Changes in Family Support Systems - Assignment Example

Section A Question Dimensions of Widowhood i. Changes in family support systems According to Hooyman and Kiyak, the current changes in life expectancy show that people are living longer than they used to 20-30 years ago (15). However, there is another side of reality where death takes away a spouse. Whenever there is a member of the family who dies, there are several changes that the family undergoes in attempt to respond to the loss of one of their own. These changes affect the care that widows receive. The changes are dependent on the geographical and social aspects of the society in which the person leaves the type of economic support that they get, the services and emotional support. Nonetheless, what affects the widow mostly are the resources and emotional support that the family is able to provide. In every culture, such emotional and financial support is always the norm which people follow when it comes to closing off life (Hooyman and Kiyak 582). However, today, things are changing because funeral ceremonies are now being taken over by funeral directors and the religious leaders. Contrary to what used to happen many years ago, today funerals for spouses have become almost a topic that people do not want to discuss as much as possible. Grief is not openly acknowledged (Hooyman and Kiyak 583). In addition, part of this ceremony which involves protecting the most affected who is the spouse of the deceased is also changing. Families with strong extended family ties, the widows are always honored because it is believed they suffer the most. Therefore, the trend before the 21st century was that all the funeral arrangements and burial were arranged by someone else. Once the ceremony ends, the family members would return to their tasks in their lives, but would keep visiting the widow to grieve with her. Today, the situation is different because such family ties are not as close as they used to years ago. Increasing busy lifestyles, lack of finances and increasing family wrangles are some of the reasons that have contributed to how family structures take care of the widow in this century. Today, the widow may only get the emotional and financial support from family members for only a period of time shorter than before. After that she is left on her own to work out the “grief work”, due to demanding work schedules for those who are close to her. This as noted by Hooyman and Kiyak on page 341, contributes to many health problems for the bereaved person. ii. Dimensions of Bereavement The grieving process is multifaceted because the bereaved individuals usually experience a lot of changes affecting their physical, emotional and cognitive changes. Death always affects most of the social structures through the lives of the survivors (Hooyman and Kiyak 582). The duration of grief lasts for long because it is an emotional response to loss. In some circumstances it can last for years, and in other cases it may last for months. This is why people express sorrow, anger, relief, shock and sadness when the loved one dies. In addition, the reaction of those who are bereaved is that they feel lonely, isolated to point that some may withdraw from the society and thereby they do not get the social support that they require. Grief does not only affect a person emotionally, but physically too. For example, there are people who feel physically weak, tightness in the chest and thirst throats, muscular weakness and lack of energy. These are normal aspects of grieving, but can be of a concern if the bereaved needs to get medical attention. This is one of the many risk factors of bereavement because it poses a health threat to the person in mourning. The health of the person may be compromised. In instances when the bereaved is a young person, it takes longer to deal with the death of a spouse than if the bereaved was an older person (Hooyman and Kiyak 585). This is because most people who are old are used to staying alone or in isolation. The bereaved person also exhibits cognitive responses. There are new thoughts that the bereaved gets when mourning in early stages, but these thoughts disappear in most people within a short period of time. However, there are cases where the bereaved gets persistent thoughts which tend to trigger negative feelings such as depression. For example, Jon Hamm, an actor noted that when he was 10 years he lost his mother and later his father and had to battle with depression. Depression may be a threat if the person going through it does not seek any medical attention. In cases where there is husband sanctification the cognitive responses are more severe with some widows reporting a sense of the husband’s presence, which some assume to be comforting by assigning them a spiritual explanation. iii. Post Grief adaptation for Men and Women Though most people tend to work through the problems that they get when in mourning, some experience difficulty when it comes resolving these problems. When the emotional, physical and cognitive issues do not go after mourning, this warrants medical attention for the bereaved. In other cases, counseling is important for the person to be in a better position to move on without the bereaved. A counselor is supposed to provide the support for a certain period of time and ensure that the person is well prepared for celebrations such as anniversaries and Christmas when the bereaved is likely to remember their loved one. Even when the person in mourning and does not seek professional counseling, the family has the task of ensuring that this person is reassured and assisted to deal with the anger, anxiety and helplessness that overcomes most people. Section B Question 4: Dimensions of Retirement Retirement Decisions Married couples have a lot of differences, particularly when it comes to their ages. However, in most cases the age of the couple is the primary determinant of how retirement decisions are made. In most families the male is always the oldest and the female the youngest. Once the oldest spouse reaches the retirement age, most of them are ready to retire. Since by the time the oldest spouse retires there are social security benefits to get, and other types of health insurance. However, the problem comes in cases where the spouse is young and the spouse is not in a position to replace their social security as they both grow old. This results to future problems particularly when it comes to paying healthcare premiums. In other cases it is not so uncommon to have one spouse, the female in most cases putting her career on hold because of the family. In most cases, she tends to prefer a retirement plan where she ends up working for a long time. These are some of the financial investment decisions that couples make. When it comes to attitudes of the spouses during retirement, there is no guarantee that at some point death will come suddenly. However, despite this most people go into retirement thinking that they will only be alive for 20 to 30 years at most, so they end up misusing their retirement benefits. The problem with this attitude is that it gives the wrong idea because life can change in an instant and the person could live longer. The health of the couple is important because making the wrong decisions regarding health benefits may be a problem if one of the spouses is not concerned with issues of retirement. Couples who are almost retiring and have no health insurance are likely to become broke if they do not do anything about it. This is supported by Hooyman and Kiyak, who argue that most people who are broke and retired are unable to work even in menial jobs because of illness or a disability (497). Meaning of work Productivity in later years According to Hooyman and Kiyak, employers always look for ways to avoid giving administrative work or higher health insurance costs particularly when it comes to hiring older employees working on part-time basis (505). There is an improvement in the American educational credentials particularly those who are older. This improves their job market positions since the older employees tend to receive better compensation as compared to those who are younger. In organizations, most people have an expectation that aged workers will reduce their level of productivity and that they are not as healthy as the young workforce. In addition, other employers believe that the older workforce is not up to date or as educated and up-to-date as the younger workforce. Such perceptions have fuelled the idea that the aged are not the best asset to have particularly in jobs that require up to date employees such as Information Technology. For people with limited or low rates of employment in old age, they tend not remain in the work force for long periods. When it comes to workers’ productivity, it is a common phenomenon to see that the productivity of an older workforce increases in instances where the less productive workforce exits from the workforce when they are young. In addition, employers are happy to choose productive older workers than less skilled and unproductive younger workers. Aging as defined by Hooyman and Kiyak is the changes which take place in an organism throughout their life span (6). Successful aging as defined by Hooyman and Kiyak is that it involves growing old with freedom of disability and disease (7). In this case the person is likely to avoid diseases or disabilities, with a high chance of maintaining a physical and cognitive function. When it comes to the issue of social ambivalence, couples argue because they have conflicting beliefs when it comes to issues of retirement. The problem with having one spouse who is ambivalent is that the person may have strong views about any subject that the couple may be talking about without allowing the other person to give their opinion. This is a problem when it comes to making retirement decisions because these decisions are made by only one partner and not by both. Question 5: Death and Dying in the later years Conversations regarding the end of life are never easy. Most people prefer to talk about such events when death occurs or not to talk about it at all. However, talking about death should not be as morbid and sad as people assume it to be during discussions. Most adults have also not told their doctors or other medical professionals how they would like to be treated in the event that they are in comas once they are older and assisted suicide is in consideration. This is because most Americans now expect to live for longer years. The extent of communication between people and their families or with their medical helpers is almost none because people like avoiding the topic of death. More problems arise when the person who is suffering or is in pain wants to have euthanasia or physician assisted suicide. In such instances, there will always be those who disapprove and those who do also approve of this method of dealing with traumatic medical experiences. In cases where the patient believes in euthanasia, the same would not be said for the patient’s family or the general public. Doctors also do not perform euthanasia cannot be forced, but are required to refer the patient to a doctor who carries out the act. In most cases, when euthanasia is being performed, the health care staff, doctors, the jurists, an eye witness from the public and an ethicist are all required to be present. This is a necessary step because one of these witnesses is required to make a report of the end of life after every 5 year passes and ensure that the doctors followed all the rules when it came to assisting the patient. The institutes are also required to make reports for end of life to the board members, showing how the euthanasia was administered or if it was refused by the family members of the patient. Nonetheless, I believe that giving euthanasia is an individual decision to make and not one that the state or a religious group should make. I also believe that it should be permitted to those who are terminally ill and in a lot of pain. For example, when Dr. Donald Low, the Canadian Microbiologist, wanted his doctors to administer euthanasia, his wish was not granted. He was suffering from a brain tumor, one of the most painful diseases (Cancer View Canada). Though he died several days later, if he had not died, he would still be in a lot of pain. Though critics argue that the proponents of euthanasia only focus on a person’s autonomy, I believe that terminally ill patients are likely to suffer so much more without assisted suicide. Works Cited Cancer View Canada, In memory of Dr. Donald Low . Cancer View Canada, 2013. Web. . Hooyman, Nancy, and Asuman Kiyak. Social Gerontology: A Multidisciplinary Perspective. 9th. New Jersey: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2011. Read More