Relationships – Marriage, Grandparenthood and Family Caregiving Lecture 13 – PS277.
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Transcript of Optimal Aging PS277- Ch. 5 – Lecture 18. Outline Healthy Aging Physical Health Factors ...
Optimal Aging
PS277- Ch. 5 – Lecture 18
Outline
Healthy Aging
Physical Health Factors
Psychological Health: Gratitude and Forgiveness as Examples in Later Life
Other Positive Goals
Robert Browning’s Famous Lines
“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life for which the first was
made.” (Rabbi Ben Ezra)
Rowe & Kahn’s Model of Successful Aging
Healthy Aging – Andrew Weil
Weil’s 12-Point Plan for Healthy Aging – Physical Health
Eat a healthy diet Use dietary supplements wisely to support the
body’s defenses Use preventive medicine intelligently – know
your risks, get appropriate diagnostic tests and screenings, treat problems early
Get regular physical activity throughout life Get adequate sleep and rest Learn and practice methods of stress protection
Prevention Models – Levels of Health Interventions
Primary – e.g., maintain good diet, an exercise program across life
Secondary – e.g., screening for health issues to see if have early signs of problems (e.g., cholesterol levels)
Tertiary – e.g, accommodating to health problems, using medical interventions to manage pain and prevent further illness
Quaternary – helping people with chronic conditions to maintain other kinds of function (e.g., strategies for Alzheimer’s patients’ memories)
Harvard Growth Study – Health Predictors (Vaillant, 2002)
Weil’s 12-Point Plan: Psychological Elements
Exercise your mind as well as your body Maintain social and intellectual connections throughout
life Be flexible in mind and body: learn to adapt to losses
and let go of behaviors no longer appropriate Think about and try to discover for yourself the benefits of
aging (gratitude) Do not deny the reality of aging or put energy into trying
to stop it. Use the experience as a stimulus for spiritual growth
Keep a record of the lessons you learn, the wisdom you gain, and the values you hold.
An Example of Positive Psychology Virtues: Gratitude and Its Possible Benefits Research on gratitude by Robert Emmons
Experimental studies on health benefits of finding daily positives to feel grateful about
65 adults with serious, but non-life threatening medical disabilities
Average age was 50 (22-77)
Given a daily “gratitude intervention” to fill out each evening for 3 weeks vs. control group which did not do this
Robert Emmons
Gratitude Instructions – Try It
There are many things in our lives, both large and small, that we might be grateful about. Think back over today and write down on the lines below up to five things in your life that you are grateful or thankful for.
___________________
Outcome Measures
Daily affect ratings
Subjective well-being: life as whole, optimism about upcoming week, feelings of connections with others
Health: sleep hours, sleep quality, pain, exercise, functional status
Spouse or significant other’s ratings of how the participant would respond on wellbeing measure
Results - Effects on Life Satisfaction
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
own sat* spousesat*
gratitude
control
Results – Average Effects on Health
Variable: Gratitude Control
Hours of Sleep*
7.58 7.06
Quality of Sleep*
3.04 2.58
Physical Pain 2.96 3.20
Functional Status
1.63 1.58
Another Example: Forgiveness and Aging
Survey research by Toussaint et al. (2001); US probability sample of 1423 adults
Reported health status, life satisfaction, psychological distress +
Forgiveness of others: try to forgive others, don’t hold grudges, don’t try to get even
Forgiveness of self: Feel I can undo my past mistakes, can forgive myself
Forgiven by God: Knowing that God forgives me
Average Forgiveness of Others, God and Self by Age Group (1 – 5 Scale)
3
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
18-44 45-64 65+
Others*
Self
God
Relations between Forgiveness of Others and Adjustment Measures by Age Group
Measure: 18-44 45-64 65+
Psychological Distress
-.24 -.48* -.37*
Life Satisfaction
.05 .24* .27*
Self-Rated Health
-.04 .06 .24*
Forgiveness in the Family: Parents’ Forgiveness of Grandparents (Pratt et al., 2008) Interview study of 35 Canadian mothers and fathers with an 8
year-old first-born child Described a real-life grandparenting “problem”: why it was a
problem, what they were doing about it, outcome so far
Protocols rated reliably on 1-5 scales on 4 dimensions: seriousness of problem, anger about it, optimism about finding a solution, willingness to forgive the grandparent
Also completed generative concern measure (LGS)
Reported on closeness to grandparent, depression scale
Hi Forgiveness Mother’s Description of Problem Hi Forgiveness Mom: “When my mother-in-law comes
over to take care of the kids, the rules go out the window, the chores don’t get done, they stay up late, even though it’s school, they eat chocolate and it’s too late at night for that. But, at the same time, I understand that I have to be flexible, so I am kind of working it out in my own mind… Because my sister in law gave me really good advice on this a long time ago when I had my kids. She said, ‘No matter how wacky or weird you think it is, if it doesn’t hurt them let it go.’…[Why do you feel the way you do about this?] “Bubba comes over and everything that I feel I am trying to teach my kids goes out the window.” [Does this present a moral problem for you?] “No. Because she is not hurting anyone, the kids are safe and she loves them so much, and so much of what she does she does out of love and kindness and caring, so how can I get mad?”
A Low Forgiveness and Low Optimism Father’s Description
Low Forgiveness Father: “My wife’s parents split up 5-6 years ago and her mom, every time you ask her to take care of the kids, we get a lot of feedback, like she doesn’t have time or whatever, and it’s hard to say but it’s like she doesn’t want to see them. She says her time is full and we can’t understand that, we always thought if you become a grandparent that’s one of the joys of it, that you would want to spend as much time as you can with the kids…”
“We have to put up with it because I know what she is like and if you mention it to her she will feel we are putting a guilt trip on her.” [Does it present a problem?] “I think it does because growing up I spent time with my grandparents and my wife spent time with hers a lot and you just look forward to that time as a kid and I think our kids are being robbed of that.”
Results of Study
Forgiveness was related to generativity, so that more generative parents more likely to forgive (and more optimistic about solving the issue)
More forgiving mothers rated themselves as closer to grandparents, and felt less depressed
More forgiving fathers felt less depressed
Since these are correlational studies, no way to tell what causes what – but forgiveness was better!
Caring for and Connecting to Others in Later Life
Volunteering as a valuable role in later life- good for society, health benefits for self
Grandparents and oldest generation continue to be important contributors to the family into very late life – financially, teaching, inspiration
Generativity doesn’t stop in midlife – strong predictor of adaptation in old (Vaillant, 2002)
Gardening as a metaphor for aging – continuing to care for relationships