Gerontology Lab Reflection: The ‘living To 100’ Calculator

Within the article “A Historical Perspective in Aging and Gerontology” written by Patsy R. Smith (2014), gerontology brings in together the biology of the process of growing into the elderly years, psychological coping such as the way the elderly deal with certain situations that cause them to have some sort of either mental or emotional stress, and the social science, or sociological, way of life within an environment that is distinct for all (Smith, 2018, p. 3). Gerontologists are integrated and versatile. They tend to scrutinize aging from the ‘chronological perspective,’ meaning that they study biological, psychological, and the social denotations of aging. In other words, an element in the biological perspective that is researched by gerontologists would be the individuals’ current physical health and their genetic background, psychological effects such as considering the well being of the elder individual in terms of their mental health, and sociological elements that may include how they view and treat their personal relationships in regards to culture, plans, and more. Aging makes reference to the growing and development throughout the adult years. Some of the changes that occur when aging can be nullified, but they don’t inevitably lessen the person’s potential to function successfully (Hillier & Barrow, 2015, p. 2). Researchers are dedicated to the operation of aging and some problems that individuals, who are found to be in their elderly years, come across to.

Many researchers and scientists within the field of gerontology have been able to successfully employ gerontology in the area of both study and research. As ‘gerontological publications’ develop and progress throughout time, their perusals give consideration to such needs of theory usage in order to contribute to current research. Two of the main theories that have been found to form part of the sociological studies and research of gerontology were the ‘life course perspective theory and life-span developmental theories. Based on the reading of Jon Hendricks through the Gerontological Society of America site, a life course perspective involves the examination of different changes in a biological view and historical view, obtaining factors from the physical characteristics of a specified area, and/or developmental views. Additionally, other changes within the life course perspective can involve and ascribe to when, where, why, and how the individual lives their life, and most importantly, who they are and where they fit within society as a whole.

Furthermore, throughout the course of life, researchers have examined what the major significance of utilizing theory to escort and conduct research has on describing and making clear the discoveries of several research studies. Hendricks, who has contributed to the most recent works in the year of 2010, attributes to the ongoing need of researchers to incorporate and encompass theory as a basis for conducting research in the field of gerontology. Literature was published and perused throughout the course of five years in three journals in which are related to the incorporation of ‘theory-based research’ (Smith, 2018, p. 3). Based on this, the findings stipulate the actual necessity to apply the theoretical foundations within conducted research for social gerontology.

Moreover, the advancement in the field of gerontology is the outcome due to the innovative work of pioneers; either those who are still alive or those who have ‘passed on.’ For example, Senior Research Scholar Emerita of Stan-ford University School of Medicine, Gwen Yeo, has contributed her work in ethnogeriatrics and gives support of ethnic pertinent care. She explains that the involvement in life events of aging must be uniquely expressed in how the individual lives and collaborates in their culture and within their environment. As she and other researchers observe the number of elderly citizens becoming greater, they demand more branches of knowledge and awareness to conspire the appreciation of racial variety within the elderly community through acknowledging the services in which are provided for the elderly and are ethnically significant.

There are many in milestones which have contributed to the advancement of both aging and gerontology. For example, the initiation of the Social Security Administration and the National Institute on aging, or the NIA, both forming part, to a certain extent, of the National Institutes of Health. The Social Security program guarantees some sort of income for individuals who are past the age of 65, are blind, or have a disability. The age of 65 was chosen due to retirement plans that are currently present. After the Older Americans Act of 1965 was passed, many other corporations and institutions evolved a few years later after the Social Security Administration had progressed. In addition, since the 1900’s, the rate of Americans, from the age 65 and older, has increased from four percent to 13 percent in the year of 2010 (Hillier & Barrow, 2015, p. 16).

The Gerontological Society of America, or GSA, assist to the science of further researching aging, distributing new findings based on research related to aging, and having a major impact in raising education to maintain programs in the field of gerontology (Smith, 2018, p. 8). The Brookdale Foundation Group provides funds for inventiveness in which are connected to aging, geriatrics, and gerontology. Moreover, the National Council on Aging, or the NCOA, focuses directly on the social needs, such as issues that appeared soon after the Great Depression, that impact individuals. Their main goal within the organization is to ameliorate the lives of those within the elderly community through educational programs that assist in educating others in learning more about Medicare, growing old in a healthy manner, and assisting others in remaining independent, which is uniquely different for each individual (Smith, 2018, p. 8). Furthermore, the objective of the American Association of Retired Persons, or AARP, was to encourage living healthy because not many retired individuals, such as teachers, have an easy access to health insurance. They also aim in helping individuals older than the age of 50 for ‘policy issues’ in regards to the Social Security, LGBTQ rights, Medicare, and many more.

In the article “Age Matters: Age as a Basis of Inequality” by Calasanti and Slevin, the feminist approach on aging is brought upon discussion. Within the research they conduct, they take into account age, but infrequently consider the elderly. They tend to have a focal point mostly on young adults and middle-aged women. They happen to focus on middle-aged women because it is a time for them where they undergo physical moments such as menopause (coming to an end for menstruation), wrinkles, and more. However, feminist researchers have recently shown some sort of interest in aging, and it is thought to be due to the reason that they themselves are aging. Feminists also tend to see old age as ‘social construction,’ and consider it as an indication of women’s inequality. Furthermore, feminists strengthen the concept of ageism. According to Rowe and Kahn, the idea and concept of aging has a purpose of replacing how old age is viewed as a reference of a time and developing different kinds of diseases .

The acknowledgement of old age contains little to no positive views. Some people are scared and disgusted with just knowing that they’re growing old’ they relate this to distinctive negligence. Age bias has failed to look and focus on age relations because it prominence jurisdiction and alternatives about aging. An example would be that there are many television advertisements that portray older individuals either drinking wine in beautiful settings, golfing, taking a stroll with views of deluxe hotels, and more, only to represent high-class retirement communities living an energetic way of life only to a certain targeted group, and that is men. In these commercials, they make it seem as in men are the ones part of a race and class who can afford this type of lifestyle and support their spouses. Moreover, Cruikshank judges the bodies of women as unattractive, but it is unknown how women undergo this type of refusal .

Individuals who are considered to be old are disempowered. They are forced to undergo the action of violence, or as they call it, ‘elder abuse,’ and take advantage . The idea and concept of age relation consists of three aspects: age distributes a communal arrangement proposition, a variety of classifications of age acquiring recognition and the potential in association to one another, and age relatioships converge connections with other authority correlations .

The elderly appears to experience inequalities and disproportions, such as loss of power. They are deprived of power and self-government. An example would be of doctors giving refusal to services, treatment for any medical problem they may have, information, and more. Acknowledging the fact that old age takes control of the individual’s body, doctors also tend to not listen to their complaints, and focus mainly on the complaints of younger individuals. In addition, in the perspective of workplace and marginalization, elderly individuals have less chances of earning money, meaning that they begin to be dependent of others, such as family members. They are also facing marginalization through ‘erosion of pension’ (Calasanti & Slevin, 2006, p. 53). Also, through wealth and income, in the modern United States, the elderly community is seen and believed to possess a large amount of economic assets. This neglects the view that old individuals lose money as they age. The number of older individuals who are thought to live a wealthy life actually diminishes the effect of those who depend on Social Security to remain higher than the scarcity line. In the year of 2003, the Social Security distributed payments at an average of approximately $1,013 for male and about $764 for female. Finally, through cultural devaluation, a variety of Western cultures can be mostly represented by the younger generation. They are mainly seen as the personification of everything that is appreciated in today’s society, such as beauty, living a long life, and more. Moreover, age relations vary from other unindicted relations that ‘one’s group shifts over time’.

This is the first time I have ever taken a test like this. I was surprised of the results I was given after taking the ‘Living to 100’ calculator and having the calculator determine the age I would have with the current lifestyle I live. Based on the calculator, I was projected to live up to 88 years old and it was predicted that I could possibly live up to 30 more years if I made some changes within my lifestyle. Personally, I do not know of anybody that has lived past the age of 90, so for the calculator to tell me this was very surprising, and in all honesty, seems a bit impossible.

The calculator recommends for me to take aspirin of about 81mg once a day in order to ameliorate the health of both my heart and my brain. Taking an aspirin every day apparently also reduces the risk of getting a stroke or a heart attack in later years. I usually don’t floss so much and it is evident that flossing my teeth every night could add a year to my life expectancy because there is some relation between heart disease and gum disease. Nutrition wise, the calculator says that I should cut back on fast food, and by doing so, I could add four years to my life expectancy. The only reason I consume fast food a lot is because, most of the time, it is affordable, and as a college student, I do not always have the time or the resources to make something healthy for a meal. In addition to this, red meat consumption more than 3 times per week is ‘life-shortening iron.’ By doing so, I could add another year.

As I have previously stated, I am surprised at the life expectancy result due to having absolutely no family members living past the age of 90. However, there were something that I was not very surprised about. For example, getting my blood pressure checked at least once every year increases about a year and a half to my life expectancy. I am currently a public health major and can agree to this because having regular visits to your primary care doctor can overall increase anyone’s life expectancy. However, I do not go to the doctor regularly, only when I am feeling terribly sick and need some medication. Additionally, the way I attribute to my projected age outcome is through using my seatbelt at all times while inside a moving vehicle, I barely consume any caffeine because it may increase any sign of stress, I do not smoke because there is a chance that, if I start smoking at a young age, I can die young with ‘smoking-related illnesses.’ Also, I ingest an average amount of alcohol per week that is considered to be healthy. I remain at a good and acceptable weight for both my age and height, which is about 115 pounds for a height of 5’5.

Based on the information provided by the calculator, in all honesty, I do fear the pending aging process. I do not get enough sleeping hours. Some tips given were to go to sleep and wake up around the same times every day, but I find that extremely difficult because, sometimes, I just have a lot of work to complete that I have to go to bed past midnight. I think this is also going to be difficult to achieve because I want to be a nurse, and nurses are always changing shifts from day to night. Moreover, it says that wearing your seatbelt in the car 100% of time increases survival when involved in a car accident. Regardless, I still fear being involved in any type of car accidents because it can cause an individual to get skin marks that sometimes may even look like as if they were wrinkles. Also, under ‘Sun Protection Habits,’ it is recommended to put sunscreen whenever my skin is exposed to the sun. However, since I am from the South Florida area, I only apply sunscreen to my skin when I am at the beach, not when I am participating in any outdoor sports such as sailing.

Overall, I learned a lot through this exercise. I learned what is expected of me and what I should consider changing in order to live a healthier and prosperous life. I also learned about iron consumption and how it is suggested to reduce the intake of red meats, medical checkups, exercising regularly which leads to more systematical and structured energy production, dental hygiene where flossing daily is highly recommended, and a lot more.

References

• Brossoie, N. (n.d.). Chapter 2 SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY. Retrieved from http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763756055/56055_CH02_Chop.pdf
• Calasanti, T., Slevin, K (2006). Age matters: Age as a basis of inequality. In G.J. Harris (Ed.), A handbook on aging: A multidisciplinary perspective with critical readings (1st ed., pp. 50-63) San Diego, CA: Cognella, Inc
• Hendricks, J. (2012). Considering Life Course Concepts. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 67B(2), 226–231. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbr147
• Hillier, S. M., & Barrow, G. B. (2015). Aging, the individual and society. Stamford, Conn.: Cengage Learning.
• Living To 100 Life Expectancy Calculator. (2019). Retrieved from Livingto100.com website: https://www.livingto100.com/
• Smith, P.R (2014). A historical perspective in aging and gerontology. In G.J. Harris (Ed.), A handbook on aging: A multidisciplinary perspective with critical readings (1st ed., pp. 2-18) San Diego, CA: Cognella, Inc