Challenges affecting late adulthood

Challenges Facing Late Adulthood
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Challenges Facing Late Adulthood
Modern medicine and practices help in improving life expectancy and helps people to live long. However, increasing longevity does render anyone immune to old age problems or maladies. Aging comes with confronting many life challenges. The challenges are either, emotional, psychological, and physical or the social issues that people face in their last face of life. As people grow old, they tend to be financially dependent on their next of kin mainly because they could be physically unfit to work. For those who grow away from their loved ones, contending with isolation becomes a daily routine. This paper talks about depression in elderly as a social challenge to old people, which affects their wellbeing.
Late adulthood also called old age starts at the age of 65 years as explained by Hoffman, Parker and Sanchez (2009). The elderly population is growing due to the much advancement in health care improving the quality of life. It is the period in which one reflects on their life and past accomplishments. Many are the problems that older adults face. These problems affect their wellbeing include addiction, depression, singlehood in old age among others. Depression is very common in old age, but it should not be treated as normal. Its effects are evident in every aspect of the life of an individual such as relationships, interest in work, hobbies, and appetite.
Due to the shocking rffects of the condition, it is a significant challenge for public health.

A study conducted by Brodarty and colleagues 2001 found that 52% of the geriatric patients with depression had their first episode in old age in a mood disorder unit. Another study by Bruce and colleagues 2002 revealed that 71% of elderly patients in home-based care were experiencing their first episodes. From the two studies, we can say that depression is very common in old age even those who were healthy in early years are at greater risk of developing the condition in old age.
Suicide rates among the elderly are declining, but the primary cause of the few is depression. For this reason, depression in the elderly should be treated as a critical condition. Depression in late life is also associated with an increase in morbidity due to insomnia, loss of appetite, decrease in level of physical activity, social and cognitive functioning. Most cases of depression in old age are usually overlooked mainly because most people view it as a normal aging process which is not a fact. Feelings of hopelessness, worthless and helpless can never be treated as normal. Depression in the elderly is a social issue as it affects the society in various ways especially when life is lost from suicide which is a result of depression.
WHO estimates the overall prevalence rates of depression in the elderly to be between 10% and 20% depending on the social situations. Studies in India has confirmed this as the study revealed the prevalence of 13% to 25% and being the second country with the largest geriatric population the revelation may apply in most countries. Most of the causes of depression in late adulthood were reported to be the pain, frustrations, chronic diseases, and personality traits, limitation of daily activities, inadequate social support and adverse life events such as divorce, poverty, social isolations, and loss of a loved one. All these factors are common in old age and therefore exacerbate or increase the risks of the condition.
Biopsychosocial development in old age
The biopsychosocial development includes the biological, social and psychological aspects of development. In any mental conditions, the three factors must be considered as they influence the development of the state. Development of depression in old age may be due to injunctions received in childhood, for example, the negative orders may cause one not to maintain relationships which are psychological and distance self from others which are a social problem. The person may not, therefore, take care of hygiene which is a biological aspect and therefore tend to be lonely. The three factors, therefore, interact in the development of depression each contributing to the consequences of the condition.
Painful childhood events have been proven to be one of the major contributing factors of depression. Children who were raised with lots of criticism of them being worthless and not being good at anything tend to feel cheap in late adulthood which is a characteristic of depression. They may try so hard to make people like them and in instead distance their peers from them. They tend to feel hopeless as it dawns on them that what they were old in childhood could be manifesting itself in old age. For better treatment, all these aspects must be dealt with singly and appropriately.
Controversies surrounding depression in the elderly
There are several discussions about depression in the elderly. First, it varies based on individuals, families, culture, ethnicities and communities. Most people experience loneliness in old age due to lack of close family ties, connection reduction or living alone. An individual having such problems is bound to suffer from depression, unlike an older adult who is surrounded by love from their families. Seniors usually find it hard to initiate the new relationship, and they also lose friendship networks hence an individual who had a personality disorder may find it more unbearable thus increasing the risks of developing the mental disorder.
According to Miller, and Reynolds, (2012), depression may vary with the community and culture. That community who exempts their seniors from participating in community activities exposes them to depression. The old may feel neglected and worthless since their contribution is not recognized and therefore expose them to depression. A study carried out by Mullins, Johnson, and Anderson, 1987 revealed that older people preferred engaging in social interaction and therefore exempting them from such subjects them to loneliness and depression. The study also found that the old found it more enjoyable spending time with neighbors or a person of their age than family members. Family relationships tend to be obligatory, but with others, it is a choice one makes.
Discrimination received by the elderly their families and communities
Seniors receive perceptions that are not based on their skin color, socio-economic status, and religion but their age. Most people have an attitude that aging makes one less productive, beautiful and meaningful described as ageism. In medical facilities, they tend to receive less aggressive treatment than the young people with the same symptoms. A study conducted in 1996 revealed that a senior woman is less likely to receive radiation and chemotherapy for breast cancer than the young lady even though they are at increased risks of dying. Most health workers also dismiss complaints of old people as signs of aging and therefore takes them less severe.
In education training of medical students, they are not trained on how to deal with complex conditions of the elderly. Older adults may also lose their jobs due to their age as they are viewed to be less productive. Families and communities of seniors also faced a lot of challenges and discrimination (Kadushin, & Egan, 2008). Communities of older adults are viewed as not requiring lots of social services and therefore less development. Resources allocated to such communities are less because people believe that their needs are less compared to the young generations.
Human Behavior and Social Environment Theories
One of these theories is the Erik Erikson psychosocial development theory. Erikson outlines eight stages that an individual must pass through when growing up to cope. Failure of any stage causes fixation and regression. Another theory is the Sigmund Feud psychodynamic theory. Feud suggests that personality can be explained regarding conscious and unconscious forces in an individual. The psychodynamic theory helps in relating the past events to the present and therefore finding the cause of behaviors. The depressive condition of an elderly can be explained based on the past events and therefore appropriate management found. One of its weaknesses is that it ignores the biological components of a person and therefore if the cause of the depression is organic it may be of less significance.
An individual’s peers, physical environment, social institution, political and social factors may impact on an older adult. If there are less recreational facilities which are a social institution an individual may be less active and this exposes them to loneliness. Political instability may cause seniors to attempt suicide as they feel less productive and unable to solve the problems at hand.
How Social Workers Can Support the Elderly
Geriatric social workers have lots of responsibilities, for example, they collect information about the services available to the elderly and how they can access them. They can also offer clinical intervention to depressed patients by encouraging them to participate in stimulating activities. They act as their advocates in presenting their grievances to the significant authorities. They are supposed to report any elderly abuse to the adult protective service. Social workers serve as a link between their clients to the public (Berkman, & D’Ambruoso, 2006). They help the elderly to apply for appropriate services. If older adults try to overcome particular challenges in their life such as ageism they may tend to use defense mechanisms which affect their wellbeing. They may also affect their families in the process for example displacement defense mechanism can influence their families (Holosko, & Feit, 2008).This study demonstrates that growing old is inevitable. Today there are so many elderly in the society, thanks to the current health. Older people are prone to suffer from guilt especially if they feel dependency burden on their next of keen. Other elderly may be contending with guilt from their past mistakes. The community needs to be educated to acknowledge the challenges of the aged and learn how to help the elderly overcome these challenges. It is most important to train the encourage our society to keep the old company and protect them from isolation. Due to the advancement in medical technology, the community is likely to have many elderly populations. It is, therefore, necessary to learn about old age in our youth.

References
Berkman, B., & D’Ambruoso, S. (2006). Handbook of social work in health and aging. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hoffman, A. J., Parker, N. E., & Sanchez, E. (2009). Unity through Community Service Activities: Strategies to Bridge Ethnic and Cultural Divides. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.
Holosko, M. J., & Feit, M. D. (2008). Social work practice with the elderly. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Kadushin, G., & Egan, M. (2008). Gerontological home health care: A guide for the social work practitioner. New York: Columbia University Press
Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2016). Human development: A life-span view. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Miller, M. D., & Reynolds, C. F. (2012). Depression and anxiety in later life: What everyone needs to know. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
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