Optimal Aging

PS277- Ch. 5 – Lecture 18

Outline

Healthy Aging

Physical Health Factors

Psychological Health: Gratitude and Forgiveness as Examples in Later Life

Other Positive Goals

Robert Browning’s Famous Lines

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life for which the first was

made.” (Rabbi Ben Ezra)

Rowe & Kahn’s Model of Successful Aging

Healthy Aging – Andrew Weil

Weil’s 12-Point Plan for Healthy Aging – Physical Health

Eat a healthy diet Use dietary supplements wisely to support the

body’s defenses Use preventive medicine intelligently – know

your risks, get appropriate diagnostic tests and screenings, treat problems early

Get regular physical activity throughout life Get adequate sleep and rest Learn and practice methods of stress protection

Prevention Models – Levels of Health Interventions

Primary – e.g., maintain good diet, an exercise program across life

Secondary – e.g., screening for health issues to see if have early signs of problems (e.g., cholesterol levels)

Tertiary – e.g, accommodating to health problems, using medical interventions to manage pain and prevent further illness

Quaternary – helping people with chronic conditions to maintain other kinds of function (e.g., strategies for Alzheimer’s patients’ memories)

Harvard Growth Study – Health Predictors (Vaillant, 2002)

Weil’s 12-Point Plan: Psychological Elements

Exercise your mind as well as your body Maintain social and intellectual connections throughout

life Be flexible in mind and body: learn to adapt to losses

and let go of behaviors no longer appropriate Think about and try to discover for yourself the benefits of

aging (gratitude) Do not deny the reality of aging or put energy into trying

to stop it. Use the experience as a stimulus for spiritual growth

Keep a record of the lessons you learn, the wisdom you gain, and the values you hold.

An Example of Positive Psychology Virtues: Gratitude and Its Possible Benefits Research on gratitude by Robert Emmons

Experimental studies on health benefits of finding daily positives to feel grateful about

65 adults with serious, but non-life threatening medical disabilities

Average age was 50 (22-77)

Given a daily “gratitude intervention” to fill out each evening for 3 weeks vs. control group which did not do this

Robert Emmons

Gratitude Instructions – Try It

There are many things in our lives, both large and small, that we might be grateful about. Think back over today and write down on the lines below up to five things in your life that you are grateful or thankful for.

___________________

Outcome Measures

Daily affect ratings

Subjective well-being: life as whole, optimism about upcoming week, feelings of connections with others

Health: sleep hours, sleep quality, pain, exercise, functional status

Spouse or significant other’s ratings of how the participant would respond on wellbeing measure

Results - Effects on Life Satisfaction

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

own sat* spousesat*

gratitude

control

Results – Average Effects on Health

Variable: Gratitude Control

Hours of Sleep*

7.58 7.06

Quality of Sleep*

3.04 2.58

Physical Pain 2.96 3.20

Functional Status

1.63 1.58

Another Example: Forgiveness and Aging

Survey research by Toussaint et al. (2001); US probability sample of 1423 adults

Reported health status, life satisfaction, psychological distress +

Forgiveness of others: try to forgive others, don’t hold grudges, don’t try to get even

Forgiveness of self: Feel I can undo my past mistakes, can forgive myself

Forgiven by God: Knowing that God forgives me

Average Forgiveness of Others, God and Self by Age Group (1 – 5 Scale)

3

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4

4.2

4.4

4.6

4.8

18-44 45-64 65+

Others*

Self

God

Relations between Forgiveness of Others and Adjustment Measures by Age Group

Measure: 18-44 45-64 65+

Psychological Distress

-.24 -.48* -.37*

Life Satisfaction

.05 .24* .27*

Self-Rated Health

-.04 .06 .24*

Forgiveness in the Family: Parents’ Forgiveness of Grandparents (Pratt et al., 2008) Interview study of 35 Canadian mothers and fathers with an 8

year-old first-born child Described a real-life grandparenting “problem”: why it was a

problem, what they were doing about it, outcome so far

Protocols rated reliably on 1-5 scales on 4 dimensions: seriousness of problem, anger about it, optimism about finding a solution, willingness to forgive the grandparent

Also completed generative concern measure (LGS)

Reported on closeness to grandparent, depression scale

Hi Forgiveness Mother’s Description of Problem Hi Forgiveness Mom: “When my mother-in-law comes

over to take care of the kids, the rules go out the window, the chores don’t get done, they stay up late, even though it’s school, they eat chocolate and it’s too late at night for that. But, at the same time, I understand that I have to be flexible, so I am kind of working it out in my own mind… Because my sister in law gave me really good advice on this a long time ago when I had my kids. She said, ‘No matter how wacky or weird you think it is, if it doesn’t hurt them let it go.’…[Why do you feel the way you do about this?] “Bubba comes over and everything that I feel I am trying to teach my kids goes out the window.” [Does this present a moral problem for you?] “No. Because she is not hurting anyone, the kids are safe and she loves them so much, and so much of what she does she does out of love and kindness and caring, so how can I get mad?”

A Low Forgiveness and Low Optimism Father’s Description

Low Forgiveness Father: “My wife’s parents split up 5-6 years ago and her mom, every time you ask her to take care of the kids, we get a lot of feedback, like she doesn’t have time or whatever, and it’s hard to say but it’s like she doesn’t want to see them. She says her time is full and we can’t understand that, we always thought if you become a grandparent that’s one of the joys of it, that you would want to spend as much time as you can with the kids…”

“We have to put up with it because I know what she is like and if you mention it to her she will feel we are putting a guilt trip on her.” [Does it present a problem?] “I think it does because growing up I spent time with my grandparents and my wife spent time with hers a lot and you just look forward to that time as a kid and I think our kids are being robbed of that.”

Results of Study

Forgiveness was related to generativity, so that more generative parents more likely to forgive (and more optimistic about solving the issue)

More forgiving mothers rated themselves as closer to grandparents, and felt less depressed

More forgiving fathers felt less depressed

Since these are correlational studies, no way to tell what causes what – but forgiveness was better!

Caring for and Connecting to Others in Later Life

Volunteering as a valuable role in later life- good for society, health benefits for self

Grandparents and oldest generation continue to be important contributors to the family into very late life – financially, teaching, inspiration

Generativity doesn’t stop in midlife – strong predictor of adaptation in old (Vaillant, 2002)

Gardening as a metaphor for aging – continuing to care for relationships