GUIDE QUESTIONS

•What is OLD?
•How can you live better than the generation ahead of
you?
•Do you agree that CHANGE is our friend?
•What benefit can you get from befriending someone
from an older adult age group?
•What is/are the stupid things you wouldn’t do when you
get old?
•What is your take on ageism?
 GERONTOLOGY

is the study of aging processes and individuals across the life course. It includes the
study of physical, mental, and social changes in people as they age.

G e ri atri c s
f o c u s e s o n t h e c a r e o f t h e e l d e r l y p o p u l a t i o n . T h e full s c o p e o f
geriatrics involves preventing, diagnosing, a n d treating the health
a n d d isease con d itions of t h e older population.
 What is aging?

Objectively…
Subjectively…

aging is a aging is define in

universal process terms of personal Functionally,
that begins at meaning and
aging refers to
birth and is experience
the capabilities of
specified by the
chronological the individual to
age criterion function in
society
Healthy Ageing

- the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability

that enables wellbeing in older age (WHO)
C O N C E P T S O F AGING

1. CHRONOLOGIC AGING
2. BIOLOGIC AGING
3. PS YCH OLOGIC AGING
4. SOCIAL AGING
5. COGNITIVE AGING
1. Chronological aging
•Chronological age refers to the actual amount of t i m e a person has
been alive
*In other words, the number of days, m o n t h s or years a person has
been alive

2. B i o l o g i c a g i n g - also k n o w n as physiologic aging

•S e n e s c e n c e o r d e t e r i o r a t i o n o f f u n c t i o n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c
 3. P s y c h o l o g i c a g i n g

• refers to t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l c h a n g e s , i n c l u d i n g t h o s e in volving
m e n t a l f u n c t i o n i n g a n d personality that o c c u r a s h u m a n age. S o m e
p eop le w h o are 65, c a n look a n d a c t m u c h y o u n g e r t h a n s o m e w h o
are 50.

4 Social aging - changes in the roles and

relationships as the person ages
5. Cognitive aging
•Cognitive aging is the decline of cognitive processing
Global aging and aging in the Philippines

The Global Demography of Aging Population DEMOGRAPHY

is the statistical study of human
By 2050, the number of people 65 years or populations. It examines the size,
older is expected to significantly outnumber structure, and movements of
children younger than 5 years of age- WHO populations over space and time.

Aging is the 21st century's dominant Demography is useful as a means

demographic phenomenon. Declining fertility, of analyzing and predicting
increasing longevity, and the progression of social, cultural, and economic
large-sized cohorts to the older ages. trends related to population
 Global Aging

-is the population of older people all over the world

What is the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing?

The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) is a

global collaboration, aligned with the last ten years of the
Sustainable Development Goals, that brings together
governments, civil society, international agencies, professionals,
academia, the media, and the private sector to improve the lives
of older people, their families, and the communities in which
they live
- more than 1 billion people aged 60 years or older, with most living in low- and
middle-income countries

- many do not have access to even the basic resources necessary for a life of
meaning and of dignity. Many others confront multiple barriers that prevent their
full participation in society
The Decade will address four areas for action:

Age-friendly Environments

Physical, social and economic environments are important determinants of healthy ageing and
powerful influences on the experience of ageing and the opportunities that ageing offers.

Combatting Ageism

Despite the many contributions of older people to society and their wide diversity, negative
attitudes about older people are common across societies and are seldom challenged.
cont.. Decade will address four areas for action:
Integrated Care

Older people require non-discriminatory access to good-quality essential health

services that include prevention; promotion; curative, rehabilitative, palliative and
end-of-life care; safe, affordable, effective, good-quality essential medicines and
vaccines; dental care and health and assistive technologies, while ensuring that use
of these services does not cause the user financial hardship.

REFERENCE: United Nations website

Long-term Care

Access to rehabilitation, assistive technologies and supportive, inclusive

environments can improve the situation; however, many people reach a point in
their lives when they can no longer care for themselves without support and
assistance. Access to good-quality long-term care is essential for such people to
maintain their functional ability, enjoy basic human rights and live with dignity.
 People are living longer – but with more disability

Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia are now among the top 10
causes of death worldwide, ranking 3rd in both the Americas and Europe in
2019. Women are disproportionally affected: globally, 65% of deaths from
Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are women.

The estimates further confirm the growing trend for longevity: in 2019, people
were living more than 6 years longer than in 2000, with a global average of more
than 73 years in 2019 compared to nearly 67 in 2000. But on average, only 5 of
those additional years were lived in good health.

REFERENCES: THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

//www.news-medical.net/news/20201209/WHO-highlights-leading-causes-of-mortality-and-morbidity-worldwide-from-2000-to-2019.a
 This would further
challenge the
WHAT IS THE IMPLICATION? healthcare system’s
ability to provide
efficient care.
Nurses are encouraged to provide customized, culturally specific care that fits with a patient’s
values, beliefs, traditions, practices and lifestyle.

To meet the needs of culturally diverse patients, nurses and other healthcare providers must
become both culturally competent and culturally aware.
Ignoring diversity may lead to unequal nursing care and negative patient outcomes.

Whether it is physical pain or emotional stress, patients could experience adverse physiological
symptoms if their cultural needs are not taken into consideration.
Developmental Tasks of the Older
Adult Adjusting to decreasing physical strength and health

Adjusting to retirement and lower fixed income

Adjusting to the death of parents, spouses and friends

60 to 75 years

Adjusting to new relationships with adult children

Adjusting to leisure time

Adjusting to slower physical and cognitive responses

Keeping active and involved

Making satisfying living arrangements as aging progresses

Developmental Tasks of the Older
Adult
Adapting to living alone

Safeguarding physical and mental health

75 years and older Adjusting to a possibility of moving into a nursing home

Remaining in touch with other family members

Finding meaning in life

Adjusting to one’s own death

Life expectancy in the Philippines 2022: 71.53 years
Like many countries, the Philippines will experience a
growth in the population of Filipinos 65 years and
older

the nation is not prepared to meet the

needs of the influx of aging Filipinos
 Biologic Theories

- related to physiologic processes that occur in all living organisms over time

- the gradual deterioration of function characteristic

- an attempt to explain why the physical changes of aging occur

- Researcher try to identify which biologic factor have the greatest influence on
longevity
 types:
Stochastic theories
hypothesize that aging occurs randomly and
persistently with time, through random error,
free radicals, cross-links, “clinkers,” and wear
and tear.

Nonstochastic theories

hypothesize that aging is predetermined

through programmed cell changes or through
changes in the neuroendocrine or immunologic
systems
Theories of Aging
Biologic theories
1. Genetic theory - holds that lifespan depends to a great extent on genetic
factors
- genetic clocks

2. Neuroendocrine theory - contains the pituitary and hypothalamus that serve as

control mechanism for the entire body, as age advances these control
mechanisms fail, which leads to failure of the pacemaker, and death.

3. Immunity theory - immunosenescence

- nutrition plays an important role, there is much interest in vitamin supplements
such as Vitamin E, believed to improve immune function
4. Wear and Tear theory - proposes that cells wear out through exposure to
internal and external stressors, including trauma
- proposes that hums, like automobiles, have vital partsthat run down with
time, leading to aging and death

5. Cross- linking theory - or Cross-linkage

- proposes that irreversible aging lf proteins such collagen is the ultimate
failure of tissues and organs

6. Free radical theory - proposes that unstable free radicals (group of atoms)
result from the oxidation of organic materials, such as carbohydrates and
proteins.
Psychosocial theories of aging:

1.Disengagement theory (1960) – aging involves mutual withdrawal

(disengagement0 between older persons and others in the older person’s
environment

2.Activity theory (1972) – the best way to age is to stay active physically and
mentally

3.Continuity theory – people maintain their values, habits and behavior in old age.
A person who is accustomed to having people around will continue to do so and
the person who prefers not to be involved with others is more likely to disengage
Recent theories of PHYSIOLOGICAL AGING:

- 3 nursing theories of aging have been developed in the past 20 years

1. Functional Consequences theory in 1990 – age-related changes, actions that have placed the
client at risk for illness or injury and risk factors for disease.
- The nurse should design interventions that promote safety that promote the client’s quality of
life

2. Haight, Barba, Courts and Tesh’s theory of thriving (2002) asserted that nurses’ must intervene
to promote the older adults growth and development

3. Middle-range theory developed by Flood in 2005 – he defined successful aging as the

“cumulative physiologic and functional alterations associated with the passage of time”. The client
experiences spiritual connections and a sense of meaning and worth. Nurses must target
interventions for the older adult in the promotion of mental, physical and spiritual health though
the aging process.
 #rciconnects

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