Psychological Factors and Successful Ageing: A Life Course Approach

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LIFE COURSE APPROACHES TO HEALTH, WELLBEING & AGEING
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Successful ageing can be achieved by everyone by critically evaluating the role of psychological
factors and their relationship to health, wellbeing and illness through the later life course............4
Death and dying are taboo subjects in contemporary society..........................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
There used to be a time that people used to age in a healthy way. The life expectancy rate in
earlier times used to be 90 years. But in the present times, the life expectancy rate has reduced to
60 years, according to the latest survey. Even the ageing of the people is also not in a proper
healthy way. There are various factors which affect the healthy ageing of the people. Some of
them are the psychological factors which affect the health and the wellbeing of the people who
are ageing. Nowadays successful ageing is a neglected part of the society. The researches done
by the scientists, policymakers and the researchers suggest that ageing is a topic independent of
itself and should be studied from a life course and an interdisciplinary perspective. This
assignment will deal with the successful ageing by critically evaluating the role of the
psychological factors and their relationship to illness, wellbeing and health through the later life
course.
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Successful ageing can be achieved by everyone by critically evaluating the role of
psychological factors and their relationship to health, wellbeing and illness through the
later life course.
From the moment a person is born, he starts ageing. A varied and complex life course starts with
the birth of a person (Zacher, 2015). The life of a person is affected by different factors such as
the different events a person goes through or different choices that he makes or because of the
different systems and policies. It is very important for a person to age successfully. Here,
successfully means that the person should be fit and fine and should be healthy in their old age or
the later age. When the optimal functions of the individuals, their body systems and their cellular
levels are maintained as far as possible when they grow old is known as healthy ageing. Healthy
ageing also includes the maintenance of wellbeing which involves positive emotions, personal
fulfilment, and the relationship amongst each other.
Health, wellbeing and illness- Meaning
There are various definitions to describe the health and the wellbeing of a person. According to
the World Health Organization wellbeing is a state where a person is completely fit mentally,
physically and socially. Wellbeing doesn’t mean only the absence of disease. The person should
be completely healthy. Wellbeing and health can also be described as the absence of disease,
physical illness and mental distress. The achievement of the mental stability and the maintenance
of physical stability ensure the proper health and the wellbeing of a person. The combination of
the intellectual, social and emotional factors results in influencing the health and the wellbeing of
the person (Zacher, 2015).
There are various factors which contribute to the ageing well of the human being. The factors are
physical factors, psychological factors and social factors. The psychological factors which are
helping in the successful ageing are-
Physical health
Physical health is of great importance in a person’s wellbeing. The physical health of a person
decides the mental wellbeing of a person. If the person is physically fit and fine, the person
remains happy which helps in the successful ageing of that person. It is said that if the person is
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mentally stable, it helps in enhancing the life span of that person. Nowadays, there are many
health-related issues in the early age of a person. This hampers the successful ageing of that
person. This also affects mental health as it leads to stress and tension. Therefore, it is very
important that a person should stay fit and healthy for successful ageing. For this, the person
needs to take proper nutrients, does proper exercise, should have proper rest, should have a
proper and a regular routine, etc. (Greene, 2017).
Personal income and financial stability
Personal income refers to the total earnings of the individual. In economics, the term means the
sum of all the incomes which is received by the individual or the household in a given time. It is
very important in today’s era to be financially stable because the world works on finance.
Everything in this world is available on the basis of finance. Every little trade in the day to day
life depends upon the finance. If the person is financially sound, he is tension free and stress-
free, which has a great impact on the physical and psychological health. A person can need
finance at any point in time of his life. If the person is financially stable, it leads to a better
standard of living and can meet any sort of emergencies. This provides a mental relaxation to the
person and helps in the successful ageing of that person.
Family dynamics and cohesiveness
Family dynamics and the cohesiveness refer to the interrelation between the family members. It
means the emotional bonding between the family members. When the family dynamics and the
cohesiveness are strong, then it is expected that there will be strong family support to the family
members. Those families which provide strong support to their family members are expected to
have successful ageing because the family members have emotional support. The emotional
support within the family members helps them to divide out their problems and solve them
systematically. This helps them remain stress-free and tension free (Greene, 2017).
Social support networks
Social support is basically defined as the actuality or the perception that the person is cared for
and the other people provide assistance to the person. Social support networks can be in the form
of informational support, intangible or tangible support, some companionship or emotional
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support. It is a fact that a person cannot be isolated. He needs some social network. The social
network is a must for a healthy environment. The social network influences the health of a
person. Therefore it is an important psychological factor which helps in successful ageing of a
person (Allen, 2015).
Stress coping strategies
In today’s era, the world is getting more competitive. The competition is leading to the stress in
the youth in today’s world. There are several causes of stress other than the competition. They
are genetics, an imbalance in the brain chemistry, female sex hormones, poor nutrition, physical
health problems, drugs, stressful life events, loss and grief, problems related to the personal life,
lack of family support, etc. All these problems also lead a person to serious stress. There should
be a control of all the above-mentioned factors which influences stress. There are various
strategies which help in the coping of the stress. The examples for coping up with stress are
keeping a positive attitude, by accepting that there are some events which are not under control
of a human being, by learning how to relax, by learning how to be active regularly, by having
balanced diets, by having proper rests and proper sleep, by finding effective way to eliminate the
stress of a particular person. With the stress coping strategies, it will lead to a contributing factor
of psychological factors which helps in successful ageing as it relates to a stress-free life.
Life goal setting and subjective evaluation
It is important to set goals for life. Setting personal goals helps in knowing what to achieve. It
ensures that only the important and relevant things remain in life. It helps in motivating one-self
and enhances the confidence level. Once the goals are set and are achieved, it makes that person
psychologically satisfied and happy. Subjective well-being is often linked to personal goals of
life. Whenever a person approaches the accomplishment of its goals, he basically provides
meaning and a structure to his life. Data shows that that person with meaningful life goals has
higher subjectivity well-being in comparison to those whose life has no goals. Meaningful goals
have positive results which boost in the self-confidence of the person (Allen, 2015). Therefore, it
is considered that setting a life goal and subjective evaluation is one of the important
psychological factors which help in the successful ageing.
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Maintenance of optimal level of cognitive functioning
It is very important to maintain the optimum level of cognitive function of the body (Locke, et.
al., 2017). From a study and research conducted for fifteen years, it has been concluded that there
are very fewer women who maintain the optimum level of cognitive functioning in their old age.
Strategies should be studied so as to promote the maintenance of the optimum level of cognitive
functioning. When the optimum level of cognitive functioning is maintained, then it contributes
to the psychological factors which help in the successful ageing.
Personal control and prevention of depression
In today’s era, the world is getting more competitive. The competition is leading to the
depression of the youth in today’s world. There are several causes of depression other than the
competition. They are genetics, an imbalance in the brain chemistry, female sex hormones, poor
nutrition, physical health problems, drugs, stressful life events, loss and grief, problems related to
the personal life, lack of family support, etc. All these problems also lead a person to serious
depression. There should be a control of all the above-mentioned factors which influences
depression. Once there is a prevention of depression, it will lead to a contributing factor of
psychological factors which helps in successful ageing as it relates to a stress-free life.
Mastery of bereavement and widowhood
Bereavement means loss of a social relationship. It is very evident in today’s world that with the
growing age, there is a loss in many social relationships of the young generation. There are also
many widows present in society nowadays because of the early demise of their spouse (Locke,
et. al., 2017). Loss of a spouse is regarded as one of the most dangerous threats to wellbeing,
health and productivity in the later years of their life. In general circumstances, the period of
widowhood is usually larger for the women as they lose their husbands because of various
problems related to health. This leads to unhealthy and unsuccessful ageing because the person
leads a very stressful and depressive life. The person also gets personally financially unstable
and faces a lot of problems in life as there is only one person working and no helping hand.
Therefore, there should be ways which help to fight the problems of widowhood. Better
widowhood helps in contributing to the psychological factors which help in successful ageing
(Moore, et. al., 2015).
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Self-justification mechanism of negative life outcomes
Self-justification basically means when a person meets cognitive dissonance, or when the
behaviour of a person is inconsistent with their beliefs, and then there is a justification of the
behaviour by the person to deny the negative feedback connected with the behaviour. There are
various situations which are been faced by the person and there are negative life outcomes of
those situations. There are times when the person is stuck in situations which are not in favour of
the person. There are many blame and allegations on the person which may not be true. The
person tries to self-justify those blames and allegations so as to avoid the negative life outcomes.
When the negative life outcomes are avoided because of the self-justification, it contributes to
those psychological factors which help in successful ageing as it provides satisfaction to the
person.
A higher level of education
Education provides awareness. When the people are literate, it provides them proper knowledge
and information regarding the relevant subjects. When the person has got a higher level of
education, he thinks smartly and acts in a better way. He runs his brain in a positive direction. A
higher level of education also helps in setting well in financial terms. A higher level of education
ensures better opportunities for employment. Once the person is employed and financially
settled, his halves of the mental problems are finished. It is very important in today’s era to be
financially stable because the world works on finance. Everything in this world is available on
the basis of finance. Every little trade in the day to day life depends upon the finance. If the
person is financially sound, he is tension free and stress-free, which has a great impact on the
physical and psychological health. A person can need finance at any point in time of his life
(Moore, et. al., 2015). If the person is financially stable, it leads to a better standard of living and
can meet any sort of emergencies. This provides a mental relaxation to the person and helps in
the successful ageing of that person.
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Death and dying are taboo subjects in contemporary society
According to the dictionary, taboo means a religious or a social custom putting a restriction or a
ban on a particular topic or a thing (Lafortune, et. al., 2016). According to the studies, it is
concluded that death and dying were considered to be a great taboo in the 20th century. Death and
dying is still a taboo in some of the cultures across the world. In some areas of the world, people
are still not comfortable with the truth that that death is a natural process. More than considering
it as a taboo, the people are still uncomfortable with accepting the illness and the universal fact
that death is the end of the physical form of the mortal life. Along with the taboo, there is a fear
of death which makes it subject about which nobody is ready to talk. Everybody shows the
unwillingness and non-comfort towards the death and dying and considers it to be a taboo. In
today’s era also, death is shown as traumatic and violent by the media. It is shown in this way so
as to develop an image of ‘worthy’ news. But in reality, most of the deaths are ‘un-newsworthy’.
In today’s scenario, death is not met frequently on a personal level as it is portrayed by the
history or in some cultures outside the western world. Therefore, it can be said that death and
dying are still considered a taboo in many cultures and many parts of the world (Lafortune, et.
al., 2016).
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Conclusion
So, it can be concluded from the above assignment that there are various psychological factors
which had been critically evaluated which helps in the successful ageing of the person.
Successful ageing can be defined and explained in several ways. People are not only interested in
living longer, but also want a healthy life. There are various factors which affect the healthy
ageing of the people. Some of them are the psychological factors which affect the health and the
wellbeing of the people who are ageing. Nowadays successful ageing is a neglected part of the
society. The researches done by the scientists, policymakers and the researchers suggest that
ageing is a topic independent of itself and should be studied from a life course and an
interdisciplinary perspective. This assignment dealt with the successful ageing by critically
evaluating the role of the psychological factors and their relationship to illness, wellbeing and
health through the later life course.
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References
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 Zacher, H., 2015. Successful aging at work. Work, aging and retirement, 1(1), pp.4-25.
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