Samenvatting
Samenvatting Neuropsychology of Ageing and Dementia (alle artikelen & hoofdstukken)
Dit is een samenvatting van het vak 'Neuropsychology of Ageing and Dementia', waarin al het tentamen materiaal staat.
[Meer zien]Voorbeeld 4 van de 64 pagina's
Voorbeeld 4 van de 64 pagina's
In winkelwagengesponsord bericht van onze partner
Verkoper
Volgen
Voorbeeld van de inhoud
Neuropsychology of ageing and dementiaWeek 1
Chapter 1: Introduction: Older people under the
magnifying glass
Gerontology is the study of human ageing, which draws from many scientific disciplines. It refers to
the state of being old as well as the process of ageing. The term was first used by Ilya Metchnikov
and the interest persisted throughout history.
Old age is not only a biological phenomenon (i.e., physical change), but also a social one. Society
influences how we see ourselves, what opportunities we have, and how our lives are structured. For
a long time, the social and biological understanding of old age went hand in hand (e.g., age 65 was a
marker for retirement and health problems), but this situation changed. People started to retire
earlier, while they remained healthy. A solution for handling the diversity of old age is a sequence of
two separate and distinct periods of life: the third (young-old) age and fourth (old-old) age.
Third age: a period of relative freedom and good health. People no longer have
responsibility for the upbringing of their children, nor are they obliged to participate in
the labor force.
Fourth age: accelerated decline of physical and mental health, and the number of losses
in physical health and social relationships exceed the number of gains.
All the different understandings of old age have their advantages and disadvantages, and their
usefulness depends on the context.
Europe is the oldest continent in the world and is ageing, which will continue. The ageing of the
European population does not progress evenly. There are marked differences between and within
countries when it comes to the age-profile of Europe’s population.
The older European doesn’t exist, because there are marked differences between them. This
variation is due to country-characteristics and differences between the individuals within a country.
Older Europeans present themselves as a diverse and colorful group of people.
Differences between older Europeans:
Gender: gender-ratio is different in the older age groups (65+: more women than men).
The gender-difference is the result of two factors: (1) women live longer than men, and
(2) mostly men fight as soldiers in wars, which makes war-related deaths more common
among men.
Social networks (connections with friends and kin)
Socio-economic status
Health status
In Eastern Europe the circumstances to age healthy and well are least favorable. Eastern Europeans
have the highest prevalence of obesity and smoking and the lowest levels of economic resources for
health care.
Three European countries that differ in how far population ageing has progressed:
1. Italy
Italy is currently the second oldest country in Europe. Italians think old age starts at 68 years.
They have a comparatively low level of engagement in productive activities. They are more
engaged with families.
, 2. Sweden
Sweden stands out because of the labor market situation for older people. Sweden
represents the European average when it comes to population ageing, although the meaning
of old age in Sweden differs from the typical European. The median ages are identical, but
Swedes live longer than the average European does, and they stay healthy until a remarkably
old age. They perceive old age to start late (67 years). Swedes are active until a late age,
because of their good health status.
3. Slovakia
Slovakia is one of the youngest countries in Europe. The youthfulness in Slovakia’s population
is visible in many ways and they also have a younger understanding of old age (58 years). The
living situation is quite distinct. The average Slovakian retires early and are less likely to
volunteer, due to early health deterioration. However, they seem socially integrated despite
the low levels of engagement and health decline.
Chapter 2: Bio- and health gerontology: how ageing
changes our bodies
Bio-and health gerontology investigate physical change during the ageing process. While
biogerontology focuses on the physical mechanisms of ageing, health gerontology discusses health
status in old age and health care for older people.
What is bio- and health gerontology?
Ageing is a complex process involving biological, social, psychological, environmental and spiritual
components. Gerontology is the study of these components and their interrelations, with the sub-
disciplines bio-and heath gerontology focusing on physical processes. Biogerontology is the scientific
field of biologists and biochemists who study the ageing process on a molecular level, and who
explore how this process affects organs and consequently their entire body. Biological ageing of the
body is the result of the appearance and disappearance of the cells of all organs. Aubrey de Grey
concluded that ageing is a disease. Biogerontologists use animals for their studies, and it is unclear
whether the study results can be generalized to humans.
Health gerontology is the scientific field of doctors, who do clinical research, and epidemiologists,
who study populations either cross-sectionally or longitudinally. It is linked to the social and
environmental aspects of human ageing. health gerontology focuses on bodily changes with age, the
consequences of this change for daily living, and the use of health care services. It underlines two
levels of health-related intervention: intervention at the individual level and at the level of
populations.
Central theories and concepts in bio- and health gerontology
Old age often goes together with disease and discomfort. In its traditional understanding, health is
the freedom from disease. As individuals age, their health deteriorates, and they develop diseases. In
other words, old age and good health were traditionally seen as mutually exclusive states. The
opposition between health and old age can be explained by the concept of senescence, which
described the process of biological ageing. With senescence, bodies react to changes more slowly
and, consequently, recover from illnesses and accidents with more difficulty. Therefore, health
declines in old age and diseases become more common.
There might be two reasons why older people have more health problems:
1. Ageing itself causes health to decline.
, 2. Diseases are not caused by the ageing process itself, but simply require a longer period of
time to develop, which means that they can only manifest in older ages.
Due to senescence, older people are prone to suffer from chronic diseases. However, older people
sometimes describe their own health status as good, even when they were diagnosed with several
diseases. This suggests that there needs to be attention to older people’s perceptions.
The WHO suggested a broader term of health, namely ‘a state of complete physical, mental and
social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. The difference is that the WHO
also includes the subjective aspect of social well-being. Gerontologists identify social well-being as a
good quality of life, and therefore consider health in old age as a question of quality of life. Quality of
life has two dimensions: (1) health-related (referring to discomfort, pain and energy level), and (2)
not health-related (refers to personal resources).
This also suggests that there are two ways to maintain good health in old age: preventing diseases
and enhancing personal resources.
The expanding healthy life-expectancy contributed to give old age a positive image, and this led to
the development of new concepts of old age, like ‘active ageing’ and ‘successful ageing’. Active
ageing is the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to
enhance quality of life as people age. It allows people to realize their potential for well-being
throughout the life course and to participate in society according to their needs, desires and
capacities, while providing them with adequate protection, security and care when they require
assistance. Successful ageing is a combination of three elements:
1. Absence of disease and of risk factors for disease
2. Maintenance e of physical and cognitive abilities
3. Engagement in productive activities
Like active ageing, successful ageing also underlines the activities of older people. Unlike active
ageing, it doesn’t draw attention to quality of life. If people can age successfully, then they can just as
well age unsuccessfully. The concept of successful ageing implies that people age successfully if they
do not age at all. For these reasons, discussions on healthy ageing preferable focus on active ageing
and quality of life.
There are three approaches for healthy ageing:
1. Attempting to slow down the ageing process
Healthy ageing is a life-long process for which the foundations are laid during one’s
childhood and youth. Adopting a healthy lifestyle at a young age is a central component of
strategies that try to slow down the ageing process. Also, anti-ageing medicines are a
potential means for slowing down ageing, but there is not convincing evidence for this.
2. Learning from health promotion strategies
The goal of health promotion strategies is to reduce the risks leading to four diseases:
cardiovascular disease, lung diseases, diabetes and cancer, which are the most common
among older Europeans. To prevent these diseases, a combined strategy of not smoking,
moderating alcohol intake, maintaining a responsible diet, engaging in physical activity, and
maintaining a stable psychological/social situation seems promising.
3. Utilizing the potentials of preventive medicine
Preventive medicine targets healthy individuals who did not yet fall ill. It strives to avoid that
these individuals develop diseases, which could make curative medicine dispensable.
Preventive medicine makes use of the two approaches just described to prevent diseases. It
also places importance on early diagnosis of diseases, which allows for more effective
treatments and higher chances of recovery, which can help to ensure good health in old age.
What do bio-and health gerontology tell us about the current state of Europe?
, The health status of older people differs widely across Europe. The life-expectancy and the healthy
life expectancy varies considerably between countries. Also, the capabilities of older people vary
across Europe. Generally, the number of people with limitations in their activities increases with age,
and this increase is common in all countries. How many people are limited and how quickly the
limitations progress is country-specific. The country-differences in life expectancies and in older
people’s capabilities are caused by a combination of many health problems and diseases. The
corresponding state in which older people are especially vulnerable to have accidents, fall ill, or even
die prematurely, is called frailty. Frailty should be considered a disease in three or more of the
following criteria: unintentional weight loss (4.5 kg in the past year), self-reported exhaustion,
weakness (grip strength), slow walking speed, and low physical activity. Two life-style factors are
often the causes for frailty: smoking and a lack of physical activity.
Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes, play particularly important roles in older age. In
addition to physical ailments, older people often also suffer from mental health problem (e.g., late-
life depression or decline in cognitive function (because of dementia)).
The health profile of Europe changes as the population ages. As a consequence, care arrangements
also need to change. Older people benefit from two kinds of care arrangements: informal and formal
ones. Informal care arrangements are situations in which individuals habitually provide unpaid care
to friends or kin (usually women). Formal care arrangements are situations where paid professionals
provide care either in institutions, such as nursing homes, or in the homes of frail persons. Both types
of care increase from the South to the North of Europe.
Current debate in bio-and health gerontology: is a longer life desirable?
To decide whether longer lives are desirable, there needs to be a focus on the quality of the
additional life years. A central question in this context is whether the newly gained live years are
healthy or disease-ridden ones. There are two competing hypotheses about the relation between
health problems (morbidity) and longer lives:
1. ‘Compression of morbidity’ hypothesis: the most severe health problems are concentrated
in the last years of life. If we live longer, then we experience more years in good health, and
health problems are postponed until a higher chronological age.
2. ‘Expansion of morbidity’ hypothesis: the number of life years in poor health increases with
an increasing life-span. If we live longer, then we also spend more years battling health
problems.
Empirical evidence shows that both hypotheses might be partly accurate. The most severe health
problems seem to be concentrated in the last years of life, while the years before that seem to be
characterized by chronic diseases which do not necessarily lead to disability. People who can cope
with chronic diseases can, therefore, have a pleasant and satisfying old age, even when the life
expectancy continues to expand.
Voordelen van het kopen van samenvattingen bij Stuvia op een rij:
Verzekerd van kwaliteit door reviews
Stuvia-klanten hebben meer dan 700.000 samenvattingen beoordeeld. Zo weet je zeker dat je de beste documenten koopt!
Snel en makkelijk kopen
Je betaalt supersnel en eenmalig met iDeal, creditcard of Stuvia-tegoed voor de samenvatting. Zonder lidmaatschap.
Focus op de essentie
Samenvattingen worden geschreven voor en door anderen. Daarom zijn de samenvattingen altijd betrouwbaar en actueel. Zo kom je snel tot de kern!
Veelgestelde vragen
Wat krijg ik als ik dit document koop?
Je krijgt een PDF, die direct beschikbaar is na je aankoop. Het gekochte document is altijd, overal en oneindig toegankelijk via je profiel.
Tevredenheidsgarantie: hoe werkt dat?
Onze tevredenheidsgarantie zorgt ervoor dat je altijd een studiedocument vindt dat goed bij je past. Je vult een formulier in en onze klantenservice regelt de rest.
Van wie koop ik deze samenvatting?
Stuvia is een marktplaats, je koop dit document dus niet van ons, maar van verkoper viviannezwiers. Stuvia faciliteert de betaling aan de verkoper.
Zit ik meteen vast aan een abonnement?
Nee, je koopt alleen deze samenvatting voor €8,16. Je zit daarna nergens aan vast.
Is Stuvia te vertrouwen?
4,6 sterren op Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
Afgelopen 30 dagen zijn er 49270 samenvattingen verkocht
Opgericht in 2010, al 15 jaar dé plek om samenvattingen te kopen