PSYC 636 Week 8 DB Forum 4 Example

Discussion Board Forum 4: Thread and Two Replies

PSYC 636 Geropsychology, Discussion Board Forum 4 (thread and two replies)

Thread by [Student Name]

The prompt, the older adult described and the classmates' posts are composites standing in for the course's own forum; Scripture, the textbook and the journal articles are real and described from their published sources; the requirements follow Liberty's public course guide for PSYC 636.

Thread

Ruth is eighty-eight. She has heart failure, walks with a walker and has not left her apartment without help in a year. Every Tuesday morning, she leads a prayer group of six women by conference call, and she describes herself as blessed. By some definitions, Ruth is not aging successfully. By her own, and perhaps by Scripture's, she is. Her daughter says the prayer group calls Ruth first when anyone receives bad news, which means that at eighty-eight she is still the person others lean on.

Whitbourne and Whitbourne (2017) present Rowe and Kahn's influential model, which counts an older adult as aging successfully when three conditions hold: disease and disability are unlikely, mental and physical capacities remain strong, and the person stays actively involved with others and with productive activity. The model helped shift research away from viewing aging only as decline, and it highlights behaviors people can change, such as exercise, diet and social involvement, which gives practitioners clear targets for prevention. Yet by its first two criteria, most adults over eighty, including Ruth, cannot succeed.

Crowther et al. (2002) argued that the model leaves out a factor important to many older adults: positive spirituality, a developing relationship with the transcendent that promotes well-being and connection with others. They proposed positive spirituality as a fourth component, pointing to research linking religious involvement with better health, lower depression and stronger social support in later life. Koenig (2006) similarly describes religion as a central resource for many older adults and urges researchers and clinicians to take it seriously.

In 2 Corinthians 4:16, Paul concedes that his body is wearing out while claiming a daily renewal on the inside that age cannot touch (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016). That verse describes Ruth well. Her body is declining, but her faith, purpose and relationships are growing. A definition of successful aging that cannot recognize her life as successful seems too narrow, however useful it is for research on prevention. Should geropsychologists measure success in later life by health or by meaning, and can a good definition include both?

Reply to Jasmine

Jasmine, you raised an important worry: if success means avoiding disease and disability, then older adults with chronic illness are implicitly labeled failures. That message can feed the internalized ageism we discussed earlier in the course, in which older adults blame themselves for declines they could not prevent. Whitbourne and Whitbourne (2017) note that many older adults rate their own aging as successful even when they have health problems, which suggests that people define success differently from researchers and weigh relationships and outlook more heavily than diagnoses. Including subjective measures, such as satisfaction and sense of purpose, alongside the physical ones would let the model recognize people like Ruth. Crowther et al. (2002) offer one such addition, but even without religious language the point holds: a definition that excludes most of the oldest old needs revision. Clinicians who adopt a narrow definition may also set goals that frail clients cannot reach, which risks discouraging the very people who most need hope and support from their care team.

Reply to Tyler

Tyler, you asked whether adding spirituality would exclude older adults who are not religious. Crowther et al. (2002) define positive spirituality broadly, as a relationship with the transcendent, and they distinguish it from religious affiliation alone. Still, your point stands: some older adults find meaning through family, service, nature or creative work rather than faith, and many of them age with great contentment. A more inclusive model might name meaning and purpose as the component, with spirituality as one common path to it. For Christian practitioners, that approach allows respect for clients of any background while still recognizing, as Koenig (2006) does, how central faith is for many older adults. Asking clients what gives their lives meaning, rather than assuming, is a good starting point either way. For one client the answer may be a grandson's baseball games; for another, a garden or a weekly letter to a former student. Each of those deserves the same respect in a care plan as Ruth's prayer group.

References

Crowther, M. R., Parker, M. W., Achenbaum, W. A., Larimore, W. L., & Koenig, H. G. (2002). Rowe and Kahn's model of successful aging revisited: Positive spirituality, the forgotten factor. The Gerontologist, 42(5), 613-620. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/42.5.613

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Koenig, H. G. (2006). Religion, spirituality and aging. Aging & Mental Health, 10(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860500308132

Whitbourne, S. K., & Whitbourne, S. B. (2017). Adult development and aging: Biopsychosocial perspectives (6th ed.). Wiley.