Читать книгу Helping Relationships With Older Adults - Adelle M. Williams - Страница 78

Many elements affect the quality of life for older adults. Developing and maintaining healthy relationships is one essential element. Social bonds lend vigor and energy to life. Giving to others and seeking a variety of relationships provides older adults with diverse acquaintances and experiences. Interacting with diverse persons brings different points of view and different perspectives on life. Enriching spirituality also enhances quality of life. Cultivating a relationship with nature, the environment, a higher being, and oneself is a key factor in personal growth and development. It is also important that older adults take time for thought and contemplation, enjoying the sunset, sounds, and energy of life. By engaging in these behaviors, elders will be better able to cope with the challenges posed by simply living, especially as the body undergoes many physiological changes in the aging process (Koenig, McCullough, & Larson, 2001). Guided Practice Exercise 3.7 provides the opportunity to identify and explore current activities and the extent to which they may be continued in later years of life.

Guided Practice Exercise 3.7

Examine the activities that you engage in regularly. Now specifically identify benefits that you derive from these activities. Is there a social component to any of your identified activities? If so, why is the social component important to you? Which of your activities do you expect to continue into your later years of development? Are there any activities you have deleted from your list? If so, discuss your reasoning.

Accumulated evidence suggests that better health and community engagement lead to greater well-being later in life. Successful aging has been defined as the absence of disease and disability, high levels of physical and cognitive functioning, and active engagement in life (Rowe & Khan, 1997). The literature on successful aging suggests that to comprehensively understand “living well” and “being well,” one must attend to factors beyond the aging body, including the social and physical environment in which one lives. Researchers argue further that the subjective experiences related to the interaction between aging bodies and an ever-changing social and physical world exert a meaningful force on overall health and well-being (Cermin, Lysack, & Lichtenberg, 2011; Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). Gerontology theorists and researchers also point to the complex relationships between the environment, both home and extended, and health and functioning in older adults (Stark, 2001; Wahl, Fange, Oswald, Gitlin, & Ivarsson, 2009; Yen, Michael, & Perdue, 2009). This research leaves little doubt that the physical location in which one lives shapes the activities that are possible to engage in and ultimately contributes to health (Yen, Shim, Martinez, & Barker, 2012). Case Illustration 3.3 demonstrates the capabilities of an elderly gentleman who, despite his advancing chronological years, remains actively engaged in life. Age is one point on the continuum, and numerous factors impact the aging experience.

Case Illustration 3.3

Mr. Simmons is an 85-year-old, happily married, retired university professor in physics. He has no chronic diseases and continues his longtime exercise routine: running 5 times a week and strength training 3 times per week. He also swims twice per week and gardens when the weather permits. His primary care physician tells him that he has the vital signs of a highly functioning 50-year-old.

Mr. Simmons keeps his mind sharp by learning new activities and has decided to try three new activities each year and retain the one activity he likes the most. He is taking violin lessons and is learning to speak Spanish. He learns this language through auditing courses within his former university environment. He socializes with family and friends regularly and takes long distance trips 3 times a year. He is very religious and very active within his synagogue. He is an optimistic, easily engaged individual who believes that every day is a new beginning.