Late adulthood ~Past, Present and Future~

Late adulthood
Past, Present and Future


    Do you think the life cycle of human development never changes? Especially our image of  “old people” are always people with glasses, gray hair, torso bent forward, and so on. However, the tendencies of human development in late adulthood has slightly changed overtime. Today, I would like to compare the differences between elderly people in the past (1970s) and the present, especially focusing on two aspects, cognitive physical development, and social emotional development. Also, I will try to predict how elderly people will look like in the future (three decades later) based on this comparison and the tendency between past and present elderly people.  

    Now let’s see if there are any differences in late adulthood between 1970s and 2000s. Here is the chart of major differences between the two generations. Please look at the table below.

 Past (the 1970s)Present
Cognitive & Physical
  • The life expectancy (1970-1972)
    69.58 years for men,
    76.58 years for women (2018).
  • Dying by external accident was higher than present (2018).

  • Deaths due to external causes began to decline again two years after the mandatory introduction of seat belts in all new cars in 1971 (2018).
  • Top three causes and death are diseases of the circulatory system, cancer, respiratory system diseases (2018).
  • Life expectancy
    78 years for men, 82.7 years for women (p.289)
  • 44% of seniors perceive their health to be excellent or very good.
  • Heart disease, cancer, and respiratory disease are the top three causes of death. (p.292)
  • Presbycusis, presbyopia, glaucoma, osteoporosis (p.298)
Social & Emotional
  • Man in their 70s seems to have the most difficulty coping, especially when they retired and were expecting to spend more time with their wives during the coming year (p.311).
  • Social contacts limited to a few individuals who are of major importance to us as we grow older (p.304)

  • Although their self-esteem decline as well as body esteem, self-esteem level among late adulthood are relatively higher than people in young adulthood (p.305)

  • depression(p.306)

  • Males tend to have a harder time than female after his spouse dies (p.310)

  • Single older people without children tend to be socially active and join volunteer work (p.311)

  • Older people who have prepared retirement (such as RRSP) tend to be successful with their retirement life (p.312).

  • No matter what the past is, the key to success is preventing physical and cognitive disability and also staying emotionally healthy in their active style(p.313)

According to my research, the big difference is life expectancy. Statistics Canada shows that male life expectancy in 1970s was 9 years shorter than in the 2000s.  In terms of female in the present, they are expected to live 6 years longer than females in 1970s. This is because the medical industry has found efficient treatment, and at the same time deaths due to external causes began to decline with the mandatory introduction of seat belts in all new cars in 1971 (2018).

    Though life expectancy has been longer over three decades, I could not find any other major differences about the cognitive/ physical aspect. Top three cause of death is the same in both generations (2018). It proves that this is too short of a period of time to change human physical development. Our bodies get old as they age, just like in the wear and tear theory. However, I assume that there are more social and emotional changes between two generations since gender role and the lifestyle have changed in the past three decades. For example, Statistics Canada mentions that women’s employment rate has been increasing (2016). According to HDEV, information technology is radically improving (p.304).  As a result, these changes have lead to over-reliance on convenience food, delay of marriage age (2012), and skyrocketing social media usage among seniors (p.304). I assume these facts have given extra stress to older women since the society expects more women to participate in the workplace, even though self-esteem level among late adulthood is relatively higher than people in young adulthood (p.305).


    Based on the changes in the old generation between 1970s and 2000s, I would like to make some assumption about the tendency of late adulthood in the next three decades. As we can see as the medical industry has been developing, life expectancy is becoming longer. Media is also contributing to a longer life expectancy by warning us about our eating habits and introducing us to new cooking methods and superfoods. However, I predict the elderly's cognitive and physical situation will not dramatically change in thirty years even though new medical treatments and nursing services will improve. Elderly people may face new health issues which current elderly people do not have.


    On the other hand, I believe people in late adulthood are expected to change in the social emotional domain due to developments in information technology and the impact on their social lives and emotional health. People in late adulthood would be more willing to participate in social media in order to prevent loneliness. Although using the internet is beneficial for stabilizing their mental health, suicide and mortality rate might still go up because the society is accepting end-of-life decisions. I assume that the definition and laws concerning end-of-life decisions would change as well, becoming more accepting and allowing a larger number of cases. 


    Overall, the tendency of late adulthood slightly changes in each generation. Although it will be continuously changing in the future, I believe the key to success in later adulthood will not change. The secret of successful aging is preventing physical and cognitive disability and staying emotionally healthy in their active style (p.313). As the American 26th president Theodore Roosevelt said, "Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young", we are aware of our lifestyle to prepare our later life.





References

     Old Age Quote. (2001-2018). Brainy Quote. Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/theodore_roosevelt_120668?src=t_old_age

     Eichler, M. (2012, February 5). Marriage in Canada. THE CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/marriage-and-divorce

    Changes in causes of death, 1950 to 2012. (2018, May 17). Statistics Canada. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2016003-eng.htm

    History of the Canadian Labour Force Survey, 1945 to 2016. (2017, November 4). Statistics Canada. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-005-m/75-005-m2016001-eng.htm

    Life expectancy, 1920?1922 to 2009?2011. (2018, May 17). Statistics Canada. Retrieved from  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2016002-eng.htm

    Senior Women. (2016, March 30). Statistics Canada. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-503-x/2015001/article/14316-eng.htm

     Rathus, S, Longmuir, S, Beak L, E, Rogerson, R. (2018). HDEV (2014). Toronto, ON,  Cengage Learning.

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