Late Adulthood Development

Key ideas and applicability to social work Very late adulthood is usually considered to be any part of a person’s life following the age of 85. Although this age is considered a standard for very late adulthood, it is simply a chronological marker, and one must take into consideration that the path into this age for each individual is quite diverse. There are biological, psychological, social, and spiritual things that affect whether or not an individual has actually reached very late adulthood. Something that is to be taken into consideration is that people who have lived this long have lived through many different generations. They have been apart of the many different cohorts that developed throughout their lifetime. To go through so many …show more content…
We learn things by listening to their experiences in life; the choices they have made, the things they have lived through, the mistakes they have made. Studies have shown that those who live to be this old have lived very fulfilling and healthy lives and are a more “robust group” of people (Hutchison, 2003, p.408-409). There are two different parts of the aging process that we must take into consideration when studying the very elderly: primary aging, and secondary aging. Primary aging is considered to be a very normal part of the aging process, while secondary aging is based more on the person’s environmental factors and how they have choices they have made for their lives. People usually only live into their very late adult years when the aspects of their secondary aging have been very healthy and intentional (Hutchison, 2003, p. …show more content…
When I think about what it would be like to be 85, I think of the joy that could come with looking back on all the years of my life and feeling accomplished. I assume that it may be a challenge to be in this stage of life as the rest of the world is changing and one may feel as if they are not able to keep up. It probably becomes difficult to understand the present generation as the challenges and struggles they face are so foreign to those that were faced generations before. My biggest fear would be losing my memory. Memories are the most precious things I have in life and for those to get all muddled in my brain would feel as if I were losing that which mattered most. I fear for my friends and family and the people around me that love and care about me most. If I were to no longer be able to identify who they were, I feel as if the loss of that would be just as difficult as if I were physically gone. The best part of this age in life would be reflecting on the impact I hopefully had made on the world, and in the lives around me. I actually know a lot of people that are currently in their very late adult years and it is a joy to be around them because they have so much knowledge. I am able to gain so much wisdom from them;