Question

Answer two of the questions below: Describe Erickson’s stage of psychosocial development during older adulthood. Ego integrity vs Despair What roles does religion and spirituality play in older adulthood? What living arrangements are most common for older and oldest adults living in the U.S?

Answer 1

EGO INTEGRITY VS DESPAIR.

Ego integrity versus despair is the eighth and final stage of Erik Erikson’s stage theory of psychosocial development. This stage begins at approximately age 65 and ends at death.

It is during this time that we contemplate our accomplishments and can develop integrity if we see ourselves as leading a successful life.

Erikson described ego integrity as “the acceptance of one’s one and only life cycle as something that had to be” and later as “a sense of coherence and wholeness”

As we grow older (65+ yrs) and become senior citizens, we tend to slow down our productivity and explore life as a retired person.

Erik Erikson believed if we see our lives as unproductive, feel guilt about our past, or feel that we did not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life and develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom enables a person to look back on their life with a sense of closure and completeness, and also accept death without fear.

Wise people are not characterized by a continuous state of ego integrity, but they experience both ego integrity and despair. Thus, late life is characterized by both integrity and despair as alternating states that need to be balanced.

ROLE OF RELEGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN OLDER ADULTHOOD

Religion and spirituality have been seen as the lenses through which some people interpret, understand, evaluate and respond to their experiences in the world and give people a sense of meaning and purpose in life.Religion and spirituality are similar but not identical concepts. Religion is often viewed as more institutionally based, more structured, and involving more traditional activities, rituals and practices. Spirituality refers to the intangible and immaterial and thus may be considered a more general term, not associated with a particular group or organization. It can refer to feelings, thoughts, experiences, and behaviors related to the soul or to a search for the sacred.

For most older adults in the US, religion has a major role in their life, with about half attending religious services at least weekly.

Older adults' level of religious participation is greater than that in any other age group. For older people, the religious community is the largest source of social support outside of the family, and involvement in religious organizations is the most common type of voluntary social activity—more common than all other forms of voluntary social activity combined.

The benefits it can offer to the age group are,

Psychologic benefits

• A positive and hopeful attitude about life and illness, which predicts improved health outcomes and lower mortality rates

• A sense of meaning and purpose in life, which affects health behaviors and social and family relationships

• A greater ability to cope with illness and disability

Health-promoting practices

In older adults, active involvement in a religious community correlates with better maintained physical functioning and health. Some religious groups (eg, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists) advocate behaviors that enhance health, such as avoidance of tobacco and heavy alcohol use. Members of these groups are less likely to develop substance-related disorders, and they live longer than the general population.

Social benefits

Religious beliefs and practices often foster the development of community and broad social support networks. Increased social contact for older adults increases the likelihood that disease will be detected early and that older people will comply with treatment regimens because members of their community interact with them and ask them questions about their health and medical care. Older people who have such community networks are less likely to neglect themselves.

Caregivers

Religious faith also benefits caregivers. In a study of caregivers of patients with Alzheimer disease or terminal cancer, caregivers with a strong personal religious faith and many social contacts were better able to cope with the stresses of caregiving during a 2-year period.

Harmful Effects

Religion is not always beneficial to older adults. Religious devotion may promote excessive guilt, inflexibility, and anxiety. Religious preoccupations and delusions may develop in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or psychoses.

Certain religious groups discourage mental and physical health care, including potentially lifesaving therapies (eg, blood transfusions, treatment of life-threatening infections, insulin therapy), and may substitute religious rituals (eg, praying, chanting, lighting candles). Some more rigid religious groups may isolate and alienate older people from nonparticipating family members and the broader social community.

COMMON LIVING ARRANGEMENTS FOR OLDER ADULTS IN THE U.S

U.S. adults ages 60 and older also are more likely than their counterparts around the world to live as a couple without young children at home. Almost half of Americans in this age group (46%) share a home with only one spouse or partner, compared with three-in-ten globally (31%).

Only 6% of people ages 60 and older in the U.S. live in extended-family households – those that include relatives such as grandchildren, nephews and adult children’s spouses .

Older people in the U.S. also stand out from many of their counterparts around the world when it comes to household size. The average person who is 60 or older in the U.S. lives with about one other person, resulting in a household size of 2.1 people.

The share of adults ages 85 and older living in nursing homes or other group quarters has declined substantially – one of the most notable trends in the living arrangements of older Americans. In 1990, about a quarter of women ages 85 and older (27%) lived in these types of living arrangements. By 2014, some 13% of women in this age group did so. Among men ages 85 and older, the share living in a nursing home has declined from 17% in 1990 to 8% in 2014.This has been replaced now by a variety of other arrangements, including living alone or with a spouse or children.