Late Adulthood

Late Adulthood

The vignette presented is of an 85-year-old African American woman called Alaina, experiencing various difficulties characteristic of late adulthood. Alaina may be experiencing problems related to her biophysical, mental, and sexual health. Alaina is experiencing back pains, osteoporosis, and diabetes. Osteoporosis is a common old-age complaint among postmenopausal women (Bijelic et al., 2017). The prominence of this presentation among these groups results from a hormonal imbalance characteristic of older women.

Old age also presents with reduced physical strength and physiologic functionalities. As a result, this may show as frequent back pains upon stress and develop chronic conditions such as diabetes. Alaina also experiences increased side effects from her medications. The occurrence of side effects prompts a review of her medications to eliminate or replace the harmful ones. In handling this client, aspects of biophysical development, side effects of drugs, and sexual health should be considered as they may be modulated to promote her overall well-being.

Moreover, Alaina is undergoing a life transition attributable to the loss of her husband and the consequent loneliness resulting from the same. Despite the comfort she receives from her neighbors, friends, and a dog pet, Gus, she still grieves over the death of her husband. She also exhibits a characteristic attachment to her older life memories and her neighborhood. Attachment and unresolved grief have been implicated in the development of various mental problems (Pérez et al., 2018). This, in addition to her old age, may contribute to her mental suffering. Alaina’s mental well-being can be ensured by counseling to help her resolve her grief and cope with her life transitions.

To conclude, recent developments in Alaina’s health concern the neighbors. Such circumstances include exhibiting unusual behaviors, self-reports of dizziness, and frequent falls. These are indications that her mental and physical health is deteriorating. Therefore, this justifies the need for critical care for her.

References

Bijelic, R., Milicevic, S., & Balaban, J. (2017). Risk Factors for Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women. Medical Archives, 71(1), 25. https://doi.org/10.5455/medarh.2017.71.25-28

Pérez, H., Ikram, M., Direk, N., & Tiemeier, H. (2018). Prolonged Grief and Cognitive Decline: A Prospective Population-Based Study in Middle-Aged and Older Persons. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(4), 451-460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2017.12.003

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Late Adulthood

Read the vignette on Alaina at the beginning of your textbook on Late Adulthood and answer the following questions:

What are the most critical aspects (physical, attachment, sexual development, etc) to consider for this client? Why?