Factors That Impact Late Adulthood Assignment | Homework Help Websites
Write each response separately
Peer One (A.B)
Factors That Impact Late Adulthood
A developmental factor that impacts late adulthood is a physical change. Late adulthood produces a new sense of normal with the emergence of change within the body. Arthritis and other physical ailments become more common and can also become difficult for individuals to come to grips with as well. Changes in immune system ability also contribute to physical change in adulthood (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015).
Cognitive change impacts late adulthood as well. From onsets of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, most adults encounter changes in their cognitive abilities in late adulthood (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Brain functioning changes in a way that is less than optimal with age (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Knowing that people will not be able to problem solve as fast as before at best to the possibility of more serious conditions such as dementia can cause panic, fear, and resentment in late adulthood. These factors can urge individuals to keep cognitive changes to themselves and to withdraw.
A physical change can also impact emotional and psychological well-being in late adulthood. Imagine being able to perform in athletic competitions your entire life and waking up in your late thirties to painful joints. Years later, you can only stand for short amounts of time without requiring additional assistance. This type of situation would cause the person to feel less and less engaged with their own identity and feel pressured to find something to take the place of what they once loved. Most people have activities they engage in that make them feel purpose. Physical change impacts individuals in late adulthood both emotionally and psychologically because it alters identity and changes the quality of life in the future.
Emotional and psychological well-being is effected when cognitive change impacts late adulthood. From an emotional standpoint, an individual in late adulthood could experience depression and lack of purpose when they start to experience losses in cognition (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Psychological well-being is also affected because cognitive deterioration can make an individual question their life purpose or negatively express their interpretations of change.
Protective Factors to Optimize Life
A protective factor that could optimize an older adult’s health and resilience is a positive support system. Having people around you that our understanding of the changes you experience and to support with those changes makes a positive difference in transition. My father is 63 and relies on myself and my children to “keep him sharp.” He has shared that he quizzes himself on facts he once knew and will sometimes have us quiz him on things to see if he still remembers things that he once did. Having positive support is helpful and can be a protective factor to optimize older adult health.
References:
Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2015). The life span: Human development for helping professionals (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
