Late Adult/Death Paper

LATE ADULT/DEATH PAPER
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(11 February 2011)
Late Adult/Death Paper
Death is inevitable and this is not a pleasing statement to those who still are still young but to the aged; they have to struggle with this statement day in day out as some see their day of death getting closer. To society aging is generally undesirable due to the fact that it is regarded a step close to death. They view aging as the period of physical illness, senility, and being helpless; this makes people fear and deject aging. Development is a systematic change that people have between conception and death; late adult is almost near death but doesn’t mean one is already dead. The areas involved include physical, cognitive and psychosocial development.
This paper tackles the issue of late adulthood and death of an individual as a culmination of the life span developmental process. It brings out ageism and the stereotypes associated with late adulthood; how the aged can be able to live a healthy and wellness life; the importance of relationships and social interactions; and the cultural and personal attitude about death and dignity during this period of late adulthood.
Those in the late adulthood have already undergone the physical development and much of the cognitive growth and stereotypes developed only depict them as just waiting for death. However there are those who face the late adulthood and aging with integrity since they had prepared for it during their middle life. They are happy and content with their life since they have made a meaning and a great contribution to the life they have lived. They possess the best wisdom that the world is only temporally and each has a purpose to this life (Nelson, 2004). This gives them the strength to detach themselves with the whole life and accept death as a process that completes life.
Consequently, other adults may not have the courage to face this stage of life; this can be attributed to the fact that they never made the best out of their lives. They have potential despair about their experience and failures in life. Some even struggle to have and find a purpose in their lives. They still have many questions at the back of their minds of whether this life was worth it; this makes them despair and relent to accept death. Human growth and development during the late adulthood is mainly quantitative since the number of years increase, and the degree of change is rather slow. Growth is also mechanistic since all behavior is reduced to common element.
As cited by Nelson (2004) ageism is the prejudiced attitude towards the aging and older adults; this is defined by myths and stereotypes which try to explain aging as a decay process. The psychological impacts of ageism are real and affect the aged much as the carry on their legacy. People belief that the aged are severely impaired i.e. senile, feeble, and slow thinkers; despondent i.e. sad, hopeless, and depressed; social inept and isolated i.e. poor timid and silent; and shrewd and curmudgeonly i.e. bitter and always complain.
The above stereotypes are shared among all generations such as the young and middle aged which are also adopted by the aged. This contributes much to the negative effects in the life of the aged as they struggle to come to terms with how society regards them to be. Without a self identity they will be greatly affected by the stereotypes. They are easily hurt by the per...