Concepts of Aging & Chronic Illness - NUR 257
Exam 1 Study Guide
, Concepts of Aging and Chronic Illness (NUR 257) - Exam 1
Unit 1 study guide
Ch. 2 – Introduction to Healthy Aging
• Chronological aging: recognized as beginning sometime between 50 and 65
years of age o May be used alone or in combination with either social or
biological aging
• Elderhood can span over 40 years – defined in functional terms
• Super-centenarians: those who lives until at least 110 years of age o Many
do not smoke, are not obese, and handle stress well
• Centenarians: those between 100-109 years of age o Many had childhood
diseases such as measles, mumps, chickenpox and whooping cough
• Unique cohort born in the years between 1920 and 1945 o Major fear of
polio – vaccine invented in 1954
• Baby boomers: born sometime between 1946 and 1964
• Health was long considered the absence of physical or psychiatric illness
• Wellness now involves one's whole being – physical, emotional, mental, and
spiritual
• Health in later life is often thought of in terms of functional ability (i.e. the
ability to do what is important to a given person) rather than the absence of
disease o Individually determined
• Wellness is affected by socioeconomic factors, degree of social interaction,
marital status, and aspects of one's living situation and environment
• Interventions to promote wellness o Vaccinations ▪ Flu (yearly)
▪ Pneumococcal (every 5 years)
▪ Shingles (2 doses at age 60)
▪ TDap (every 10 years)
Breast cancer screenings (yearly)
o Vaginal and cervical cancer screenings (may stop at 65)
o Diabetes self-management training (annual) o Hearing
and balance exams (annual)
• Reduce structural barriers, such as transportation
, Ch. 3 – Making Clinical Judgements in the Cross-Cultural Setting with Older
Adults
• Culture: the shared and learned values, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors of
a group of people o Guides thinking and decision making
• Health disparity: refers to the differences in health outcomes between groups
o Usually discuss in terms of the excess burden of illness in one group
compared with another
• Health inequalities: refer to the excess burden of illness or the difference
between an expected incidence and prevalence and that which occurs in
excess in a comparison population group o Often the result of both
historical and contemporary injustices o Most often relate to differences in
the distribution of wealth and their effect on health outcomes
• Cultural proficiency requires a willingness to become more self-aware, to
observe carefully for the ques of others, and to apply new skills to more
effectively support their personal and cultural strengths in achieving healthy
outcomes o Become familiar with your own cultural perspectives o
Examine for signs of bias and the use of negative stereotypes o Remain
open to viewpoints and behaviors that are different from your expectations
o Develop the skill of becoming attentive to both verbal and nonverbal
communication
Unintentional A g ism in Langua ge
• Use of general labeling terms: sweet old lady, geezer
• Use of terms applied in the health care setting: fossil, bed blocker, GOMER
• When speaking: exaggerated pitch, demeaning emotional tone, lower quality
of speech, “baby talk”
Consequences of A g ism in Langua ge
• Reduced sense of self
• Lowered self-esteem
• Lowered sense of self-competence
• Decreased memory performance
Culture
• Cultural destructiveness is the systematic elimination of
the culture of another
Exam 1 Study Guide
, Concepts of Aging and Chronic Illness (NUR 257) - Exam 1
Unit 1 study guide
Ch. 2 – Introduction to Healthy Aging
• Chronological aging: recognized as beginning sometime between 50 and 65
years of age o May be used alone or in combination with either social or
biological aging
• Elderhood can span over 40 years – defined in functional terms
• Super-centenarians: those who lives until at least 110 years of age o Many
do not smoke, are not obese, and handle stress well
• Centenarians: those between 100-109 years of age o Many had childhood
diseases such as measles, mumps, chickenpox and whooping cough
• Unique cohort born in the years between 1920 and 1945 o Major fear of
polio – vaccine invented in 1954
• Baby boomers: born sometime between 1946 and 1964
• Health was long considered the absence of physical or psychiatric illness
• Wellness now involves one's whole being – physical, emotional, mental, and
spiritual
• Health in later life is often thought of in terms of functional ability (i.e. the
ability to do what is important to a given person) rather than the absence of
disease o Individually determined
• Wellness is affected by socioeconomic factors, degree of social interaction,
marital status, and aspects of one's living situation and environment
• Interventions to promote wellness o Vaccinations ▪ Flu (yearly)
▪ Pneumococcal (every 5 years)
▪ Shingles (2 doses at age 60)
▪ TDap (every 10 years)
Breast cancer screenings (yearly)
o Vaginal and cervical cancer screenings (may stop at 65)
o Diabetes self-management training (annual) o Hearing
and balance exams (annual)
• Reduce structural barriers, such as transportation
, Ch. 3 – Making Clinical Judgements in the Cross-Cultural Setting with Older
Adults
• Culture: the shared and learned values, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors of
a group of people o Guides thinking and decision making
• Health disparity: refers to the differences in health outcomes between groups
o Usually discuss in terms of the excess burden of illness in one group
compared with another
• Health inequalities: refer to the excess burden of illness or the difference
between an expected incidence and prevalence and that which occurs in
excess in a comparison population group o Often the result of both
historical and contemporary injustices o Most often relate to differences in
the distribution of wealth and their effect on health outcomes
• Cultural proficiency requires a willingness to become more self-aware, to
observe carefully for the ques of others, and to apply new skills to more
effectively support their personal and cultural strengths in achieving healthy
outcomes o Become familiar with your own cultural perspectives o
Examine for signs of bias and the use of negative stereotypes o Remain
open to viewpoints and behaviors that are different from your expectations
o Develop the skill of becoming attentive to both verbal and nonverbal
communication
Unintentional A g ism in Langua ge
• Use of general labeling terms: sweet old lady, geezer
• Use of terms applied in the health care setting: fossil, bed blocker, GOMER
• When speaking: exaggerated pitch, demeaning emotional tone, lower quality
of speech, “baby talk”
Consequences of A g ism in Langua ge
• Reduced sense of self
• Lowered self-esteem
• Lowered sense of self-competence
• Decreased memory performance
Culture
• Cultural destructiveness is the systematic elimination of
the culture of another
