M16_MURR8663_08_SE_CH16.QXD
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2:33 PM
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Chapter 16 Later Maturity: Basic Assessment and Health Promotion
BOX
16-10
Characteristics of Successful Aging
HIGH DEGREE OF LIFE SATISFACTION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Feels life has been rewarding; has met goals
Has few regrets
Has positive attitude about past and future
Feels life is stimulating, interesting; sets new goals
Is able to relax; has good health habits
MAINTENANCE OF MEANINGFUL SOCIAL SYSTEM
1. Keeps involved with caring network of family and friends
2. Maintains interest in life through social attachments
3. Feels affection for and from others and sense of belonging
PERSONAL CONTROL OVER LIFE
HARMONIOUS INTEGRATION OF PERSONALITY
1. Has developed ego strength, unity, and maturity over the
years
2. Demonstrates self-actualization, satisfaction, individuation, authenticity
3. Makes use of potentials and capabilities throughout life
4. Has an accurate self-concept and body image
5. Has meaningful value system, and spiritual fulfillment
Your approach during care can either increase or decrease motivation to maintain cognitive and emotional health and adaptive
behaviors and, if ill, to participate in treatment or rehabilitation.
Acute illness at any age influences aging behavior, affective responses, and cognitive function. These aspects of the person are
also affected by chronic illness and pain. Careful assessment is essential. Helpful approaches toward successful aging and health promotion include (90, 141):
1. Set a definite goal with the client to embrace the aging
process.
2. Reinforce and support the basic drives or character/personality structure of the client. Do not label the preoccupation
with achievement or the persistence in practice as obsession or
compulsion. Realize that the former “toughness” or “survival
traits” of the person are now an asset, not to be diminished by
your traditional approach.
3. Convey caring, be kind, and share “power” or control with the
client rather than trying to be the boss. In turn, the client will
feel, and be, more “cooperative.”
4. Encourage or reinforce with attention the person’s behavioral
attempts as well as achievements.
5. Use humor gently and appropriately to release tension or encourage. Do not use sarcastic humor.
6. Convey a positive attitude that the person can achieve the
goal, at least to the extent possible. Avoid negative comments,
an attitude that “puts down” the client, or nonverbal behavior that conveys you do not perceive capability.
7. Avoid a power struggle, insistence on the client doing an activity your way, or domination of the client. Let the person go
at his or her own pace and in a way that is safe but will still
achieve results.
Hoarding: Personal Environmental Adaptation
Hoarding may be an adaptive behavior, although it is usually regarded as a disagreeable, messy, and unsafe characteristic of the elderly
1. Feels independent and autonomous
2. Makes own decisions, in charge of self to extent possible
3. Maintains sense of dignity, self-worth, positive selfconcept
ESTABLISHMENT OF FINANCIAL SECURITY
1. Has made careful and effective financial plans
2. Uses community resources to extent necessary
or a sign of illness or dementia. (It may be maladaptive behavior signaling illness at any age.)
The elderly may hoard and collect various or specific items for various reasons (8, 96, 191):
1. It may be a lifelong habit. In the younger years the person was
considered a “pack rat,” or someone who always had what was
needed in an emergency, or “someone who had everything
handy.” The behavior, if part of the person’s self-concept and
previously rewarded, is likely to continue to be valued and
practiced.
2. It may be the mark of a creative, intelligent person, an artist,
or a former teacher who keeps supplies that can be used in the
vocation or hobby.
3. The articles that are saved, potentially useful or likely to be
used, represent security, especially if the person (a) lived
through the Great Depression and World War II and remembers severe scarcity or poverty, and will not waste; (b) was an
immigrant or displaced person from another country; or (c)
buys food or supplies in large quantities to save money, even
if not used.
4. The articles may be symbolic of a happier past or represent a
future.
5. The gathered objects may represent a sense of control.
6. The articles may compensate for loneliness and recent losses
or be a way to keep in touch with family or friends now dead
or relocated.
7. The collecting, observing, handling, and sorting of objects
may be a pleasant diversion, especially for the old who are less
socially active.
8. The person may have difficulty categorizing objects or differentiating important from worthless items.
9. Articles may be kept close at hand rather than stored in cabinets or closets to save energy in retrieving them when needed.
10. When cognitive impairment occurs, the person may be unable to discriminate between needed and unneeded objects