Blog # 4 Elderly Abuse

Every year, tens of thousands of elderly Americans are abused by those who are responsible for taking care of them. The abuse can take place in their own homes, in relatives homes, and even in facilities responsible for their care. There are many different kinds of abuse Physical, emotional, and neglect are just three of the many. Physical abuse is the abuse where the elder is harmed physically where it may result in pain, and injury. Hitting the elder isn't the only form of physical abuse administering an incorrect dosage of drugs can also be considered physical abuse.

Emotional abuse has two different forms verbal and nonverbal. The two forms can cause the elder emotional pain and distress. The verbal forms of abuse are yelling or threatening, humiliation, and habitualy blaming the elder. Nonverbal psychological elder abuse can take the form of ignoring the elderly person or neglecting, isolating an elder from friends or activities.

It is important that a caretaker understands the task that the have at hand dealing with elders because elder neglect, failure to fulfill a caretaking obligation, constitutes more than half of all reported cases of elder abuse. This topic hits home for me because my grandmother had a stroke the summer of 2001, and my grandfather had a tumor removed from his brain the spring of 2008. With their current health, age and situation they must now rely on caretakers and being that they live in New York City I worry about their safety. Elderly Neglect is the most reported form of abuse and I feel that the family of the elders should know the caretakers personally to ensure that the elders are in great hands.

If elders are being abused there are different ways to report it they should tell a doctor, a friend, or a family member whom they trust. Or they can call Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116.

Blog #3 Benefit of Physical Activity

I work as a personal trainer with Team Challenger, as a Personal Trainer I understand the importance of exercising, physical activity, and personal fitness. I love what I do, I LOVE helping people reach their personal goals! My Philosophy as a personal trainer is, reaching your goal isn't an overnight attempt. It entails day-to-day exercises, nutritional supplements and appropriate food intake. Team Challenger’s mission is to promote health, fun, fitness and quality of life through one’s dedication and hard work.


Physical Activity can benefit us all, but it is one of the most effective ways for the the elderly to prevent chronic illnesses. According to Health in later Years Regular physical activity slows, or even reverses, many of the age-related physical declines in the cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal systems by improving the efficiency of the heart and lungs. Regular physical activity even has some evidence to slow down the death rate. Elders who walk have a lower mortality rate than those who don't walk at all. Regular exercise reduces stress, and improves the ability to sleep.

Inactivity can lead to many things such as obesity, heart disease, and many other diseases. Obesity is the most common in our country, and now that the school systems are beginnging to take away Physical Education, this problem will continue to occur. It is very important that inactive elders become active it betters their health, sleep, and even increases their chances to live a longer life.

Journal 2 Widowhood

One of the most stressful tasks that one must face is becoming a widow or widower and learning to live alone. Everything that was once done by two people has become the responsibility of one. Coping with the lost of your love one can be a very painful process. According the the article that I read "women widowed less than a year reported more mental and physical problems than women who were married and women who had been widowed for longer than a year." Almost one half of women over the age of 65 years are widowed.

Although the coping process can be a difficult one, overtime the widow or widower tends to improve. Support from love ones can be very important during the coping process. In my opinion I believe its the most important, support from your love ones can feel that void of not having your husband or wife around.

The affects of widowhood can be mental, physical, and can even change the health behaviors of the widow or widower. Studies show that the 1st year of being widowed has the worse affect on women they show higher rates of depressed mood, they have poorer social lives, and lower mental and physical health than women who have been widowed longer than a year.

I think that this article was very important because everyone will lose someone close to them at one point in their life, whether it your significant other, a parent, or a sibling. This article tells us the affects of losing a loved one, and it tells us that it is important that we are there for the people around us who has lost someone near and dear to them.
http://www.apa.org/releases/widowhood.html

BLOG #2: Elder Drivers

We have all driven down a road where the speed limit was 45 Mph, but are forced to slow down because there was a vehicle in front of us that was going around 25 Mph, chances are the driver of that vehicle was an elderly driver. According to Health in the Later Years motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of accidental death among elders aged 65 to 74 and the second leading cause among those aged 75 and over.

Although driving behind an elderly driver maybe annoying to some, their slow driving accounts for the fewest crashes among all age groups. Elderly drivers tend to be more cautious than other drivers, they are less likely to drink and drive, and tend to not speed. Elderly drivers also tend to wear their seat belts unlike other age groups. All these factors show why elderly drivers account for a small percentage of all motor vehicle accidents.

In comparison to other age groups, elderly drivers drive the fewest amount of miles. But according to Health in the Later Years "When the data are analyzed on a per-mile basis, drivers aged 75 and older have the worst record." I for one think that elderly drivers should be given a mandatory road test at the of age 65 and an additional test at the age of 75. I say this because elderly drivers are more likely to sustain injuries, be hospitalized, and even worse die from motor vehicle accidents. Elders tend to have vision problems that may affect their view of the road and their overall driving skills. All these factors show why some elders aren't fit to drive.

Chronic Illness (Journal Club #1)

Studies show that not only are people living longer lives, but the number of people living with long-term illnesses will begin to rise dramatically.

In my opinion chronic illness should be a very important topic to us in this country, because of the Seventy-six million American babies that were born between 1946 and 1960 known as the "Baby Boomers". We are beginning to see the 1st wave of the "baby boomers".
They are Retiring and reaching the age where they can be considered elders. With the number of elders going up so will the number of chronic illnesses.

I believe that it is very important that we educate the younger age groups as well as the elderly about what may cause chronic illness. Although chronic illness in elderly are usually inherited, there are some that are triggered by our lifestyles. Smoking, lack of exercise, unhealthy diets and alcoholism all can lead to chronic illness in the later years of one's life. If we do not educate others or find ways to prevent all the chronic illnesses and diseases "the strain on society and its infrastructure will reach it's breaking point" and to me that may mean another Great Depression. If we aren't going to find ways to prevent chronic illness to help the elderly we should at least do it to help our economy.


http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/chronic-illness-among-elderly-expected-to-soar-14137827.html

Aging Stereotypes

Each of us have a perception of getting older and becoming an elder. Our perceptions come from the many stereotypes we've heard throughout our lives. I for one have heard many stereotypes about the elderly, the one that I've heard the most is that most elders live in nursing homes, but that isn't true"In 2003, four of five older persons owned their own homes" and "Elders are less likely to change residences than younger groups."

I have always believed that Hispanics lived the longest, because being from New York City my neighbors would be 70 years of age but looked like they were still in their 40's as if they've found the "fountain of youth". But Health in the Later Years states that "The Hispanic American population is considerably younger than the white population. This age difference is due to higher fertility rates and shorter life expectancies."

I always thought that once you've become an elder you totally lose interest in sexual activties, but after reading parts of Chapter 11 (Sexuality) I realized that it isn't the interest that is losted, but the ability to achieve and maintain an erection(for men), but for women there isn't much change in nipple or clitoral erection. but "Both the orgasmic and the resolution phases were shorter in older women." "However the capacity to achieve orgasm, even multiple orgasms, did not change with age." That to me was very interesting.