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| Slowing is a natural part of aging. |
Most
seniors don’t usually categorize themselves as "elderly". Many will bristle at being treated as frail
or dependent and will actively work at remaining as young as possible. Seniors
look forward to retirement age with plans of finally having time to enjoy
family, the opportunity to travel or pursue personal interests. They are
encouraged with opportunities to do things, go places and experience life like
no aging generation
has been in the past. So when today’s senior
reaches advanced years and frailty begins to be an issue, the transition into being
truly elderly can be very difficult.
There
are four psychological phases that the aging pass through as they transition
from senior to elderly. These stages are 1) Slowing; 2) Life Review; 3)
Transmission; and 4) Letting Go. Recognizing and understanding the
characteristic behavior of being elderly of each stage is helpful for families
and the aging alike. For the aging
themselves, recognizing the transition into advance age can be difficult,
frailty often just sneaks up on a person before they are really ready for
it. Knowing the signs of that transition
can help with acceptance of the next stage in life. For family it is often necessary to assist
their loved one through each stage of advancing age and knowing what to expect
can make it easier on all involved.
Slowing
One of
the most visible indicators of the transition from senior to elderly is the
process of slowing down. Except in the
cases of illness, slowing is a very gradual process. For most healthy individuals, advanced age is
noticeable by the lack of speed in all functions. This is the time of slowing in pace, motor
skills and biological processes.
There is also a reduction in speed in certain intellectual and memory
functions. The physical slowing of
advanced age takes over all aspects of life and brings with it formidable
physical and psychological implications.
·
Focus on bodily maintenance - For the advanced elderly, a trip to
the bathroom may take a half an hour and buttoning up a sweater or finding
one’s socks may take another 20 minutes.
The basics of living occupies the bulk of the day, leaving the elderly
essentially only time to focus on the routine tasks of daily care.
·
Focus on details - Rather than quickly completing multiple tasks
as one does in youth, the elderly pay attention to the details of the one
task at hand. Their focus on minute
details may be frustrating when it comes across as being particular or
difficult, yet taking the time to listen and help with those details is an act
of love.
·
Focus on routines – For the advanced in aged life is simplified
into daily routines and schedules. These
routines, which are followed strictly, provide stability as the elderly is face
with an ever increasing fast paced world they can no longer keep up with. Asking an elder to interrupt or change his
routine can be met with resistance and needs to be approached gently and with
advanced notice.
·
Focus on the negative - The advanced in age are often traumatized
by personal losses of health and loved ones. They may feel of isolated from
family and harbor resentment of being relegated to institutions for the old. The elderly face many challenges in keeping a
positive outlook on life and not succumbing to hopelessness and it is often interaction with family and friends that help put problems in perspective.
·
Focus on fears – Many elderly people grow confused and tend to
panic when confronted with the fast pace of life. These moments of forgetfulness and
disorientation create great anxiety.
Humiliation at loss of memory, loss of physical competence and
occasional states of confusion all create paralyzing fears of being
incapacitated and being unable to care for one self. This cycle of fear can cause the aging to
shut down emotionally, psychologically and physically.
·
Focus on being rather than doing – The challenge for the elderly
lies in making a healthy relationship with slowing. It requires abandoning the pace of life from
the past. There is no longer the future
to consider, but a focus on the present.
To be able to relax and accept just being rather than doing is a great
challenge for the elderly, who have clung to remaining active and productive
all through their senior years.
Today’s
aging often faces the transition of slowing without the support of a safe and
loving environment. It used to be that the elderly remained centered in the family life, helping with the raising of children and acting as the living history of a family. The youth were taught to slow down to a pace acceptable to their elders and to wait on them respectfully. Without that loving and patient support an the elderly can perceive their natural process of slowing as being a nuisance.
Natural
aging for the elderly unfolds best in a caring atmosphere; one enriched with
life and love, communication and relationships.
It is in such an
environment the aging are accommodated as they go through the first transition
stage of becoming elderly.
Kate McCarthy is
Director of Operations for HomeAid Health Care which provides services for the
elderly who wish to remain safe and independent at home. HomeAid is sister company to Prairie Home
Assisted Living, which has served the physical, spiritual, mental and health needs
of their Residents since 1999. Together
the two companies provide comprehensive care for the elderly in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin.
