In other words, if one understands a French lesson, it is easiser to interpret the logic of a French sentence, even if one does not understand the words that are utilized in the unfamilar French prose. (Lutz, Briggs, Cain, 2001, p
McDougall stated that the study highlighted the need for a greater sampling of minority individuals, and individuals of a wide array of cultures in studies of memory and leaning. (McDougall, 2004, 323-331) (But although McDougall's essay ends with a call for greater attention to the role of race in studying the psychology of memory, he does not mean that he is interested so much in physical manifestations of race, as the difference between the group was quite small, and the sampling of 89 Black and 83 White adults with a mean age of 76
Loss of mobility can be even more devastating than loss of sight or hearing. And while a psychiatrist who works with nursing home patients reported that she has been successful at helping some adjust psychologically to their physical decline, she has not been able to help others…Elderly persons who break a hip rarely live more than six months afterward…because of the physical trauma that results from a hip break, but also because of the psychological trauma that ensues from losing mobility" (Arehart-Treichel, 2001)
Erikson wrote that the essential conflict of maturity is one of "integrity vs. despair: as an adult reaches the end of her life, she looks back at what she has or hasn't accomplished, and feels a deep sense of fulfillment or at least an acceptance of the life she has lived (out of which will come wisdom), or alternatively, she descends into anguish or despair at having not lived a full and vital existence" (Armstrong 2007)
One problem with finding funding and support for therapy amongst the elderly is that not all studies have shown therapeutic intervention to be cost-effective in terms of showing demonstrable improvement: In a 2007 study of depressed elderly patients: "Cost-effectiveness planes indicated that there was much uncertainty around the cost-effectiveness ratios. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, provision of IPT [interpersonal psychotherapy] in primary care to elderly depressed patients was not cost-effective in comparison to CAU [care as usual]" (Bosmand 2007)
Even patients with dementia can show significant improvement upon receiving appropriate psychotherapy. While "people with dementia more often than not have impairments in language function and are therefore considered unsuitable" candidates, psychodynamic therapy, while not improving the patient's condition, did result in a "subjective benefit for both patients and care-givers" (Junaid & Hegde 2007, p
Cognitive behavioral theory (CBT), psychoanalytic theory, and behaviorism have all been shown to be helpful in enabling seniors to cope with changes in their lives, spanning from chronic illnesses to dealing, with retirement, to the loss of a spouse and other age-related social and physical issues. The father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud famously stated "that older people are not good candidates for psychotherapy" because all human beings effectively stop learning at the age of age fifty (Knight & Satre, 1999, p
"Empathic listening, exploratory inquiry, and interpretation and clarification of unconscious determinants are essential parts of psychodynamic therapy. All of these techniques are used with both older and younger patients in psychodynamic therapy" (Morgan, 2003, p
These deleterious effects were observed even in minor depression, where the risk of mortality within 7 years was 4.9 times higher compared with diabetes patients who did not have depressive symptoms" (Petrak 2010)
(Individuals taking certain anti-psychotic medications can manifest Parkinson-like symptoms such as twitching and a lack of effect, because the drugs retard the production of dopamine in the brain). In one study of Parkinson's patients, 20% of 176 patients "had required psychiatric attention for major depressive illness before the appearance of motor disabilities" reflecting the psychological effects of the illness (Todes & Lees, 1985)
The following pages will present certain current findings in the research literature regarding gerontology nursing, hoping to provide a concise way in which to add to gerontology nursing knowledge. Literature Review According to a recent analysis of nursing education programs, there is still a basic lack of consensus regarding the relevance and advisability of viewing gerontology nursing as an independent discipline or sub-filed within the larger field and study of nursing (Deschodt et al
2011). The increasing attention to and respect of gerontology nursing as a specialized discipline of nursing has led to the development of specific standards for practice and care for this discipline (Foreman et al
2011). There have also been certain advances not only in diagnosing and addressing specific health concerns amongst geriatric patients, but research and practice in the field of gerontology nursing has also led to the development of specific care practices that can enhance the quality of life for geriatric patients regardless of most specific conditions or situations (Grando et al
2010). A specific concern that has arisen in the field of gerontology nursing is the rate of depression that occurs among geriatric patients (Phillips et al
While any education pertaining to medical choices given in advance technically could be measured an Advance Directive, most states have two customary forms for Advance Directive's. The Living Will (LW) often varies by state, but in general this text permits a person to refuse to be kept alive by medical interventions in the occurrence of a terminal illness or looming death (Cranston, n
List the type of quantitative research design and briefly describe how each would be used in a research study. There are four types of quantitative research design (Gay, L
These functions are assessed through house visits and as a cumulative evaluation of general geriatric assessment and psychiatric assessment tools. Physicians commonly use the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) to perform a cognitive and mood assessment respectively (De Vriendt, Gorus, Bautmans & Mets, 2011)
The assessment of older patients differs in a number of ways. Most significantly, the geriatric assessment focuses on intellectual impairment, immobility, instability, incontinence, and iatrogenic disorders (Elsawy & Higgins, 2011)
The MMSE assesses the cognitive domains of orientation, memory, calculation, language and constructional ability through a series of standardized questions. Ethical considerations that are often associated with elderly patients include informed consent, medical and psychological conditions that may influence the patient's ability to approve of a treatment, and related privacy issues (Martin & Bush, 2008)
Gerontology: Assessment and Ethical Concerns Gerontology studies currently predict that the number of people above the age of 65 will double within the next thirty years (Miller, Zylstra & Standridge, 2000)