The Impact of Life Crises on the Elderly

A detailed Summary of The Impact of Life Crises on the Elderly

Stress and everyday annoyances are not crises. Situations that interfere with normal activity, inspire feelings of panic or defeat, and bring about deep emotional reactions are crises. A crisis is a "turning point" or a crucial time that will make a difference for better or worse. The Chinese word for "crisis" is made up of two characters - one means despair and the other means opportunity. When a person experiences crisis, there will either be a negative outcome or a positive one. The direction of the outcome depends on a number of factors such as - physical and emotional health of the individual, support from others, childhood upbringing, past experience with similar situations, and the duration of the crisis situation. I propose to focus specifically on the life crises with which the elderly population faces, notably the loss of a spouse or companion, retirement, and contending with a terminal illness. Through examining the latter crises and their potential to influence the health of an elderly individual, I expect to learn of means by which the elderly may give way to in order not to become overwhelmed with the changes.

Different life crises have different impacts. In many cases, however, it may be possible to antic

For most working individuals, retirement is a phase in one's life that he or she looks forward to, that is a time when one is able to reap the benefits of his or her hard work. Increasingly, and perhaps disconcertingly, there is a tendency for old people to uproot, leave their families and long term friends and move to warmer parts of the country to enjoy their retirement in comfort. If new friendships are not developed, elderly people may experience loneliness, uselessness, and lower self-esteem (Niven 173). On the other hand, some psychologists believe that old people actively seek out isolation. Under the terms of the Disengagement Theory, put forth by Cumming and Henry in 1961, the aging individual is acceptant, perhaps even desirous, of the decreased interaction. In addition, the theory argues that gradual disengagement is functional for society, which would otherwise be faced with disruption by the sudden withdrawal of its members (Kart et al. 76). Working part-time is a familiar role for many older people. The office is "second home" to many working individuals, and once retired find they miss not the work, but rather the environment. Working part-time for many retirees is a way for them to ease into retirement gradually, while enabling them to keep in contact with their colleagues. A major concern for many elderly individuals is perhaps not having developed a formal retirement plan and not having saved enough to finance the activities they hope to pursue in retirement, hence their desire to return to the workforce. Retirees who return to the workforce are given an improved sense of self-worth, as well as are able to form friendships with younger workers, which is important to the aged workers as their family support networks are shrinking as relatives and friends pass away.

At some point in our lives we will face the harsh reality of someone we know and love battling a terminal illness. According to Moo's Model, a crisis sets forth-adaptive tasks to which various coping skills can be applied. According to this model there are five major sets of adaptive tasks - 1) to establish the meaning and significance of the situation; 2) to confront reality; 3) to sustain relations

Some common words found in the essay are:
Moo's Model, Broome Llewelyn, , Crisis Units, Cumming Henry, terminal illness, elderly individual, spouse companion, family friends, Readjustment Scale, death spouse, elderly population, one's life, life crises, elderly individuals, Disengagement Theory, contending terminal illness, relationships family friends, death spouse companion, coping skills,

Approximate Word count = 1488
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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