Analysis of 'Living Old' Video: Lifespan Development Reflection

This assignment is a reflection paper analyzing the PBS Frontline documentary "Living Old." The student explores personal reactions to the video, focusing on surprising aspects, meaningful insights, and shifts in perspective regarding aging and the elderly. The reflection connects the video's content to Erikson's theory of Ego Integrity vs. Despair, providing examples from the documentary to illustrate the theory. The student also integrates this week's readings to deepen the understanding of the video's themes, particularly how youthful decisions impact later life. The paper references two outside sources, following APA formatting guidelines with in-text citations and a reference page.

Running Head: REFLECTION
LIVING WITH THE OLD
Name
Professor
Institution
Course

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What, if anything, surprised you?
What surprised me most in the video is the increasing number of individuals living alone
in their old age and the increased level of non-remarriage cases.
What did you find most meaningful, and why?
What I found most meaningful in this video was the fact that most of us can plan their
future but it is not certain that the future will be like that. A person will plan to die while healthy
but all that could be overturned since we continue losing function and this would be depended on
how much care an old person receives. I found out that some of the elderly people do not find joy
in their old age and what they have already achieved during their youthful stage and since they
do not accept themselves, they end up living a messy life in their old age (Martha & Suzanne ,
2017).
How has this changed your view of growing older, and of the elderly people in your life?
My view to live a long life has changed drastically. It is scary to live for long since living
for long in some cases is accompanied by cases of incurable diseases. A person will also have to
be fed like a kid. However, my view of older people has changed positively. I like the way the
older people volunteer themselves in different organizations to take care of the less advantaged
in society. It is encouraging to meet an older person of 94 years still doing business transactions
without necessarily having to be pushed. Dependence on the younger generation increases with
an increase in the number of old people (Victoria , 2017). The older people will have to be
dependent on the families who live in three or even four generations. Mary feels bad that her
parents are taken care of in an institution and explains that she would feel good if she took care

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of both of her parents. She tries to do it but she cannot manage since she also needs to work for
her family hence her parents have to stay in the nursing care institution.
Explain Erikson's theory of Ego Integrity vs. Despair, using examples from the video.
Erickson’s theory of Ego Integrity vs. Despair is demonstrated through this video in a
few ways. Erickson’s theory states, that “a retrospective accounting of one’s life to date; how
much one embraces life as having been well lived, as opposed to regretting missed
opportunities,” Erikson states that those in their late adulthood need to accept and appreciate
what they achieved and what they could not. The latter is revealed when a 94 year old is asked to
sign for a termination of a contract in case she grows weary health wise (Martha & Suzanne ,
2017). The old woman does not feel anything should stop her from working and refuses to sign
the paper. There is also Mr. Stunner who is old enough such that he has hired to medics to watch
over him 24 hours and pays $ 150,000 but the daughter still had to quit job so as to take care of
him.by paying the amount of cash, it shows that the parent has not given up in life and sees
worth in living thou he’s being fed on a tube. This shows no despair.
How did the readings this week deepen your understanding of the video? (Make connections
between the readings and the video)
This week’s reading has deepened my understanding on the effects of our youthful
decisions to our old age years.By choosing to live together as couple, our life expectancy is
expected to be higher than that of a person who is discovered or for a person who is a gay or
lesbian (Victoria , 2017). From the video, there is an increasing number of old people and hence
there is need for more doctors who will even be required to visit these people in their respective
homes. It is therefore important for the young generation to make sound decisions mostly how

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they would want their financial status to be in the future so that they can be taken care of in the
most appropriate manner.

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References
Martha , L., & Suzanne , V.-F. (2017). Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective. San
Francisco, California: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike.
Victoria , A. V. (2017). LIVING ARRANGEMENTS AND WELL-BEING OF THE OLDER
POPULATION. FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS, 5(3), 1-11.