The old population is the fastest growing population segment in America. The Americans currently have an opportunity to live more than 85 years of age. From the documentary, it is apparent that though the life expectancy is high, there are a lot of challenges the old faces that make their life extremely difficult at this age. Such problems include the high rate of chronic illness and inadequate care from the family and friends. From the video, some factors give rise to a high rate of life expectancy ( Living Old, 2018). A good example is the medical care advance. In the United States, the medical field is advanced. As a result, people from different age bracket get proper medication. There is access to primary care that is at the central role of enhancing better life. Other than that, there are healthcare programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Such programs ensure that people get proper access to healthcareservices ( Harper, 2014). Other than medical advancement, other factors that contribute to high life expectancy include education, genetics and rising living standards in the country. Economic development is also another factor that contributes to a high living standard. Other than that, reduced infant mortality is also another factor that contributes to a high living standard ( Arai et al., 2015).
At the old age, there are those who suffer more than others. Some old people are unable to get proper medication, and thus, their life at this stage tends to be worse than others. At the old age, some variables are at the core of the differences in health at this age. The first variable is the financial power. A good number of old people still engage in economic activities to cater for their basic needs ( Visser et al., 2018). It is an implication that such individuals are unable to access proper care from healthcare due to economic challenges. Other than economic variable, the availability of support from friends and family is also critical at this age, and it creates differences between healthy and unhealthy living at this age. The old who get access to love and care from the family tend to be healthier than those who get insufficient of such opportunities. The living standard is another variable that brings about the differences between adults’ health. The adults who are at the upper tier of life are capable of managing their health through proper nutrition, and healthcare access. As a result, such individuals are in a better position of maintaining an adequate life thus, a healthy living ( Lagergren et al., 2017). Those who belong to a lower class cannot access such opportunities easily and therefore, their health status at this stage is compromised.
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Personally, am working my way out through the gym to ensure that I remain physically active and fit. Physical fitness at a young age and maintaining such an exercise as one grows old is critical in ensuring that a person remains fit and healthy when he or she becomes old. Other than that, I am working on my diet and nutrition balance to ensure that the types of food I take at this age do not contribute to my burden of chronic illness when I grow old. Further, I am also preparing and saving money to ensure that I remain economically independent so that when I become old, I can be in a position to facilitate my medical bills with much ease. What this will help me maintains great health when I grow old. Lastly, I am making friends and also creating peace with my family and friends to ensure that they support me socially at my old age.
References
Arai, Y., Martin-Ruiz, C. M., Takayama, M., Abe, Y., Takebayashi, T., Koyasu, S., ... & von Zglinicki, T. (2015). Inflammation, but not telomere length, predict successful aging at extreme old age: a longitudinal study of semi-supercentenarians — biomedicine , 2 (10), 1549-1558.
Harper, S. (2014). Economic and social implications of aging societies. Science , 346 (6209), 587-591.
Lagergren, M., Johnell, K., Schön, P., & Danielsson, M. (2017). Towards a postponement of activities of daily living dependence and mobility limitations: Trends in healthy life years in old age in Sweden. Scandinavian journal of public health , 45 (5), 520-527.
Living Old. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/livingold/
Visser, M., Wijnhoven, H. A., Comijs, H. C., Thomése, F. G., Twisk, J. W., &Deeg, D. J. (2018). A Healthy Lifestyle in Old Age and Prospective Change in Four Domains of Functioning. Journal of aging and health , 0898264318774430.
