Successful Aging in Contemporary Society
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Successful aging model - the absence of disease and disability, the maintenance of cognitive and physical, and actively engage in social activity - was first introduced in late 1990 and early 2000. The main intention of this model was to promote positive aging, as well as to encourage older adults to voluntarily maintain healthy behavior.
Despite its intention, approximately 90% of older adults are missing at least one criteria and importantly, it creates new ageism by this binary of successful versus unsuccessful aging. The field of gerontology has suggested to expand and loosening the criteria in order for more and larger diverse group to fall within the parameters of success. However, this will continue dividing group of failure and successor. Furthermore, this model has failed to demonstrate the significant association with individuals' subjective psychological well-being. In other words, older adults reported being happy and satisfied with their lives regardless of achieving all three criteria. Within this successful aging model, active engagement has paid less attention, since health needs to come before in order to be socially active. We will be searching for alternative tools for older individuals to maintain social activities despite their physical health and condition. |
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Financial Capability
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While there is no empirical research defines financial capability is, it can be referred as how individual utilize one's knowledge and skills to manage financial products, planning and to make financial decision. It connotes the ability of individuals to act and opportunity to act to meet the best financial interests.
- By Socioeconomic Status. Individuals make financial choices based on what is available to them. Mainstream products that are low-cost, are often available for individual household with higher credit score and bank account. Low-income, ethnically minority with less years of education households are likely to be unbanked, and this led them to utilize Alternative Financial Services that may create another financial burden (e.g., pawn shop, high interest loan services, overdraft prepaid debit card). - By generation. Younger generation (age between 18 to 30) are likely to have students loans, to spend more than their income, and have low level of financial knowledge and literacy compared to that of older generation (age between 50 and over). Their financial behavior is concise with low-income households, that are highly rely on credit-card and alternative financial services, but interestingly, those younger generations are actively participating in non-retirement investments, like stock markets. - Retirements savings. There are distinctive pattern in retirement funding by generation. Older generation tend to have traditional funding sources, including social security income, pension, 401K, life insurance, whereas younger generation actively participating in non-retirement funding, like investment, stock market, bond, mutual funds. This can be a problematic as young adults tend to make risky investment without having stable income source or savings account. Contrarily, older adults may face challenges in their retirement years as they may require external source of income, due to unexpected life events, underfunded social security income, reduced in pension. |
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Long-Term Care
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Despite the importance of continuing social activities for older adults, skilled nursing facilities residents remain inactive in most nursing facilities in the United States. Majority of nursing facilities in the States provide less than 30 to 40 minutes of activity programs.
Person-to-person interaction and activity programs are known to reduce disruptive behaviors amongst dementia patients, though medication is mainly prescribed for those residents. This is potentially problematic for our understanding of the range of socializing and activities, that are associated with older adults' well-being, including maintenance older adults' physical and mental health. There is a need to understand the non-medicated treatment, such as activities and redirection in current skilled nursing facilities. Further, it is important to explore types of activities that are efficient, yet realistic programs . |
