In our final post for the semester, I have a few questions for reflection:
1. What is your personal definition of succesful aging? How has this definition changed from the beginning of the semester?
2. What was one topic or fact that you found to be the most interesting throughout the semester?
3. What is one aspect of successful aging that you would like to continue learning about?
4. Has any of the information that we've discussed in class change your perspective about successful aging? (i.e. Are there any behaviors that you will or will not do as a result of learning about aging?)
Thanks again everyone for participating in the class! It has been a great semester.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Aging News
I am reposting the article I sent in an email- I will discuss conference information in class.
One article I recently read from University of So-Cal's gerontology website talked about how even though the average life span has increased, the number of years of living morbidity (disease, deteriorated function) free has actually lessened. For example;
A male 20-year-old today can expect to spend 5.8 years over the rest of his life without basic mobility, compared to 3.8 years a decade ago — an additional two years unable to walk up 10 steps or sit for two hours. A female 20-year-old can expect 9.8 years without mobility, compared to 7.3 years a decade ago.
To me this is interesting because I think it impacts what we think about as "successful aging", as well as the influence of health care and aging. It doesn't speak to the idea that we are preventing diseases as much as we are treating them. This also raises an ethical question for myself. Personally, I'd rather live quality years than quantity years.
However, there are quite a few considerations to also keep in mind. For instance: The increasing prevalence of disease may to some extent reflect better diagnostics, but what it most clearly reflects is increasing survival of people with disease,” Crimmins said. “The cost of maintaining and providing care for people with chronic conditions is an important part of determining the economic well-being of countries with established social security and government-provided health services.”
One article I recently read from University of So-Cal's gerontology website talked about how even though the average life span has increased, the number of years of living morbidity (disease, deteriorated function) free has actually lessened. For example;
A male 20-year-old today can expect to spend 5.8 years over the rest of his life without basic mobility, compared to 3.8 years a decade ago — an additional two years unable to walk up 10 steps or sit for two hours. A female 20-year-old can expect 9.8 years without mobility, compared to 7.3 years a decade ago.
To me this is interesting because I think it impacts what we think about as "successful aging", as well as the influence of health care and aging. It doesn't speak to the idea that we are preventing diseases as much as we are treating them. This also raises an ethical question for myself. Personally, I'd rather live quality years than quantity years.
However, there are quite a few considerations to also keep in mind. For instance: The increasing prevalence of disease may to some extent reflect better diagnostics, but what it most clearly reflects is increasing survival of people with disease,” Crimmins said. “The cost of maintaining and providing care for people with chronic conditions is an important part of determining the economic well-being of countries with established social security and government-provided health services.”
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