Background of the Problems
Theories Related to Successful Aging
Bowling (2005) defined successful aging from a sociological perspective highlighting that "the substantial increases in life expectancy at birth achieved over the previous century, combined with medical advances, escalating health and social care costs, and higher expectations for older age, have led to international interest in how to promote a healthier old age and how to age successfully" (p.1). To this end, some research studies have outlined theories which can be applied to successful aging.
DeLiema & Bengston (2015) examined both the activity theory and disengagement theory. Specifically, these theories have been stated to be focused on the interpersonal, social and psychological conditions related to aging. The activity theory on aging has been traditionally defined as the actions that an individual executed that go beyond the conventional routine as it relates to both personal and physical maintenance. The theory was first studied extensively by Havighurst (1961) and Lemon et al. (1972). The activities that have been outlined as going beyond include doing chores related to the household, watching television, reading and other activities that take up some type of specific movement. It has been explained that activity requires a continual active engagement in order for there to be successful adaptation to the aging process. The thought process has been that as individuals in society age, they experience events that constrict, or diminish the roles that they would otherwise participate in. The theory was applied to a substantial amount of societal practices and medical related discussions on society post World War II. There have been noticeable developments in the theory since then with Lemon et al. (1972) having documented that life satisfaction is also necessary for successful aging. The activities that were initially specified by Havighurst (1961) were stated to only be beneficial to the overall individual if they reinforced aspects of positivity and led to stimulating satisfaction.
DeLiema & Bengston (2015) studied the aging theory in-depth considering several studies that have been performed throughout the years. In particularly, they focused on the necessary functioning cognitively that must take place and with mobility individuals in order for there to be a considerable, noteworthy form of successful aging in society. Several definitions have emerged over the years as it relates to both cognitive and physical mobility stimulation which include personal growth, or an individual learning new things; a participation in social networks and/or communities; adaptability in their own psychology; and being able to experience financial security, diet enjoyment and a varying quantity of accomplishments throughout their life. Some sociological studies that were examined stressed the importance of spirituality in terms of improving wellbeing, mood and morale as well as fostering a realistic sense of self.
Wadensten (2006) discussed the disengagement theory noting that it functions on the claim that as people age, they disengage from their conventional roles and due to the potentiality of death. The theory itself was first presented by Cumming & Henry in 1961, but and was heavily criticized by sociologists initially, but has become a working theory in terms of helping to explain the lack of roles that people have in society as they grow older. Moreover, it has also been used to express the issues related to individual motivations to have satisfactory experiences for personal contentment. Arguably, the activity theory was presented in order to relay the decrease in interaction between the social system and the aging population could be stimulated through recreational activities (2006). There have been some studies that have examined threats to healthy lifestyle and successful aging.
Basic Threats to a Healthy Lifestyle
A significant amount of studies has indicated that the most common threats that impact healthy lifestyles in the United States, and the world at large are smoking, drug addiction, alcohol and obesity.
Smoking
Turbin, Jessor & Costa (2000), The European Commission (2003), Naing et al. (2004) and Khurshid & Ansari (2012) identified that smoking causes a substantial amount of health issues. In particular, it has been estimated that roughly 480,000 deaths annually occur because of smoking in the United States alone. Additionally, the activity of smoking has caused and continues to cause at least 90% of lung cancer cases. Smoking has also been observed to be a leading contributor to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. For this reason, researchers have concluded that smoking not only increases one's risk of developing a life-altering disease, but that it has also elevated the potentiality for death in both genders in society. It has been estimated that those who smoke are 2 to 4 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease, 2 to 4 times more likely to have a stroke and that both genders are 25 times more likely to develop lung cancer.
Drug Addiction
Koob & Le Moal (2008) and Hall, Hawkinberry & Moyers-Scott (2010) highlighted that the concept of addiction has been considered to be the lack of an individual's will or moral turpitude. The use of drugs among individuals in society has substantially contributed to the rise in the general population dying from them. The United States Department of Health and Human Service concluded that 10% of the population has died from substance abuse. Some research has attributed the prevalence of drug use to multiple factors in addition to the aforementioned one.
Koob & Le Moal (2008) wrote that the DSM, also known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, has commented that addiction can take on multiple meaning such as dependence due to a lack of self-control and an overall compulsive motivation to that a drug. When addicted, an individual by and large moves through a series of stages psychologically which has an effect on their occupation, medical faculties and overall social relations. Researchers have probed into what makes an individual use drugs specifically and found that it has tended to be because a persistence of problems and issues that happen in their lives and the type of relief and pleasure that results from its use. Moreover, some studies according to the authors have expressed that genetics is a widespread cause of drug addiction (2008). An individual may have specific traits that are inherited, which subsequently contribute to the progression of the disease within them.
Other factors that have been unearthed in studies in addition to the lack of the will include peer pressure, a small amount of familial involvement, anxiety, and the taking of a drug that is considered to be extremely addictive such as painkillers. The issue that drug addiction has caused as it relates to not having a healthy lifestyle tends to be because of an array of issues such as not facing other health issues, having work and/or financial problems and family issues (Koob & Le Moal 2008). Essentially, the problems that have contributed to drug addiction eliminating or being a threat to a healthy lifestyle are many. While scientists and researchers have tried to understand and pinpoint one specific reason as to why a healthy lifestyle for these individuals cannot be achieved, research has indicated that there is an array of reasons behind drug addiction and its powerful effects in moving individuals away from having a better lifestyle.
Alcohol
Keyes & Hasin (2008) explained that there is a prevalence of alcohol abuse in the general population. There have been studies that have outlined the consequences of drinking too much alcohol and many of the short term effects tend to be slurred speech, general confusion, problems with both memory and concentration, breathing issues, comas, and the impairment of the motor skills. The long-term effects have been reasoned to be suicide, homicidal tendencies, a considerable amount of violent behavior and death. Research has also found that there are additional effects on the body with respect to alcohol abuse and these are alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis, fibrosis, high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, a variety of cancers and immune system disorders (Meier, 2006).
There have been some studies that have proclaimed that alcoholism and alcohol abuse are genetic oriented. In order to specifically identify the degree to which alcohol is a genetic issue, researchers and scientists have tended to trace the lineages of a particular individual. This has meant examining the family history to see if there is a relationship between the mental aspects of that individual's family and heavy drinking. In order to effectively diagnose alcoholism and alcohol abuse, Norris (2008) considered the DSM to observe if there are specific factors other than familial history that lead to this disease. In an analysis of multiple studies, the author found that stress tends to be a significant factor as well as social issues (p.1-4). There was a noticeable relationship between stress reduction and alcoholism, leading the author to assert that stress is a specific cause that moves one to consume alcohol because it is said to reduce said stress.
Obesity
Some studies have expressed the problem of obesity in the United States, and worldwide. Much of the focus has been on childhood obesity since parents are the ones that purchase said foods and are contributing to the lifestyles of their kids. Helms (2007) found that fast food is a leading cause of obesity in both children and adults. Experts estimated that over the last 10-20 years, that the amount of money that has been spent on fast food has increased substantially, from millions to billions to be exact. It has appeared that fast food is the prime option because adults tend to lead hectic lifestyles. Moreover, that the calories and nutritional information is often overlooked when the food is purchased. Everything from Wendy's to McDonald's to Burger King and KFC have been discussed as contributing to the effect of the lack of healthy options available to the general population. Even with the incorporation of vegetables, fruits and a reduction in fat and calories that some fast-food restaurants have adopted, this has still not diminished the levels of obesity in the United States and worldwide (2007). Due to the rising rates of obesity, there has been a considerable rise in organizational efforts to reduce and diminish this.
These organizations have expressed that the general population needs to become more educated on the effects of fast-food and junk food items, which are contributing to the rising amounts of obesity within the United States and worldwide. These entities have explained that the federal government needs to mandate changes within these companies and corporations (grocery store food manufacturers included), so that the effects can be felt as far as what people are purchasing. It has been reasoned that if consumers are more aware of the issues and problems related to the ingredients that are used in fast foods that they are purchasing because of their hectic lifestyles, then there will undoubtedly be a noteworthy shift in the obesity levels.
Medical Technology & Globalization
Some studies have explained how medical technology and globalization are affecting the societal dynamics of aging successfully and having a healthy lifestyle. Flatt et al. (2013) explained that society appears to be gravitating away from the concept of successful aging. With the advent of numerous technologies that include anti-aging medicine and approaches, the general populace is seeing aging as something that can be combatted through the circumvention of conventional endeavors, or at least the ones that are contended by the activity theory. Anti-aging medicine has substantially affected society in terms of promoting the need for Botox and the like, and other types of controversial treatments (2013). From prescription medications to wrinkle removers, the concept of successful aging has substantially evolved.
Flatt et al. (2013) went on to state that there have been a lot of campaigns by companies throughout the years that have widened the saturation of moving away from aging gracefully. Essentially, individuals have started to feel as if they can do what they want and then use medicine or some form of anti-aging therapy to reverse the damage (2013). This has helped to explain the numerous issues related to healthy living (i.e. alcohol abuse, obesity). In essence, people have believed they can eat a McDonald's Big Mac frequently and then go for liposuction surgery and/or take a pill to reverse the health problems that result from the continued consumption of fast food.
Pavel et al. (2009) illustrated that technology has provided some benefit to the behavior of the elderly and the general population as it ages. In particular, they found that certain medical devices and in-home technology has afforded people the opportunity to better address their ailments and disorders (p.1). For example, people have been afforded the chance to take their blood pressure, test their blood in their homes and subsequently, this has allowed a more reliable understanding of where their health is. Of course, these measures do not necessarily take the place of visits to doctors that are needed and the overall aspects associated with human behavior (i.e. cognitive and physical activities to promote aging). Essentially, the idea has been that through a promotion of in-home, self-monitoring, this has prompted the aging population to think cognitively about addressing their issues and problems - and then move to physically do something about it.
Solutions to Existing Problems
Addressing the basic threats to a healthy lifestyle
Several propositions have been put forth to address smoking, drug addiction, alcoholism, and obesity. With respect to smoking, drug addiction and alcoholism, several programs exist at present. These include treatment programs, over the counter medications and an overall education that seeks to reduce the impact of these issues to healthy lifestyles and successful aging. The idea has been to shift the cognitive understanding of the population and consequently, alter the prevalence of smoking, drugs and alcohol.
Organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have outlined specifics to address the issues, with a particular focus on obesity. One such idea has been the Health Equity Toolkit, which is a planning mechanism that asserts a total of six steps to address the disparities that exist. Obesity has affected and continues to affect a variety of groups and is associated with income, age, education, disability, race, gender and ethnicity. As such, the CDC's health equity toolkit has documented from a sociological level that addressing the obesity disparities includes presenting evidence to the general population that is both substantive and provoking. The issue has to be framed in such a way that seeks to influence the health perspectives on interpersonal, individual, community, organization as well as systematic levels. In other words, there has been a need to influence on a micro to macro level a heavy understanding of the need for better wellness and wellbeing (CDC 2016).
The CDC (2016) went on to state that the toolkit has a specific process that includes the following aspects: building capacity and assessing the various programs that are in operation to address the obesity epidemic; gathering information about the disparities and extensively outlining how to address them on a sociological level; developing partnerships that are non-traditional as well as multi-sector, which afford an opportunity for communities of all types and across multiple geographic regions to handle the issue; design health equity lens and strategies that promote healthy living and successful aging; and having a sustainability guideline creation, which essentially would provide a substantive relevance to the population of a need to think more appropriately about aging and living healthy (p.1).
Transhumanism
Transhumanism has been explained as a framework that can address the issues relating to successful aging and a healthy lifestyle. Bostrom (2005) identified that transhumanism is a movement that has emerged over the last 20 years, which seeks to enhance the capacities of humanity through disease eradication, suffering elimination, and an augmentation of physical, intellectual and emotional aspects. Moreover, individuals that are involved in the movement have asserted that human nature is basically continually in transition, or in progress and therefore, humanity has yet to reach a particular endpoint. Thus, transhumanism has been presented as a viable way to enforce and reinforce a healthier lifestyle because the essence of the human being is being shifted considerably (2005). There have been some limitations that have been explained to transhumanism. These have tended to be related to the capacity of what is actually possible with respect to the enhancement of individuals and their essence. Some transhumanists have argued that there are limitations biologically and physically, but that the movement is a plausible and invaluable presentation of how to feel, think, relate and subsequently, live.
Conclusion
In order to promote these particular ways of addressing the problems related to successful aging and healthy lifestyles, it has been mentioned that social media is a practical way to educate the general population. This has been due to the fact that the majority of the population uses one, or more of the platforms (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and the like), and therefore, organizations like the CDC and others that are seeking to promote healthy living can provide substantial and critical information to the masses. This, of course, has not been the only vehicle that has been considered, but it has been stated to offer a considerable depth in terms of educating society – both nationwide, and globally.
It might be argued that through a spreading of the importance and relevance associated with and related to wellbeing, that society will come to better understand the need to combat the issues that are causing humans as a whole to be relegated to contending with numerous health ailments and/or seeking to reverse the natural effects of the body as it ages. Getting society to understand the need to age gracefully is needed, and with the use of transhumanism, the CDC’s health toolkit and the like, there is hope that the general population over the next 20 years will indeed see the value and necessity of living healthy.
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