive ageing, optimal ageing, effective ageing, independent ageing. healthy ageing, productive
ageing, and active ageing.
Successful ageing: Refers to the fact that persons are ageing well on all levels of their functioning;
therefore, physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially.
Rowe and Kahn identified a definition of successful ageing from their work at the MacArthur
Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging.
o According to this definition, successful ageing refers to
a) Freedom from disease and disease-related disability.
b) Maintaining high cognitive and physical functioning.
c) Active engagement in social and productive activities.
To age successfully, a person should reach all three of these criteria.
Some researchers are even critical of the term "successful ageing" because it excludes those persons
who do not meet arbitrary criteria.
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, Limitations to this model:
Methodological issues.
The inconsistency across studies in terms of conceptualization of the term and the
measures used to study successful ageing, so much so that the meaning of successful ageing
is more implied than delineated.
o Eg. In a review of 28 studies, Deppant Jeste identified 29 definitions.
This presents limitations to research on successful ageing.
Adaptations and extensions.
Researchers concerned with the empirical and methodological limitations of successful
ageing have responded by extending or adapting successful ageing criteria in other ways.
o Eg. Researchers such as Von Humbolat and Leal include the effective use of adaptive
strategies to optimise personal functioning within the limitations of personal abilities
and resources.
Objective and subjective meaning.
The subjective experience of each of these components by the individual is equally
important.
In studies using the Rowe-Kahn criteria and including older persons' view of their own
ageing process, only about one-fifth of the participants could be classified as ageing
successfully according to the Rowe-Kahn criteria, while more than half rated themselves as
ageing successfully.
The repeatedly demonstrated discrepancy between objective criteria and older individuals'
experiences and definitions of successful ageing have resulted in researchers arguing that a
combination of objective and subjective measures should be used in research.
o Eg. Pruchno et al. state that such a combination of methods could render a typology
"of successful ageing, whereby some people are successful according to both
definitions, others are successful to neither, and still, others are successful according to
one, but not the other definition".
This subjective component can also play an important role in the way successful ageing is
experienced differently in various cultures and value systems.
Overemphasis on biomedical factors.
The Rowe-Kahn model largely incorporated a medical framework in which usual ageing and
successful ageing could be differentiated.
Usual ageing refers to a normal decline in biological, physical, and cognitive functioning,
heightened by extrinsic or high-risk factors.
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, Successful ageing refers to minimal functional loss (e.g. little or no age-related decrease in
physiological and cognitive functioning), with extrinsic factors playing a neutral or positive
role.
Rowe and Kahn merged physical, cognitive, and lifestyle factors with measurable indicators
of disease and disability, which they coined the new gerontology.
However, this model fails to address the implication of the fact that a disease-free older age
is unrealistic for most.
o Studies that incorporated the perspectives of older adults into the model of successful
ageing found that optimism, effective coping styles, life satisfaction and well-being, as
well as social and community involvement, are much more important to ageing
successfully than traditional measures of physical health and wellness.
Personal choice.
The Rowe-Kahn successful ageing model over-emphasises personal choice, agency, and
lifestyle.
o Eg. The model assumes that ageing is largely under the control of the individual and
that successful ageing is dependent upon individual choices and behaviours.
This assumption neglects the various social and environmental factors and life situations
that either limit or facilitate personal choice and the capacity to age successfully.
FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT SUCCESSFUL AGEING
Some authors argue that variables such as culture, values, expectations, past experiences, subjectivity,
fluctuation in abilities, and individual differences make it very difficult to determine the main
components of successful ageing.
It is equally true that research has identified several factors that play a significant role in successful
ageing.
ATTITUDES TOWARDS AGEING
This includes self-perceptions of ageing, cultural, and personal beliefs about ageing, age identity, as well
as physical and other psychological factors.
Social attitudes and the views of others influence people’s views of themselves.
o Eg. The emphasis of some societies on youthful appearance as it is often portrayed in the media.
This may result in many people embarking on various procedures to maintain or retain their
youthful appearance.
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