AGNG 313 Final Exam

Wellness

The ability to understand, accept, and act upon the capacity to lead a purpose-filled and engaged life, embracing potential in various dimensions like physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, social, environmental, and vocational.

Emotional Wellness

Involves being aware of and directing one's feelings to create balance in life, coping with challenges, and behaving in trustworthy and respectful ways, which can be encouraged through peer counseling, stress management, humor/laughter, and personal histories.

Intellectual Wellness

Engaging in creative pursuits and intellectually stimulating activities to keep the mind alert and interested, such as taking college courses, journaling, painting, joining a theater company, and challenging oneself with games and puzzles.

Physical Wellness

Aiming for independent living by making lifestyle choices that maintain or improve health and functional ability, including physical activity, healthy nutrition, adequate sleep, stress management, limited alcohol intake, non-smoking, regular check-ups, and following medical recommendations.

Professional/Vocational Wellness

Involves work that utilizes skills, provides personal satisfaction, and contributes to society, maintaining or improving skills through paid and unpaid work, and engaging in leisure-time vocations and hobbies to maintain vocational skills.

Social Wellness

Valuable for maintaining health through social interactions with family, friends, neighbors, and peer groups, achieved by joining clubs, traveling, visiting friends and family, and engaging in intergenerational experiences.

Spiritual Wellness

Living with meaning and purpose guided by personal values, key to well-being and connection to the larger world, achieved through group and individual faith-based activities, meditation, mindful exercise, and experiencing nature.

Environmental Wellness

Involves respecting resources through "green" processes, encouraging active living through urban and property designs emphasizing walking paths, meditation, vegetable gardens, and similar options.

Older Workforce

The number of workers over age 55 in the labor force has been increasing over the years.

Social Security Benefits

Incentives for retirement have shifted, encouraging older workers to delay retirement and hold off collecting benefits.

Health Insurance

Retiring before Medicare eligibility may lead to expensive and less comprehensive health insurance plans.

Concerns about Available Resources

Many Americans lack confidence in their retirement savings, and certain groups face challenges due to career breaks.

Attitudes Toward Work and Leisure

Baby Boomers plan to work past traditional retirement for reasons beyond finances, such as engagement and satisfaction.

Health of the Older Population

Today's older adults show improved health indicators and declining disability rates.

Educational Background

The percentage of older adults with bachelor's or graduate degrees has increased, impacting job opportunities and retirement.

Gender Differences

Women earn less than men, affecting their social security and retirement benefits.

Ethnicity and Labor Force Participation

Older workers, regardless of race/ethnicity, are increasing in the workforce, with variations among different groups.

Work Injuries

Hispanics face higher rates of work injuries, and age increases the likelihood of fatal work injuries across ethnic groups.

Aging and Religion/Spirituality

Research has shown a correlation between better mental and physical health in older adults who are religious or have spiritual frameworks in their lives.

Quantitative Methods

A multidimensional approach to measure religion/spirituality, as seen in Table 8.1.

Qualitative Methods

Involves collecting narratives about how religion/spirituality is practiced or experienced, often through focus groups or interviews.

Fe

A concept encompassing faith, spirituality, hope, cultural values, and beliefs, serving as a coping mechanism to maintain a positive attitude.

Native American Beliefs

Religion is integrated into their way of life, with diverse expressions among tribes and a focus on a sacred way of living.

LGBT and Spirituality

Contrary to a common misperception, many LGBT individuals are religious or spiritual, with varying acceptance levels in different religious organizations.

Self-Actualizing Elder

Individuals who have reached self-actualization have a positive outlook on aging, focusing on creativity, purpose, and happiness.

Muslims in the U.S.

Older adults are respected and cared for at home, with aging seen as an opportunity for spiritual growth in the Muslim community.

Stages of Life Model in Hindu Tradition

Involves stages like Student, Householder, Retirement, and Renunciation, emphasizing reincarnation and growth through aging.

Buddhist Tradition

Key principles include suffering, impermanence, and nonviolence, with meditation as a path to growth and following the Eightfold Path.

Palliative Care

Comprehensive care for patients with life-limiting illnesses, focusing on psychosocial approaches to cope with symptoms and needs, including pain management.

Hospice Care

End-of-life care providing integrated physical, medical, emotional, and spiritual support to individuals beyond curative treatment, emphasizing pain reduction and personal dignity.

Advance Care Directives

Legal documents like living wills guiding end-of-life care decisions, including instructions for medical treatment in irreversible conditions and appointing a healthcare proxy.

Bereavement

Coping with the death of a spouse or partner, involving a significant identity shift and potential health impacts, especially for older individuals.

Cultural Approaches to Death - African Americans

Rooted in religious beliefs, focusing on hope, prayer, and community support during times of loss, with funerals serving as a way to honor the deceased.

Cultural Approaches to Death - Hispanic Americans

Viewing death as a natural part of life, celebrating spirits of the dead through rituals like All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day, and honoring the deceased with offerings and ceremonies.

Cultural Approaches to Death - Native Americans

Diverse beliefs about life and death within tribes, with rituals like gathering around the dying person and ceremonies taking place at the home reservation.

Cultural Approaches to Death - Asian Americans

Embracing complex factors like tradition and ritual practices, with Hindu beliefs emphasizing old age as preparation for death and sacred rituals for the dying person.

Cultural Approaches to Death - Buddhists

Belief in impermanence and embracing suffering as part of existence, using sutras to calm the dying person and aiming for a favorable rebirth and enlightenment.

Cultural Approaches to Death - Islamic Tradition

Teaching about life after death, perceiving death as a passage to eternal existence, rejecting reincarnation, and emphasizing the importance of deeds for the afterlife.