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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Friday, November 21, 2008
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Friday, November 21, 2008
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According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, by the year 2010, there will be over 40 million people in the United States over the age of 65.1 You or someone you know may fall into this category.
As we age, we need to be aware of the truths and myths about aging. This is also the case for our family members and those healthcare professionals that take care of us. For example, here are some statements that most think are true, but are actually FALSE.
Therefore, we must be aware of perceptions about growing older. Education is key to changing attitudes and influencing perceptions of aging and older people.
According to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (July 2002), there are certain predictors that can lead to successful aging. They are:
Although everyone may have different views of what "successful aging" is, according to a study by the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, the best indicator of aging successfully was not physical health, but attitude!
In order to address national health issues, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have established initiatives to help reduce behaviors that influence premature death and disability. Some of these are:
Finally, did you know that 70% of functional disabilities attributed to the aging process may actually result from our own unhealthy decisions and behaviors?4 In order to stay healthy as we grow older, we must focus our efforts on several health promotion, disease prevention, and risk reduction areas:
By focusing on these key areas, we can grow older in a healthy and happy manner.
Compiled from Dr. Evelyn Fitzwater's Gero Gems, which is a monthly publication of the Center for Aging with Dignity and is intended to raise awareness of aging and related issues affecting health care and social service professionals, and our society as a whole.
1 http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/2006_Documents/Population.pdf.
2Excerpts from quiz developed by the Center of Aging Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. http://cas.umkc.edu/cas/.
3Healthy People 2010 http://www.healthypeople.gov; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The State of Aging and Health in America 2007 http://www.cdc.gov/aging/saha.htm.
4National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (1999). Chronic disease overview. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/overview.htm.
Last Reviewed: Sep 12, 2007
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Evelyn L. Fitzwater, DSN, RN Associate Professor Emerita Associate Director, Center for Aging with Dignity College of Nursing University of Cincinnati |
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Please note: only your personal physician or other health professional you consult can best advise you on matters of your health based on your medical history, your family medical history, your medication history, and how information from any of these databases may apply to you. Neither University of Cincinnati (NetWellness) nor any party involved in creating, producing or delivering this web site shall be liable for any damages arising out of access to or use of this web site, or any errors or omissions in the content thereof. (More) |