People are always reluctant to discuss the topic of human aging and dying directly. Regardless of the outcome of life, it is actually very beneficial for people to face the fact of aging and live a rich and satisfactory life. You still enjoy the beauty of nature, you still experience the wonders of the human world, and you still have a love for those who occupy a special place in your heart. Your curiosity and imagination will not be eroded by the years. People, including the elderly, are always able to adapt to their ever-changing brains, which allows them to hold on to their unique personalities. Although the mind is aging, it is not impossible to tap into the potentially changing forces within it.
Even when we realize that aging is the way to death, we still have time for rational reflection, and it doesn't have to be depressing. Oliver Sacks, 80, told The New York Times his personal opinion when he learned he was coming to the end of his life: "I can't pretend I'm not afraid. But the main thing I'm still grateful for. I have loved and loved; I have been given and given; I have traveled, thought and written. I have interacted with the world in my special capacity as a writer and reader. Most importantly, I was one of the sentient beings on this beautiful planet, a thinking being, which in itself was a great blessing and a strange adventure. ”
From a certain point of view, the elderly will bring a burden to society. In those developing countries, the elderly mean having one more mouth to eat, and some of their daily activities require a variety of assistance. In some societies, once the old man becomes a burden, he is taken to the snow-covered mountains and dies in the snow and ice. There are also societies where people leave the elderly behind and continue to migrate. Sometimes, supporting these elderly people jeopardizes the survival of young members of the group. I believe that in this case, there are many similar methods.
In developed countries, as well as in the so-called civilized world, comparable to snow-covered peaks is a thriving industry: retirement villages, nursing homes, homes for the elderly and care centres for the elderly. Whatever you call these places, they are essentially places to be sent when older people become a burden and need more and more care, or even round-the-clock care that family members struggle to provide. To a certain extent, the elderly need more service to be safe, and their basic needs can be met.
Staying in a nursing home often has to queue up for a long time, which will bring great expenses to society and individuals. Those who can't afford nursing homes, their children often quarrel over who should bear how much.
Despite the efforts of well-meaning caregivers, the aged care center can be a very miserable place. As far as the eye can see, the old people are either sitting in the solarium staring at the white wall, or sitting in the room staring blankly at the TV. When a young visitor walked in, especially when they came in with their children, the old people's faces had some sparkle. They would stare expectantly, hoping to get a greeting and hoping to have a few words.
Few people would expect to stay in a place like this. Those who are about to be sent here may have had the experience of sending other elderly people here before. When we reach this day ourselves, we realize the sound behind this: our lives are coming to an end.
Many of the caregivers working in these institutions are very dedicated and able to provide very good care to the elderly. However, like the elderly who live here, many of them still want to work elsewhere. In this society, they belong to the low-income class, and for their outstanding work, this society only gives some verbal praise: they care for these elderly people with love and respect.
You may drag yourself out of the nursing home until you can't survive without the help of others, but you will definitely become more and more dependent on others. You may only need a little help in the beginning, but as long as you live long enough, you will eventually develop to bedridden. Many more enlightened elderly care institutions will take this into account. You can move from a lower-level care area to an area where you are lying in bed receiving full care.
In old age, you may seek help from your doctor to improve physical symptoms such as: falls, incontinence, muscle atrophy, attenuation of strength, visual impairment, hearing impairment, delirium, weakness, malnutrition, difficulty moving, and chronic pain. Some of these symptoms can be alleviated by some means, such as the use of hearing aids and the wearing of glasses. Other symptoms will inevitably get worse and worse and will be difficult to alleviate with medical intervention.
In order to postpone the day, I tried to swim every day – about 600 meters. In the beginning, it was difficult for me to get up from the pool without the help of the stairs in the pool; later, without the help of the stairs, I could not enter the water gracefully. I was still able to stand and put on my pants and shoes, but it started to get less stable, and in order to maintain my balance, I needed to jump a few times when I put on my pants and shoes. It won't be long before I'm one of the older people who need to sit down and slowly try to put on every pant leg.
Human aging can verify the limitations of modern medicine, diet, exercise, herbal medicine, and lifestyle. Many of us have loved the beauty of nature throughout our lifetimes. Nature has provided us with food and joy. At the same time, nature is also rounding us up, disintegrating us, and our bodies are gradually decayed under the erosion of nature, and nature will eventually give us a fatal blow.
Movies and TV series rarely feature people 60 years of age and older as their protagonists. Even when they do, they are often molded into that stereotypical image, embedded somewhere in the nuclear family. There are exceptions, of course, such as Clint Eastwood, who is still glamorous even after his 80s. If we want to create a new image for the elderly with a serious attitude, it must of course include those natural characteristics of human aging, but we need to give them different meanings, and we need to break the stereotypes of the past.
There are many challenges in how to deal with aging at the societal level. We should first align our understanding of aging and integrate it with the way we all live. Simply building more small rooms in nursing homes is not the solution, and the elderly need more than just three meals a day and a television set.
There is a long German word Mehrgenerationenhauser, which refers to a place where people of different ages live together. For example, nurseries and youth activity centres have been built together with places for the elderly to retire. Older people can help take care of small children, and young people can teach older people to use mobile phones and computers. This fosters interaction between all ages and helps restore social networks that are disappearing.
We must use our imagination and have a highly responsible attitude when it comes to how to take good care of the elderly. We can't stick to the rules, we have to think outside the box, we have to use our imagination to explore other possibilities. Older persons and those who are about to enter the ageing stage should be involved in the design of programmes.
Older people want to be needed. We need to come up with more imaginative approaches, around the psychology that the elderly want to be needed, take more methods, and build more activities for them.
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