HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Late adulthood Prashaanth K DEATH AND BEREAVEMENT ACROSS LIFESPAN IN OLD AGE. CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE Between ages 5-7, children understand that death is irreversible, universal and inevitable; and that a dead person is non-functional. The way children exhibit grief depends on their cognitive and emotional development. Children often express grief through anger, acting out, refusing to acknowledge death. Loss is more if the death was unexpected, especially if it was a murder or suicide. Parents and other adults can help the child deal with bereavement by helping them understand the nature of death. Adolescents take high health risks and don’t usually think about death other than when faced with death. ADULTHOOD Young adults are usually busy and concerned with launching their careers and family. When they’re struck by a fatal illness or death of a close one, they get extremely frustrated. In middle age, most people realize that they’re going to die. Their bodies send them signals that they’re not as young and agile as they once used to be. Gradually, they think about how many years they have left andhow to make the most out of those years. Older adults have mixed feelings about death. Physical losses and other problems may diminish their pleasure and will to live. According to Erikson, older adults who resolve the integrity vs despair stage, achieve acceptance of their past life and impending death. People who feel that their lives have been meaningful and who have adjusted to their losses may bebetter able to face death. SENSORY AND PSYCHOMOTOR FUNCTIONING IN OLD AGE. Old people experience sharp declines in sensory and psychomotor functioning. Sensory loss and Motor impairments can rob them off their independence, activities and social relationships. VISION o Depth and color perception is greatly reduced. Activities such as sewing, reading and cooking become harder as a result. o Loss in visual contrast sensitivity makes reading very small and very light print very difficult. o Older eyes are more sensitive to glare. Hence, traffic accidents are a major risk factor for late adults. Most visual impairments are caused by cataracts (damage to the eye lens), glaucoma (damage to the optic nerve), macular degeneration (damage to the retina) etc, which can be corrected using lens and surgery. Yet most of the time, the damage done by these conditions are irreversible, and can cause blindness. HEARING Hearing loss in late adults is caused by presbycusis, a reduction in the ability to hear high pitched sounds as a person ages. Other causes of hearing loss are chronic exposure to loud sound, smoking, history of middle ear infections, prolonged exposure to certain chemicals. 2 Hearing loss may contribute to a false perception of older people as distractible, absent minded and irritable. Men are more likely to develop hearing loss than women. Hearing loss can usually be corrected by using hearing aids that magnify background sounds. TASTE AND SMELL When older people complain about food being tasteless, it is usually because of reduction in their taste buds. Olfactory bulb may also lose sensitivity to smell. Sensitivity to sweetness is comparatively less affected than other tastes. STRENGTH, ENDURANCE, BALANCE AND REACTION TIME Older people have less strength and endurance than they once had. They generally lose about 10-20% of their strength up to age 70, especially in the lower body. Walking fitness and flexibility decreases; more in women than men. Weight and resistance training can however increase strength and endurance of the muscles. Even low intensity exercises can increase oxygen uptake and strength. A reason for older people’s susceptibility to falls is reduced sensitivity of the receptor cells that give the brain information about the body’s position in space. Slower reflexes and poor depth perception also contribute to loss of balance. Exercises can restore body control and postural stability. 3