Personal Interaction With Older Adults

Growing older is a reality of life, that hopefully everyone will have to face. Although transitioning to an older adult may be an inevitable process in the human experience, my personal interactions with the aged have been fairly limited. My interactions with older adults have mostly consisted of relationships with all of my grandparents and a great grandmother. Even without extensive exposure to the aged population as a whole, it is clear to me that the aging process looks vastly different for every individual. I have also repeatedly observed that aging is not something to be fearful of, but can embraced beautifully. While there are some older adults that have seemingly mastered the art of aging gracefully, others are still struggling with …show more content…
The older generation needs people that are willing to assist as they navigate the challenges of older adulthood, however those that I have been able to connect with have showed that they are able to rise to the challenges that they are presented with. With many differing obstacles in aging, a common challenge that many older adults have to face is a threat to mobility. As an individual ages there may be physical limitations that are imposed by health challenges. There may be additional obstacles such as the loss of driving abilities that challenge mobility. I have personally seen the threat to mobility with older adults in my family. One of my grandmothers fell and broke her hip many years ago, she has limited mobility and relies on a walker. My other grandmother no longer feels comfortable driving. Although both of these ladies have had their mobility challenged they have not let the challenges defeat them. I think that the mindset of many older adults is a strength that they bring in the face of challenges. My grandparents encounter a multitude of situations in their formative years. In the face of a depression, wars and social movements surely there were challenges. In my opinion these situations faced early in life have given older adults a mindset that does not allow for defeat. My grandmother could have chosen to …show more content…
Some of these theories are focused on the biological processes of the body, while others take into account the psychological and social aspect that come along with the years. In regard to biological theories of aging the one that makes the most sense to me is the “Wear and Tear” theory. The basis of this theory proposes “that the body simply wears out” (28). The reasoning behind this theory makes sense to me because it seems that life in general has an effect on the body. It is no secret that as we grow older, our bodies may have trouble doing the things that they once did. As our physical bodies change during the aging process there are also changes that occur in the social and psychological realm. Many theories are devoted to these two areas. One of the psychosocial theories of aging that makes sense to me is continuity theory. The basis of this theory is that “old age is a continuation of all lifelong activity patterns adapted as necessary over time” (71). This means that it is likely that a person will continue to have the social patterns that they have had during most of their life as they enter into older adulthood. This theory makes sense to me because it has been established that personality is set very early in life. Therefore unless a person is actively trying to change the patterns of activity that they have, the personality and patterns of socialization that they