Old Age

When you think of old age, what do you think of?

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Demographics of aging population

Number of people over age 65 - from 3 million in 1900 to 35 million in 2000 in U.S.

From 4 to 13% of the population

Age cohort between 75-79, 80-84 and 85 plus are the fastest growing group age group world-wide

The fastest growing age group in the United States is the cohort of people 85 and above, and in this group the incidence of dementia rises sharply. By the year 2010, one billion older people will inhabit the Earth, needing everyone to cope humanely and effectively

How we age differs, unlike childhood cohorts

Videoclip from Noble old

Biosocial and Cognitive issues clip

Alzheimers:

"Dementia is by far the largest epidemic facing our society today. It dwarfs cancer, AIDS and heart disease, regarding the burden of care."

T. Franklin Williams

Former Director of National Institute of Aging

Alzheimer's disease was quite rare when first identified by a German psychiatrist in 1906. Today, with an increasing average life expectancy, the incidence of the disease is growing dramatically.

An estimated 4 million Americans are now afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, by mid-century, the number is expected to reach 14 million. Alzheimer's disease remains difficult to predict in terms of risk factors. There is a need for caregivers to understand this group, not restrain this group.

Clip from "A Thousand Tomorrows"

Validation Therapy - resolution of issues at old-old stage of life

Groups in Valley Inn

Validation Therapy (Naomi Feil) is a helping method that restores dignity and well-being to disoriented old-old people by accepting them the way they are. The Validation worker does not expect them to act the way younger people do. The worker is non-judgmental and accepts the physical and intellectual losses of old-old age. Validation respects their intuitive wisdom, what they do and what they say has meaning.

When eyesight, hearing and recent memory go, early, emotionally - tinged memories return.

Disoriented old- old people enter a new life-stage: Resolution vs. Vegetatation. They struggle to wrap up unfinished business, to make peace in the final stage. Often, they restore the past in order to resolve it.

Stages of disorientation

Validation Therapy handout

Cases