Relationships in the Later Years

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Chapter 16

• Relationships in the Later Years

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Chapter 16 Relationships in the Later
YearsChapter Outline

• Age and Ageism
• Caregiving for the Frail ElderlyThe Sandwich
  Generation
• Issues Confronting the Elderly
• Successful Aging
• Relationships and the Elderly
• Grandparenthood
• The End of Ones Life
• The Future of the Elderly in the U.S.

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Chapter 16 Relationships in the Later
YearsIntroduction

• Quote Lifes a short trip. Youll find out.
  You were seventeen yesterday. Youll be fifty
  tomorrow.
• Rodney Dangerfield, Comedian
• Discussion Youve heard the statement, youre
  only as old as you act. Is this true?

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Chapter 16 Relationships in the Later
YearsIntroduction

• True or False?
• Mastery/competence is the way elderly
  grandparents describe the experience of taking
  care of grandchildren.

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Chapter 16 Relationships in the Later
YearsIntroduction

• Answer FALSE
• Musil and Standing (2005) reported on the diaries
  of grandmothers who revealed stress in their full
  time role of grandmother as they coped with their
  grandchildrens daily activities.
• Bullock (2005) studied 21 grandfathers over the
  age of 65 who were involved in the active care of
  at least one grandchild. Powerless was the
  term used by these grandfathers to describe their
  experience.

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Age and AgeismThe Concept of Age

• A persons age may be defined
• Chronologically
• Physiologically
• Psychologically
• Sociologically
• Culturally

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Age and AgeismAgeism

• Every society has some form of ageismthe
  systematic persecution and degradation of people
  because they are old.

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Theories of Aging

• Gerontology is the study of aging.
• Disengagement
• Gradual and mutual withdrawal of the elderly and
  society from each other is a natural process.
• Activity
• People continue the level of activity they had in
  middle age into their later years.

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Theories of Aging

• Conflict
• The elderly compete with youth for jobs and
  social resources.
• Age Stratification
• Elderly represent a powerful cohort of
  individuals passing through the social system
  that affect and are affected by social change.
• Modernization
• Status of the elderly is in reference to the
  evolution of the society toward modernization.

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Theories of Aging

• Symbolic
• Elderly socially construct meaning in their
  interactions with others and society.
• Continuity
• Earlier habit patterns, values, and attitudes of
  the individual are carried forward as a person
  ages.

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Caregiving for the Frail ElderlyThe Sandwich
Generation

• The Sandwich Generation is the generation of
  adults who are sandwiched between caring for
  their elderly parents and their own children.
• The number of individuals in the sandwich
  generation will increase for the following
  reasons
• Longevity
• Chronic disease
• Fewer siblings to help
• Commitment to parental care
• Lack of support for the caregiver

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Caregiving for the Frail ElderlyThe Sandwich
Generation

• Food for thought
• Discussion Suppose your father has Alzheimers
  and is in a nursing home.
• He is 88 and no longer recognizes you.
• He has stopped eating.
• Would you have a feeding tube inserted to keep
  him alive?

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Personal ChoicesShould I Put My Parents in a
Long-Term Care Facility?

• Factors relevant in deciding whether to care for
  an elderly parent at home, arrange for nursing
  home care, or provide another form of long-term
  care include the following

1. Level of care needed
2. Temperament of parent
3. Philosophy of adult child
4. Siblings
5. Length of time for providing care
6. Privacy needs of caregivers
7. Cost
8. Chain nursing home
9. Sexual orientation
10. Wishes or readiness of the elderly

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Issues Confronting the Elderly

• Income
• Physical health
• Mental health
• Retirement
• Social Relationships
• Sexuality

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Issues Confronting the Elderly

• Food for thought

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Successful Aging

• Torres and Hammarström (2009) interviewed 16
  elderly people, ages 77 to 86, to identify their
  definitions of successful aging. They identified
  three factors
• Resources physical, mental, social, and
  financial
• Attitude
• Continuity

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Successful Aging

• Other factors in successful aging
• Not smoking or quitting early
• Developing a positive view of life and lifes
  crises
• Avoiding alcohol and substance abuse
• Maintaining healthy weight
• Exercising daily
• Continuing to educate oneself
• Having a happy marriage

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Relationships in the Elderly

• Use of technology to maintain relationships
• Over 40 of adults over the age of 50 use e-mail
• Almost half (47) of Internet users 50-64 and 25
  of users 65 and older use social networking sites
  such as Facebook.
• Relationship with spouse
• Marriages that survive into late life are
  characterized by little conflict, considerable
  companionship, and mutual supportiveness.
• Relationship with ones own children
• With regard to relationships of the elderly with
  their children, emotional and expressive rewards
  are high.
• Actual caregiving is rare.

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Grandparenthood

• Styles of grandparenting
• The roles that grandparents play in childrens
  lives vary.
• Some are very active.
• Some serve as surrogate parents.
• Some have regular and positive contact.

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Grandparenthood

• The myth of the happy grandmother
• The following are negatives that grandmothers
  identify
• Conflict
• Demanding children
• Boredom
• Exploitation
• Ending of childbearing capacity

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Grandparenthood

• Effect of divorce on grandparent-child
  relationship
• Divorced grandparents have less contact with
  grandchildren and participate in fewer shared
  activities with them.

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Grandparenthood

• Benefits to grandchildren
• Grandchildren report enormous benefits from
  having a close relationship with grandparents
• Development of a sense of family ideals
• Moral beliefs
• Work ethic

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The End of Ones LifeDeath of Ones Spouse

• The death of ones spouse is the most stressful
  life event individuals experience.
• Most women who live to age 80 have lost their
  husbands.
• Patterns women use to adjust to this lopsided
  man-woman ratio include dating younger men,
  romance without marriage, and share-a-man
  relationships.

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The End of Ones LifePreparing for Ones Own
Death

• Thoughts in the last year of life
• Most thought about death and saw their life as
  one that would soon end.
• Most did so without remorse or anxiety.
• Behaviors the last year of life
• Aware that they are going to die, most simplify
  their life, disengage from relationships, and
  leave final instructions.

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The Future of the Elderly in the U.S.

• The elderly will increase in number and political
  clout. By 2030, 30 of the U.S. population will
  be over the age of 55 (now 21).
• The challenges of old age will be the same
  coping with dwindling income, declining health,
  and the death of loved ones.

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Quick Quiz

• When are people considered old?
• when they begin to collect Medicare
• all of these choices
• when they develop an elderly self-concept
• when their physical capabilities diminish

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Quick Quiz

• The persecution and degradation of people due to
  their age is called
• elder abuse
• gerontophobia
• gerontology
• ageism

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Quick Quiz

• Which of the following is the most important
  determinant of an elderly person's self-reported
  happiness?
• finances
• health
• strong family ties
• adequate housing

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Quick Quiz

• The elderly fear _____ more than _____.
• loss of a spouse dying themselves
• the dying process death
• nursing homes long illness
• dying in their sleep dying in a hospital

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Quick Quiz

• Which of the following is not considered a factor
  in successful aging?
• Early retirement
• Not smoking
• Exercise
• Continuing education