The Concept of Successful Ageing - Essay Example

Ageing Introduction The concept of successful ageing, also known as healthy ageing, is an often misunderstood because of the multiple facetsit comprises. Most people want to age successfully, but they are unable to because of different hindrances. Some of the obstacles to healthy ageing are difficult to identify because they are not obvious (Jacob, 1998:19). However, research shows that anything that causes stress to the body or the mind is a cause for concern to individuals wanting to age successfully. Physiotherapy has its work well cut out when it comes to enabling healthy ageing. The impact of physiotherapy on healthy ageing is both short and long-term, and, as a result, requires both short and long-term solutions. Discussion Contrary to common perspectives, successful ageing is more than just about the absence of disease. There are many disease-free people who do not age successfully, and research shows that the absence of disease is just of a myriad of aspects that need the utmost attention to enable successful ageing. As a matter of fact, successful ageing involves personal, social and economic issues that have a significant impact on one’s lifespan and manner of ageing (Timonen, 2008:31). Physical health, financial security, independence, productivity and employment, good adjustment and a positive outlook, and maintaining participation in activities and with individuals who cultivate support and meaning are all important components of life that contribute towards successful ageing. Physiotherapy has a huge role to play in successful ageing because it involves most of these issues. Physiotherapy promotes physical and mental health and is influential in cultivating a positive outlook of life in individuals. Since health professionals and policymakers have a vital and active role to play in the formulation of health policies (that also affect physiotherapy), they impact successful ageing in many ways (Newman, 1995:46). Just like all aspects of health care, creation of good physiotherapy policies has a positive influence on individuals’ mental and physical health. Government agencies and private organisations have a clear and defined role to play in the promotion of successful ageing. Health professionals (e.g., physiotherapists) can collaborate with government agencies and private healthcare entities in numerous ways to enable the development and promotion of effective, successful ageing policies (Timonen, 2008:33). Collaboration can take many forms depending on the goals and objectives of a specific initiative. For example, physiotherapists and government entities can conduct collaborative researches on successful ageing to determine the best approaches to the issue and the parties whose contributions are desired in order for set goals and objectives to be achieved (O’Hanlon et al., 2005:38). Collaborative researches can involve identifying the best physical, medical and mental tools and instruments that can be used to promote physical and mental health to enable health ageing. Private healthcare firms can also collaborate with governments on research to establish the best therapeutic remedies to apply in physiotherapy. Collaborative research often requires funding and goodwill on a large scale, and all parties must actively demonstrate an understanding of the problems being tackled and the potential solutions. It is for this reason that healthcare organisations – in which physiotherapy is often a segment – tend to request for more financial support to facilitate their researches. Like all professionals, physiotherapists need the right equipment and facilities to operate effectively. It is also important to note that physiotherapy is not limited medical settings only (Kauffman, 1999:24). Physical health can be achieved through activities like jogging and running, which cannot be practised in hospital settings. However, physiotherapists can often attend to individuals wherever they are by visiting them in their residences or places of work. Healthcare organisations can facilitate such programmes by developing flexible schedules for physiotherapists. On the other hand, private physiotherapists can often create time to attend to the needs of their patients depending on their degree of mobility (Garavan, Winder and McGee, 2001:35). Collaboration can also involve information sharing among physiotherapists, health care organisations, and governments to improve awareness of the latest developments in healthy ageing. Research shows that frequent information sharing can reduce the need for more research by allowing small organisations to build on and apply the results obtained by large entities. For example, since most private physiotherapists cannot sponsor their own research on a regular basis, governments and financially capable private agencies can conduct research and then share the outcomes with all stakeholders in order to improve the effectiveness of any subsequent remedies. This has been identified as a key factor in the huge disparity between healthy ageing in developed and developing nations (Kamal and Brocklehurst, 1983:47). Not all stakeholders in developed countries can fund their studies, but they can access majority of researches done by other parties and apply them to promote healthy ageing. On the other hand, in developing nations, limited research is exacerbated by equally limited information sharing among stakeholders. One of the most important concepts in physiotherapy and which is associated with healthy ageing is wellness. Wellness is often confused with the concept of health. As understood in physiotherapy, wellness is a manifestation of balance in the social, emotional, environmental, cultural, spiritual, and physical features of one’s life. Health and successful ageing are part of wellness. New interpretations of healthy ageing continue to emerge as research and application among the elderly develops. Gerontologists and physiotherapists have, for decades, been debating the enablers of healthy ageing. Many theories have been researched in the second half of the 20th century. Formative research on ageing embodied interest in adapting to the social, psychological and physical effects of ageing (Timonen, 2008:42). Physiotherapeutic application of wellness involves conditioning the mind and the body to adapt to various physical and mental situations. This is significant because such approaches are crucial in preventing and managing stress and fatigue. They also contribute towards the cultivation of a general “good feeling” that uplifts one’s spirits. Stress is one of the biggest catalysts of unhealthy ageing, and it requires successful prevention and management. Physiotherapeutic concepts can help individuals avoid and manage stress by building their capacity to handle different mentally straining situations. Inability to deal with stress creates a siege mentality in an individual and nurtures feelings of uncertainty and insecurity. This promotes unhealthy ageing, which often makes people look older than they are (Timonen, 2008:45). For example, middle-aged man who is poor at managing stress is likely to look more weary and old than an octogenarian who understands how to prevent and manage stress. Physiotherapy also allows individuals to learn and appreciate the significance of healthy eating on their bodies and brains. Healthy eating goes hand in hand with healthy ageing. Eating unhealthy foods takes a toll on one’s body and brain at some point, and creates a situation where body tissues repair much slowly than they should and mental capacities start diminishing faster than expected. Amidst all this, it is important to understand that physical health depends on mental health (Kamal and Brocklehurst, 1983:51). Whatever can be handled mentally can definitely be managed physically. Overall, it is crucial to understand that healthy ageing is a personal initiative whose realisation depends on how much effort a person puts into ageing successfully. This is why some people age “well” and others do not. The difference lies in how much effort the two groups put into optimising their physical and mental health. A basic understanding of physiotherapeutic principles can help people to stay healthy and minimise the impacts of ageing on their minds and bodies. Things like physical activity, healthy eating and optimism can be learned directly and indirectly. However, once again, personal commitment is a determinant of how successful people are in ageing healthily. The principles of physiotherapy hold that individuals can always alter multiple components of their lives to support successful ageing. So long as one is alive, there is plenty of room to make positive changes that can impact the ageing process. Even in mid-life and beyond, there are many opportunities to change aspects of social engagement, regular exercise and adaptive coping skills to support healthy ageing (Kamal and Brocklehurst, 1983:56). For example, a 45-year-old man who has been physically unfit for most of his adult life can start exercising regularly to improve physical health and cope with the rigours of life. There are no boundaries when it comes to making positive changes. Social interaction, which is an influential feature of healthy ageing, is something that can be nurtured over time. Individuals who have never been socially interactive begin creating and participating in social networks and gain from the experiences they have. Social networks provide everybody with platforms to share their experiences and learn from them. Social engagement has been cited as the reason women live longer than men in some countries. This is because they share their joys and troubles amongst themselves and can find solutions to their problems within their social networks (LeMura and Von Duvillard, 2004:12). In this case, the old saying, which a problem shared, is half solved rings true. Men, on the other hand, do not like sharing their experiences with others, even in their closest circles. This makes them vulnerable to mental and physical stress that takes a toll on their bodies and negatively affects how they age. An often ignored aspect of successful ageing, and which physiotherapists have a good understanding of, is the notion of cost. Most people seem to think that successful ageing is for the financially capable. This is a fallacy that goes against the ethos of a healthy body, soul and mind. Although financial independence and stability can affect one’s mental state and ageing process, it does not dictate how successfully a person ages (LeMura and Von Duvillard, 2004:16). Eating healthy and exercising cannot and will never be too expensive to practice. In the Himalayas, for instance, where some of the oldest and happiest people in the world can be found, the lifestyle is quite simple and traditional. Some of the oldest people in the world do not enjoy the trappings of wealth and affluence, but still continue ageing healthily well into very advanced years. On policymaking, numerous policy effects become clear based on a broader understanding of the concept of healthy ageing. Biomedical investigations have developed to comprise the studying of biological causes of unhealthy ageing, despite current policies focusing on disease prevention and healthy living to age successfully. Most behavioural initiatives for healthy ageing keep encouraging health-related mannerisms and involvement in cognitively engaging activities. In fact, drawing from the pioneering Harvard research on adult development, scholars have argued that healthy ageing is less reliant in genetic makeup than previously held (Durstine, Roberts, Painter, Moore and American College of Sports Medicine, 2009:51). With more awareness that the elderly are not homogenous, health professionals like physiotherapists need more holistic, interdisciplinary views of ageing. The low expectations people have of ageing are linked with their non-prioritisation of healthcare pursuit. Lay perceptions of healthy ageing are critical in assessing the validity of existing ageing models and interventions, whether they hold any relevance to the population they are targeted at. There is little logic in formulating policy objectives if the elderly do not view them as relevant. Healthcare services in the developed world are largely focused on people aged 65 years and above (Lewis and Bottomley, 1994:35). The medical perspective is so common that few physiotherapists understand psychosocial ageing. The product is a focus on the effects of old age and the inability and decline of the body. This negative view rules consultations between physiotherapists and patients. In spite of this, there are many studies that show that many elderly people think they are happy and healthy, even when they are sick or disabled (Spirduso, Francis and MacRae, 2005:26). Physiotherapists should respect the perspectives and values of all elderly people who seek their help, instead of imposing the medical notion in their lives. Healthy ageing should be perceived not just from multiple angles, but as a good state to be worked towards. Indeed, the concept itself should be viewed on a continuum of progress instead of dependent on basic normative evaluations of success or failure. Conclusion The field of physiotherapy brings together many stakeholders in various sectors. These stakeholders hold an interest in developments in the field because it affects them in different ways. To facilitate physiotherapeutic growth, all stakeholders should identify common interests and goals and work towards achieving them. Healthcare professionals and organisations have a responsibility to ensure that successful ageing is promoted in the best way possible (Guccione, 2000:24). Finally, people must accept that ultimately, successful ageing is a personal initiative. No matter the contributions made by governments and private entities, the important decisions lie with the individual. People must choose whether they want to age healthily and then decide whether they are willing to dedicate their time and efforts to facilitate the process. As a matter of fact, age is not a determinant of healthy ageing. Unless one is incapacitated by disease, there are still many chances for redemption. References Durstine, L., Roberts, S., Painter, P., Moore, G. & American College of Sports Medicine (2009) ACSMs exercise management for persons with chronic diseases and disabilities (3rd, Hardback ed.), Champaign, Ill., Human Kinetics. Garavan, G., Winder, R. & McGee, H. (2001) Health and Social Services for Older People (HESSOP1) Consulting older people on health and social services, A survey of service use experiences and needs, London, National Council for Ageing and Older People. Guccione, A. (2000) Geriatric physical therapy (2nd ed.), St. Louis, Mosby. 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