This week in our
Psychology of Aging class we have covered two different chapters. In the first
chapter, we covered adult and development and aging. One concept that we went
over was the four factors of the life span perspective. The first of these is multidirectionality
(Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2010). This is the idea that people will
grow and decline throughout development. People can gain in one area but then
lose in another; it is not a one way street.
Maple Crest offers a variety of activities for older adults to partake
in, giving them the chance to grow a new skill that they never knew and they
may learn to enjoy. The second of these concepts is plasticity (Cavanaugh &
Blanchard-Fields). Plasticity refers to someone's capacity to learn. People can
continue to improve skills and learn new ones throughout their whole life. Learning and honing skills does not have to
end in youth or middle adulthood. Older
adults are just as capable of learning new skills. The third of these is
historical context, which is how each person develops in their own time in
history and culture and varies by cohort (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields).
For example, the majority of people at Maple Crest were born in the 20th
century and more than likely have much different historical context than those
of us in our 20’s or 30’s. The fourth and last of these is multiple causation,
which says that our development is shaped by different factors in our lives:
biological, psychological, sociocultural, and life cycle forces (Cavanaugh
& Blanchard-Fields).
Another topic we covered in our class was demographics of
the United States. Studies have shown that that the age of the population will
consist of more older adults in the future, which will greatly change how our
society operates, especially when it comes to economics. This will increase the number of individuals
Maple Crest and other facilities serve in order to cater to that population
(Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2010).
This will affect the cost that families of the elderly have to pay to
house aging relatives and may alter what types of activities are in the budget.
With the added influx in the future, more activities may also have to be added
to help meet the demands as our population as a whole ages. Included in this dynamic
is the growth of different minority groups. One group in particular that is
predicted to grow is Hispanic Americans, which is predicted to increase 800% by
2050 (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2010).
Maple Crest could account for this potential increase in members of a
different culture by possibly adding more culturally diverse activities and
celebrating other holidays that are important with other cultures.
The other chapter we have covered recently is
neuroscience as a basis for adult development and aging. The main focus of this
chapter is neuropsychology; this theory compares healthy brain functioning
compared to those with mental illness or cognitive deterioration (Cavanaugh
& Blanchard-Fields, 2010). This could have implications within Maple Crest
and the activities they offer. For example, someone who has Alzheimer's disease might have to partake in different activities than someone
who is fully mentally capable. On the other hand, each activity could be
altered to make accommodations for every kind of individual, no matter their
level of cognitive functioning. This
would all depend on what sort of approach the facility wants to take. Volume
shrinkage occurs in the brain as we age which also hinders cognitive functions.
Both of these factors need to be taken into heavy consideration by both Maple
Crest and other facilities like it.
The activities
offered by Maple Crest help keep the older adults cognitively sharp and help
reduce the volume shrinkage that can occur with aging. Residents can partake in
cards, bingo, crosswords, and most interestingly they make use of technology by
incorporating the Wii game system, which appears to be rather unique to this
facility compared to others in the area. Physical activities are also vital to
keeping the mind and body fit. Maple Crest offers a variety of ways to stay
physically fit, such as aerobics and balloon volleyball, which allows residents
to add another way to stay cognitively fit by thinking about the movements they
are making and what they must do next, as well as potentially having to
cooperate with other residents for these activities Aerobic fitness has been
related to improved brain health in older adults (Cavanaugh &
Blanchard-Fields, 2010). All of these
physical and mental activities offered make Maple Crest an excellent place if
potential clients want to remain physically and cognitively in shape as they
age
Cavanaugh, J. C. & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2010). Adult development and aging. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
No comments:
Post a Comment