Exploring Life Course Approaches in Successful Ageing and Health

This essay delves into the concept of successful ageing, adopting a life course approach to examine its significance in health and social care. It begins by defining successful ageing, highlighting cognitive, emotional, and physical aspects. The essay then explores the importance of successful ageing, discussing its historical development and societal benefits, such as increased life expectancy and social engagement. It evaluates successful ageing through the lens of bio-psycho-social theories, contrasting biomedical and psychosocial perspectives and their respective models. The essay critiques various models and theories, including the SOC model, and analyzes factors influencing successful ageing, encompassing social-economic and ethical considerations. Finally, the essay concludes by synthesizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach to successful ageing.

Life course
Approaches in
Health , Social Care
and Ageing

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
What is successful ageing............................................................................................................3
So, from the above discussed skills, successful ageing can be measured in an effective manner.
.....................................................................................................................................................3
Importance of successful ageing with historical development of the concept............................3
Evaluation of successful ageing from a bio-psycho-social theory perspective...........................4
Models and theories and its critique to define successful ageing................................................5
Approaches to achieve successful ageing e.g. SOC model.........................................................5
What factors affect successful ageing: social-economic, ethnics etc..........................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
A life course approach focuses on social perspective in health (Campisi and et.al., 2019). This
study is going to show importance of a successful ageing and how it helps others in making them
feel valued and increasing life expectancy. Further, it will also show all those factors which
affect a successful ageing like economic and others.
What is successful ageing
A successful ageing can be known as healthy ageing which is achievable by every older
person. Adopting a positive view of ageing in which older people feel healthy and disease free is
known as successful ageing. There are several skills which can help in identifying in a detailed
and clear manner that what is meant by successful ageing such as:
Cognitive skills: If older people and people with growing age have all those skills which make
them attentive is known as successful ageing. When people have working memory, abilities to
speed informations system, recognizing all people with even growing age is known as a healthy
and a successful ageing.
Happiness: When people get older and they feel happy and keep themselves happy in all type of
situation then it is called a successful ageing. Becoming older with age and being happier day by
day with growing age is also a sign of a successful ageing (Menai and et.al., 2017).
Physical and mental health: People with getting older feel healthy and disease free than it can
also be considered as a successful ageing. When people have abilities and capacity to participate
in social activities and can perform their all activities at their own and independently then it can
be known as a successful ageing.
So, from the above discussed skills, successful ageing can be measured in an effective
manner.
Importance of successful ageing with historical development of the concept
Successful ageing has now become one of the important concept as it helps people in
describing a quality of ageing and also increase life expectancy. It plays an important role
because it makes people able to do whatever they want to do and focus on only those which is
important for them (Kuska, 2018). With a successful ageing and process of getting older with
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happiness, disease free make an individual able to be happy and enjoy every aspects of the life in
an effective manner.
Social engagement: Social engagement is one of the main reasons and benefit of a
successful ageing. Higher life satisfaction is being only reported by those who have an effective
and greater contact with society and their family. A successful ageing make people able to satisfy
themselves and involving in social activities.
Social engagement is not only good for older people as it is good for children because they
learn several things from their family members and older people and developing good habits in
them can only be happened with this (Kuska, 2018).
Evaluation of successful ageing from a bio-psycho-social theory perspective
It is important to measure effectiveness of a successful ageing and there are several
effective models and theories by which effectiveness of successful ageing can be evaluated. One
of the important theories is biomedical model and sociological model.
Biomedical theories allow people to focus on minimising mental as well as physical disability.
As per this theory, people can focus on some elements which can allow them to make ageing
process successful such as:
 Absence of chronic disease: Chronic diseases can make ageing process more critical so,
it is important for a successful ageing to minimise this and being happy by protecting
ourselves against chronic diseases.
 Absence of several risk factors and high level of independent physical functioning also
makes an individual able to become healthy and making their ageing process successful.
So, overall it can be said that with the help of biomedical approach, functional loss in
ageing process and older people can be minimised in order to make it successful.
Rather, biomedical there is one other effective theory which can help in evaluating successful
ageing such as: Psychosocial (Aw and et.al., 2019).
 As per this psychosocial theory of a successful ageing, people can focus on some factors
such as adaption or making themselves able to adapt changing situations in an effective
manner.
 Self acceptance is other main element which can allow people to make their ageing
process successful when they accept all their positive and negative sides.
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 Life satisfaction and independency are main important factor which can also make ageing
process successful and it can be possible when people make an effective use of this
psychosocial theory. It gives them life satisfaction which is important to being happy and
healthy.
Models and theories and its critique to define successful ageing.
For the concept of successful ageing their biomedical theories have been developed which states
the optimization of the different life expectancy will be minimizing the physical and mental level
of deterioration and disability. There has been the major focus on their absence of the chronic
diseases, the risk factor absences, the healthy perspective. In addition to that’s there is high level
of independency with physical level of functioning, performance and mobility to develop the
good cognitive functioning in perfect manner.
As per the MacArthur studies in year 1988, usual ageing has the normal level of declining in
physical, social and cognitive functioning. This have focussed on absences for maintenance for
the physical and cognitive function for active agreement with life.
On the other hand, the criticism to biomedical approach narrowness with prevalence of
morbidity as successful ageing in only few. Hence the failure is to address the adaptions to have
neglection of life course dynamics with neglect of earlier psychosocially evidence.
More to that’s the theories of ageing are such as the disengagement theory which have entailing
the graduals level of withdrawal from society and preparing to die. This theory has been
discredited and out rates. This have been followed by the activity theory which have the proper
level of angering activities of middle ages by adding happiness and satisfaction.
Approaches to achieve successful ageing e.g. SOC model
The approaches which are explaining the successful aging are such as Psychosocial approaches
with different emphasis in the adaption, self-level of acceptance by productivity with optimising
the life expectancy. This have ear to have the interdependence on life satisfaction with the
personals with social participations and functioning by tasking the psychological resources with
inclusion of personal growth as per the personality and good mental health.
The sociological models have the people which is selecting the life domains to have importance
o respective them. this is helpful in optimizing the resources which can have the proper level of
facilitation in order to have the compensate for losses for adapting the biological, psychological
and socio-economic changes throughout their lives. This is about creating the environment with
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the lifelong development to have the selection, optimization and the process of compensations
which is important for ageing.
This have the behavioural strategies with the supportive devices which is indicating the
compensations to have the behavioural activities to have the development of next frequent
strategy.
On the other hand, proactivity the model of SA with the developed the emphasis to the potentials
to meet the challenges in order to have the use of enacted resources for proactive adaption. This
is exploring the pathway for memantine of psychological well-being and engagement in social
activities, even for older adults exposed to stressors of illness, frailty and social losses
What factors affect successful ageing: social-economic, ethnics etc.
The physical factors which can be parts of precative predictors which can be in the
considerations of the absence of cigarette and alcohol abuse. This have providence of moderative
supports for better self-heath and chorionic medical constrains in perfect manner.
Psychological Factors which tends t make major impacts as the low rate of depression along with
higher rate of resilience. This have bene the purpose of life which have the adaptive defences.
This is more likely have the anticipations with the psychological to have the managing
depression in order the resilience and decrees the depressive symptoms.
The next is social factors which in helpful in contributing the aging successfully to have been
identified as the predictor for successful aging. This an be greater social support and more level
of social contracts. In the midlife assess to develop quality of relationship in social support
networks in increasing the physical factors and Psychological Factors.
Conclusion
Form the above file it can be concluded as the majority of people have considered themselves on
the A biomedical perspective of successful ageing needs balancing with a psycho-social
perspective, and vice versa, and include lay views. This have turned out to be creating the
environment with the lifelong development to have the selection, optimization and the process of
compensations which is important for ageing.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Online
Milte, C.M. and McNaughton, S.A., 2016. Dietary patterns and successful ageing: a systematic
review. European journal of nutrition, 55(2), pp.423-450.
Menai, M and et.a., 2017. Accelerometer assessed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and
successful ageing: results from the Whitehall II study. Scientific reports, 7, p.45772.
Southwell, P.J and et.al., 2018. Successful ageing with COPD: Physical and psychosocial
adaption to functional decline. COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, 15(5),
pp.439-445.
Kusumastuti, S and and et.al., 2016. Successful ageing: A study of the literature using citation
network analysis. Maturitas, 93, pp.4-12.
Petrovic, M and et.al., 2019. Optimization of drug use in older people: a key factor for a
successful ageing. In The Cambridge Handbook of Successful Aging (pp. 237-262). Cambridge
University Press.
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