Final Stages Late Adulthood and Death Theories - Essay Example

Final Stages Scenario Older adults need much more care and help than they needed when they were in their middle age. Lot depends on the members of his family who can take measures to create such an environment which can facilitate the healthiest possible developmental stages of late adulthood and death. This paper is a discussion about eldercare in which recommendations have been made about what needs to be done to create an ideal environment for an individual in late adulthood. Late Adulthood and Death Theories Changes that occur in men and women in late adulthood at cellular and hormonal level have been explained by three theories, namely, cellular clock theory, free-radical theory, and hormonal stress theory. The cellular clock theory, according to Finch and Hayflick (1977), explains that cells tend to divide approximately lesser in late adulthood or, in other words, cell divisions are fewer than the number of normal divisions due to the reduction of telomeres. The free-radical theory explains that cell metabolism causes free radicals to move around in the cells and these free radicals damage the DNA. This causes several diseases, like arthritis and cancer, to occur. The hormonal stress theory describes the changes in hormones that lead to aging because of proneness to stress. Hormones released under a stressful situation remain at higher levels longer than when they were young and this causes hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to occur. Erikson’s theory explains the socio-emotional changes in the older adult that makes him take a life review with either a positive or negative outlook. One adult may feel satisfied and gain integrity while the other may feel despaired by looking bad at the life he spent. Thus, life review becomes an important change in an individual that occurs with the late adulthood. Socioemotional Selective Theory suggests that an important change late adulthood brings is that the older adults narrow down their social networks and enjoy spending time with their immediate family and very close friends with whom they had spent quality time in their early lives. Withdrawing themselves from social gatherings and spending time with their loved ones lessens down the risk of emotional risks. Other important changes that are associated with late adulthood include the shrinking down of brain. This may occur because of death of neurons or some fault occurring in dendrites. This affects both the physical and psychological condition of late adults. Physical appearance also changes. Weight drops and muscles get loose which damages the overall posture of the body. Pace becomes slower and body movement is hard. Vision gets affected with aging bringing various eye diseases such as affected color vision and depth perception. Hearing, smell and taste are also affected, although healthy adults experience these damages lesser than the weaker ones. Decreased sensitivity to touch and pain occurs. Circulatory system gets affected as the lungs start shrinking. Aging changes the sexual performance in the late adult, though women are less prone to this change than men. Chronic diseases, like arthritis, become a routine thing. Depression, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease occur. Osteoporosis, loss of calcium from the body which causes damage of bones, is experienced more by women in late adulthood than men. Late adults also find it difficult to process information at a faster rate and maintain concentration. The developmental stages toward death of an individual, as described by Kübler-Ross (1997), include “denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance”. Denial and isolation is the stage when the person does not accept that death is certain to occur to him. The second stage is anger which occupies the older adult when he finally admits that he is going to die. Bargaining is the third stage when the individual thinks he can make negotiations with death to postpone it some way. Depression occurs when he finally gets the point that there is no way to escape death. The final stage, acceptance, brings peace and solitude to his mind and he comes to accept the reality. An Ideal Environment In order to make the older adult pass his last days in peace and harmony, it is very necessary on part of the immediate members of his family to create an environment where he enjoys spending time without any shadow of grievance over his illness and coming death. I would take measures to arrange activities at home that would keep him occupied most of the time because older adults stay happy when they are engaged in activities like some sport, gardening and fishing. I would help them learn some technology like sending emails, joining social network websites and health forums, and entering chat sessions with other adults so that they can share their life experiences with them. I would try to arrange a full time nurse form my older adult who would take care of him 24/7. As older adults find it enjoyable and satisfying to be around their children and friends, I would arrange parties and celebrations that would give my older one chances to meet his loved once at least twice a month. In order to keep the person stay out of depression, I would make sessions to listen to him so that he may talk his heart out in front of me. This would lighten his heart and keep him out of grievance, because think that it is important to talk everything out to leave nothing left unsaid, and this is truer for older adults. Also, it is important to ask the person how he would wish to be buried because this way he would have the satisfaction that he is being given importance even in his last days. This would keep him happy. It is also vital to give him all possible pain medication if he is in pain. Despite my efforts to keep my older adult happy, I still do not think that it is not important to wish to stay alive as long as possible. Life in very late adulthood is, for sure, a burden for both the adult and for his family, and our final destination is with God. Thus, it is not important to keep the late adult alive by all possible medical means if he is definitely dying or is in prolonged comma and has no hope to live a healthy life. References Finch, C & Hayflick, L. (1977). Handbook of the Biology of Aging. USA: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. Kübler-Ross, E. (1997). Death: The Final Stage of Growth. USA: Simon & Schuster. Read More