Unit 4 Task 3

Effects of ageing
In this piece I will be looking at Katie in her later stages of life as she became an older adult. Seeing what mental and physical changes occurred and how it affected her socially and emotionally. As well as seeing the different help she began to need due to physical aging.
The Disengagement theory:
The Disengagement theory was by Cummings and Henry in 1961 stating that ‘older adults withdraw from participation in activity.’ As well as not participating in activities older people begin to disengage them self in family life and become less involved at events, proffering to watch rather than join in. Cummings felt that this disengagement was beneficial to both family and the individual as it allowed change and acceptance. The Disengagement theory also has the idea that the older person becomes more preoccupied with themselves and are more interested in what they are doing for example going to the doctors than what their friends and family are doing. The causes of disengagement include the advances in technology, older people become disinterested and unable to keep up with the changes and are not willing to change what they already do. Travel also becomes a problem for older people as they worry about going long distances and without a car they have to rely on others and public transport. Ill health of themselves and others in another cause of disengagement as they are either in pain, tired or unwell so do not want to go out to do activities, this is the same as if a friend has these problems they do not want to go to activities alone.
The Activity theory:
Unlike the Disengagement theory the Activity theory by Havinghurst and colleagues in 1963 is the idea that the more active an older person is the greater their life satisfaction. Within the Activity theory there is the idea of role changes, for example you once worked but now retired you have filled the time with volunteering, family and socialising. The activities the older people decide to do are made meaningful as they are generally backed by a prior experience or value. These activities are unselfish although they do boost self esteem. This theory is based on motivation and can not be applied to everyone because external factors such as ill health will stop people being active and make them less motivated. Other effects that may stop people from engaging in activity are finances, culture and can be argued that people already need to be fit to join in with activities prior to aging. The NHS puts money towards making older people more active because in the long run it is thought they will require less healthcare because people are more likely to be physically fit.
Impact on Katie Piper in her older adult stage of life:
The impact of the Disengagement theory on Katie’s would suggest that as Katie got older and retired from the head of her charity she would withdraw from society and become disinterested in what her family were doing as well as rarely going out or joining in with activities such as church, volunteering and sports. The opposite to this would be the effects of the activity theory on Katie’s life. The Activity theory would go along with the idea that after retirement Katie would join clubs such as tennis, bowls and help at her local events as well as having a large group of friends and becoming increasingly involved in family life enjoying her children and grandchildren. With Katie’s personality throughout her earlier life it suggests that she is more likely to fit in to the activity theory rather than the disengagement theory as she has over come problems and has made a better positive life for herself which she could continue on into older adulthood.
However their could be variables within her activity which may cause her to disengage from society. At the age of 69 Katie had to stop playing tennis due to pain from surgery but instead of spending increasing amounts of time at home she changed activity and started attending her local bowls club as it is a calmed and less energetic sport. Another variable that could change what Katie does is her distance from facilities, it could cause her to stop attending activities as she had to rely on others to get there and use public transport making her feel like she is no longer independent. But Katie accepted help and became used to using buses and trans to go see friends and get to her clubs/groups.
The positives of the Disengagement theory are it gives the individual time to reflect and feel less constrained by the roles in their social life so they can be more selective with their friends as they are not worried about not having others around them. The negatives of the Disengagement theory are it supports ageist attitudes and gives them less physical and mental support to deal with the process of ageing, it will also cause the persons personality to change and have less involvement with loved ones. The positives of the Activity theory are it is a motivational theory that suggest older people can still have high society roles and a wide and varied social life. It also promotes a healthier life style and is supported by the government. The negatives of the Activity theory are the theory is based on already fit people and only includes a minority as external factor will stop people from being able to be active such as money, culture, family, transport, disability and health. For Katie Health and transport effect her ability to attend but with a varied activity she was still able to join in and have a social life.
The health and social care sectors influence on the disengagement theory and the stay active theory:
The Disengagement theory influences health and social care providers such as the National Health Service as it is thought older people would rather withdraw from society rather than attend groups and get active. This would influence the kind of activities put out for the older person for example the NHS are less likely to open day centres if it is thought that people would rather stay in their own home than meet and interact with other people. A strength of this is that it allows people to do what they want to do and not get involved with others but it can be argued that it is only a minority of people with this opinion and others do want to join in and meet other people in similar positions as themselves. In certain areas of the UK there are more provisions than others as services are in higher demand and the population of older people are greater in areas such as Sussex. Meaning other areas have less for the older person to do making the disengagement theory more likely to fall into place as there is less to motivate the older person to join in, instead they shut off and withdraw.
The Activity theory influences the provision the NHS provide as it suggests older people want to do more activities and become involved in their community meeting new people and doing activities which are age appropriate. This influences the NHS to put on more services for the older person, opening more day centres, having more run groups and well as promoting fitness activities. An example for this could be within a village there is a low population of elderly people but there are still several activities of a wide variety for them to attend these groups have a high attendance as older people are willing to try new things. The strengths of this are the NHS are providing a service that is being well used and enjoyed, but this couldn’t be the case everywhere as people may be uncomfortable to try new things and meet new people and travel to services make be a problem as well as money. Meaning people may not become active because they cant afford or get to a service so the NHS should look into providing more services in different places. The activity theory states that the more active an older person is the more likely they are to have a sense of self worth and be confident to do other things. It also promotes a healthier life style which goes along and influences the NHS as the more active a person is the less likely they are to be unwell which benefits the NHS as it saves money in the long run. This means clubs for older people such as swimming are more likely to be put on so people stay healthier so they need less future help.
The Disengagement theories influence on health and social care provision:
The disengagement theory will influence the provisions the health and social care sector provide for older people because the disengagement theory suggests that older people do not want to go out, attend activities and are unmotivated. This means that they will not run classes, or hold events such as exercise classes or social clubs within the community because the disengagement theory suggest there would be a lack of attendance and desire for this service.
Katie Piper what would be expected by the health and social care sector:
Due to the disengagement theory Katie would be expected to withdraw from society and not attend clubs and be active and fit in her old age, the health and social care sector should encourage older people to get out and attend clubs on a regular bases to gain continuity and structure in their lives. For Katie this would be motivating and may also give her a sense of purpose. The health and social care sector should work with in the community be it on a small or large scale to prevent older people becoming disengaged after retirement or a spouse dies, instead they should offer support and activites for them to get involved in and meet people in the same position. For Katie this would have meant she could have met other people who had lost their husbands instead of disengaging from society and preparing for her own death.
The care that is needed is on a community bases so everyone can be involved, such as an exercise class for older people at the gym or local community hall, or a scrabble club or tea morning. This would get people of the same age together and talking to one and other, if not getting them physically active they would mentally be. For Katie this would have meant she had somewhere to go that was not a sports club because she had poor mobility but somewhere else she could go to meet people and talk, most likely improving her emotional wellbeing after her bereavement.
Clubs like this should be run by the government or local council to improve the quality of life for older people. It could also be run/ organised by people within the community for a group of friends to get together regularly to do an activity which would give structure. For Katie this would have meant meeting regularly with her friend she had made in the area, and get her out of the house.
The strengths of the effects of Disengagement theory on health and social care are very minimal, these are it saves money as it does not have to be spent on activities for the older person. Older people do not feel pressured into joining clubs so they can stay in their comfort zone of their own home.
The weaknesses of the effects of the Disengagement theory are that not enough is offered to older people to do so they can stay active and involved in the community. They don’t have the opportunity to maintain good health as there are not activities for them to do that are easily accessible in the area. They resist leaving the home as they have nowhere to go to meet people and don’t feel comfortable talking to people away from a group.
How the Disengagement theory affected Katie Piper’s:
The impact on Katie if she became disengaged from family and friends would have meant she pushed her family away and did not follow what they were doing with their life. She would also have lost friends and support that she need, especially after losing her husband.
The positives to this theory in Katie’s life are it leaves time for reflection on life and what you have achieved. As well as the feeling of being less socially constrained, giving Katie the ability to be more selective with her choice of friends.
The negatives to this theory in Katie’s life are it supports the agest attitude that now she has got older she will withdraw, it will also mean she has less support from family and friends as she is shutting them out. Not seeing children and grandchildren grown up because they do not pay interest to them or get involved.
Effect on PIES:
Physical- Katie would withdraw from society and no longer attend the activities she once did such as tennis and instead spend more time inside and sat down, this would affect Katie physically as she would not be using her joints and muscles as much meaning she is more likely to become stiff. Not going outside would mean Katie’s may become pale. She may disengage from physical activity due to the distance she needs to travel to tennis and because she became less mobile and felt unable to attend.
Intellectual- Katie would have stopped caring about current issues and what is going on in her family and village. She would have become more interested in what she was doing than what her family were doing. If Katie fitted into the disengagement theory she would have no longer done things such as watch the news or go out and speak to others, making herself very isolated, unwilling to try.
Emotion- Emotionally Katie would have felt unmotivated and withdrawn from family during events and may feel as though she has changed out of her own control. Disengaging can leave time for Katie to reflect on her younger years.
Social- Decreased interaction with other, avoiding going out with friends and family, isolating herself from society. No longer attending clubs and spending more time in the house. Katie would have become more selective with friends, keeping the number to a minimum.
How the Activity theory affected Katie Piper:
This theory would mean Katie stayed as healthy as possible both mentally and physically as well as being involved in her family and having a happy social life and being busy with activities she enjoyed. Katie would feel confident and motivated to continue as she was achieving.
The main positive to the Activity theory is that it is motivational and the more you do and achieve the move motivated you will become. For Katie the more she done with friends, family, tennis and volunteering the more she wanted to do as she was motivated to succeed.
The negatives to the Activity theory for Katie are she needed to have the money to be able to do all of the activities she wanted as well as be physically able to attend. She may have had to rely on other for transport if she was nto close enough to be involved.
Effect on PIES:
Physical- Katie would have fought the physical ageing process and tried to keep her body as youthful as possible. Katie would have stayed physically fit as she would have been going out and walking and attending clubs that key her active, meaning she would have been healthier and less likely to get problems with joint, as well as keeping up her immune system.
Intellectual- Katie would have learnt new skills and replaced old roles with new ones such as instead of running her charity she helped with the church magazine instead. She would still be involved in the community and with her family as well as keeping up with current affairs around the would so she was constantly learning new things.
Emotional- Katie would have got a lot of satisfaction out of life if she were to have followed the Activity theory. She would also be comfortable with her life and what it has meant. Piper would also maintains good self-esteem as she was involved and felt like she was contributing still which would have motivated her to continue.
Social- Katie would have done activities that reflect what she experienced in the past, such as having dinner parties, socialising with friends, playing tennis and bowls and building up a new social group with the people she meets. As well as keeping up with old friends, seeing people all the time and having a busy and active live.
Physical changes influencing Ageing:
Skin looses elasticity- As a person reaches the later stages of life and becomes an older adult ‘the skin becomes thinner, less elastic and more wrinkled’ this is because of the decline in the function of collagen and elastin in the skin cells, which give the skin elasticity and firm appearance. When Katie’s already damaged skin lost elasticity and wrinkles appeared she started to lose confidence in how she looked and felt about her self meaning she felt self conscious when leaving the house. She started wearing more make up and it took her a longer time to leave the house as she was worrying about what she looked like. This effected Katie’s confident with other people but she tried not to show others how she felt about her ageing looks, coming over confident around friends and family. However it did effect her self esteem and inside she constantly though about what she looked like and if other people were judging her.
Poor eye sight- Vision problems are more common in older people as their senses become impaired or decreased, this is the same for taste, smell and hearing. ‘Vision can deteriorate because of a range of problems and cataracts can develop’. One reason eye sight becomes worse with age is because pupils become smaller meaning that less light can enter the eye meaning a person may need to be in a more lit area to see. Another reason for eye sight worsens with ageing is the ciliary muscles become weaker meaning your eye cannot contract as well and your vision becomes out of focus. Katie’s eye sight became weaker due to cataracts which are lenses over the eye that become hard and cloudy, meaning she found it difficult to read and had to start getting large print books from the library limiting what she could read as well as feeling embarrassed about the thought of aging felling as though she was being judged. This effected her confident to ask for help and rarely took out books from the library and had to ask her husband for help when reading things such as menu’s and recipes. This knocked her confidence as to Katie this was a definite sign she was getting older, Katie tried hard not to show around others that she was struggling to see but it was noticed by the family. It had a large negative impact on her self esteem and was uncomfortable with how her body was ageing but did except it was a part of the life process.
Muscle and joint pain- With ageing ‘bone mass or density is lost as people age, especially in women after menopause. The bones lose calcium and other minerals’. This is because bone is being destroyed quicker than it is being produced due to the decrease in hormone production after menopause. For Katie her joints became stiff and more painful to move and play games such as tennis so instead she had to take up sports such as bowls as it is slower and involves less movement which caused pain. Her bones were weaker so she was more at risk of fracture and found it difficult to lift heavy objects that she had once had no problem with, her bones became weaker because the rate of protein production is slower with age, as well as the body stops producing collagen which is one of the substance that gives bone it’s strength, this gave Katie’s bone the ability to fracture easily. This did effect her confident to go out and do things she used to do as she worried about being injured or falling as well as being embarrassed if she couldn’t do a task that she once could do. Friends and family notice Katie was more careful and selective in the things she done and was more cautious with her movements. As well as the effects on her confident her self esteem was knocked as within herself she worried about her balance and was uncomfortable when doing certain movements such as bending, making her feel unhappy with the way her body was declining.
Psychological changes influencing ageing:
Ageism- Older people are sometimes stereotyped as incapable, and not mentally with it by younger people such as teenagers and adults with no experience of aging people, or alternatively have aging parents who have got some kind of age related illness or problem. People are ageist because of a lack of understanding, and think they are less of a person if they no longer have a job and receive a pension. Another reason for ageism is due to the decline in looks, younger people link this to a decline in physical and mental health. For Katie she felt the ageist prejudice as her looks began to change and her ability to do activities she use to diminished she became conscious that others saw her as old and incapable. This effected her self esteem as she felt that younger people especially teenagers were judging her when she went to the shops or went for a walk as she felt people were looking at her. This effected her confidence to go out on her own and often asked friends or family members to go with her as she did not like others looking and worried about what might happen as she felt vulnerable to teenagers and men. Because of her accident she always worried that people were out to get her so she only went out during daylight hours.
Bereavement- The loss of a partner can effect and change a spouses life causing anxiety and depression in some cases. This is because as a couple they have usually spent a substantial amount of time together during their life and have lived together, got the same friends and done the same activities. Without the other partner the bereaved person feels unable or unhappy with performing tasks because it may conjure up a memory of the spouse reminding them they are no longer here. For Katie the loss of her husband was devastating and she lost the confidence to go out with others after this as she had lost the support and felt alone. She withdrew from society and her loved ones although they did try to help she did not feel confident any more. Her self esteem was low and was not happy with life any more she missed her husband as they had done everything together and she had to readjust to life on her own, finding it lonely.
Money- Financial concerns effect the older persons ability to attend activities such as sports or day centres as well as their life style is less likely to be health as their food may have to be cheaper. Although financial concerns in people over the age of sixty five is only a minority for some it is still an issue. A concern about money is a problem for older people as they may not have enough to do the things they want/need to do and as a worse case scenario may not have enough to live on this could be because their pension and savings has had to be spent on something else such as a partner’s nursing home. Although Katie had a good career that she loved the money she received was not high. She did not have to worry about money but she was careful not to waste it, she would not always go out with friend when asked as she felt it unnecessary and the money could have gone to better use such as family and grandchildren. However this did not effect Katie’s self esteem as she was happy with her life style and did not mind not doing everything as she was grateful for what she had.
Conclusion:
The theories of disengagement and activity apply to different people this is which one applies to a person is effected by their economic status as well as family, friends, accommodation, health and the facilities in the area they live. People who have poor health and have less money are more likely to disengage from society where as people who are healthier and have got the money to attend activities and travel are more likely to apply to the activity theory. Unavoidable physical and psychological events also play a part in determining a persons life style and their confidence around others and their self esteem within themselves. Katie Piper was financially comfortable in her later life but the loss of her husband devastated her and she felt judged by others. Her physical changes that happened with age also upset Katie and it was visible to others that she was getting older and was not happy about the process although she tried to accept this.

Bibliography
Aldworth,C. Stretch,B. and Whitehouse, M. (2010). Health and Social Care Level 3. Pearsons Education Limited. Essex
Mediline Plus. (2012) Aging changes in the bones, muscles and joints [online] http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004015.htm (accessed on 18/12/12)
Welcome trust (2012) ‘why does skin loose elastic as we get old’ [online] http://gurumagazine.org/science/q-why-does-skin-lose-its-elasticity-as-we-get-old/ (accessed20/01/13)

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[ 1 ]. Aldworth. Page 163
[ 2 ]. Information collected from : http://gurumagazine.org/science/q-why-does-skin-lose-its-elasticity-as-we-get-old/
[ 3 ]. Aldworth. Page 163
[ 4 ]. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004015.htm

Bibliography: Aldworth,C. Stretch,B. and Whitehouse, M. (2010). Health and Social Care Level 3. Pearsons Education Limited. Essex Mediline Plus. (2012) Aging changes in the bones, muscles and joints [online] http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004015.htm (accessed on 18/12/12) Welcome trust (2012) ‘why does skin loose elastic as we get old’ [online] http://gurumagazine.org/science/q-why-does-skin-lose-its-elasticity-as-we-get-old/ (accessed20/01/13) -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Aldworth. Page 163 [ 2 ]. Information collected from : http://gurumagazine.org/science/q-why-does-skin-lose-its-elasticity-as-we-get-old/ [ 3 ]. Aldworth. Page 163 [ 4 ]. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004015.htm