Introduction
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a significant public health challenge, especially among the elderly, who are at the greatest. The number of older adults in the United States has been proved to be increasing, and by 2050, one in every five people in the United States will be over sixty-five, and about five percent will be over eighty-five (Loe, 2011). It is thus imperative that gerontologists and other key stakeholders concerned with the health and well-being of the aging population have extensive knowledge on how to maximize their productivity. Understanding demographics, including the five faces of aging, focusing on how people of every age should be handled can significantly improve the quality of care given. Also of importance is talking and drawing lessons from the elderly and assimilating the knowledge gained with the five faces of aging, an action that is both complimentary and contradictory. The studies garnered from understanding the five faces of aging and from experiences of the oldest-old help to better the domains of public health, thus enhancing the maximization of function and well-being of the aging.
The Extent to which the Five Stages of Ageing are Useful
Understanding public health and aging requires people to understand the five faces of aging because the scope of the subject is often divided into sub-populations. According to Albert and Freedman (2010), the aging demographics are vast and include frail elders at risk of disability and surprisingly healthy elders. This knowledge has helped the two elders break aging into five faces; the robust, the frail, the elder with dementia, the dying, and the compensating adaptive elder. As Albert and Freedman (2010) state, the strong elders are physically vigorous, mentally acute, a source of wisdom for their families, and always busy accomplishing tasks they never had time to undertake. The frail elders are usually less active than robust elders and have one overriding health problem. Elders with dementia have understanding problems, often ask several repetitive questions, and have difficulty identifying objects and people. The dying face is harder to locate and a role of clinicians who are often uncomfortable sharing the information with the family members. The compensating elder tries to maintain functions they did earlier in their lives and be socially active, often with much difficulty.
Gerontologists and other professionals tasked with the care of the elderly need to know at what point they should take mitigation measures and the kind of interventions required for different older people. Understanding the five faces of aging can guide specific care interventions and contribute to various health outcomes (Tomás et al., 2020). These faces also assist the experts in understanding the type of aging an individual goes through, which can be; chronological, biological, disease, or senescence. Since this method follows demographics rather than individual patients, it helps caregivers’ knowledge of taking proactive solutions before specific problems rise. It also makes the decision-making process for gerontologists and other medical experts easy.
Understanding an individual’s aging phase helps design goals for both medical care and public health teams. A person in the robust stage will have a medical care goal of prolonged life and cure for the illnesses they may be facing. In addition, they will have a public health goal of prevention of frailty and disability (Albert & Freedman, 2010). Individuals with dementia should have a medical care goal of improved productivity and a public health goal of excellent custodial care. Mitigation of suffering and reducing isolation are the goals gerontologists should aim for when dealing with dying patients. Public health needs to focus on reducing tasks allocated to frail elderlies, while medical care should ensure medications given are tolerable. Compensating persons should be given tasks that benefit their mental health and improve the quality of their lives without the tasks being too much to make them fragile. A good grasp of the five phases of aging can also help individuals live a healthy, prosperous, and optimal life.
How Lessons from Aging our way Complement and Contradict the Five Faces
The lessons from aging our way complement and contradict the five faces of aging. The five phases of aging were designed by a geriatrician who continually makes home visits and bases her idea on actual experiences of victims, a principle also used by (Loe, 2011). Robust elderly of 70 or 80 years usually have chronic illnesses such as arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, hearing loss, glaucoma, and asthma (Albert & Freedman, 2010). Interviews with the oldest-old in aging our way confirm this argument as most people above that age say they have experienced one or more of the above-listed ailments.
The medical care goal of ensuring that the elderly live and maximize their function is confirmed to have been achieved to a degree today. In aging, self-care and suitable medication have ensured that dementia and fragility are prevented. Loe (2011) advises the elderly to continue doing what they did while below 50 years. This is not a piece of advice that should be given to a robust elderly as it contradicts the consensus that a group should do things it never had time to when it was younger. Aging our way contradicts the five phases of gaining by showing that today individuals are less likely to transition from the robust class to the fragile ailing group.
Lessons from Experiences of Oldest-Old in Public Health
The lessons from the old can inform public health decision-making, and their opinions need to be followed because it is hard to make decisions without knowing how they feel. According to Loe (2011), Policymakers tend to focus on health needs, transportation, and meals when dealing with aging. However, the experiences of aging people show that psychological factors are also an essential variable needing scrutinization by the public health stakeholders. The elderly interviewed have also stated that social capital, being part of a community, and creative art contributes to the longevity of life, unlike the commonly advocated health feeding and exercise.
Conclusion
To maximize the well-being of the elderly and the aging gerontologist, public health officials, policymakers, and other stakeholders need to understand the five faces of aging and the experiences of the oldest old. Typologies of aging are essential to both individual elderly care and group care. These five faces place an individual in a particular demographic and, thus, proactive care based on what other elderlies in the stage experienced in implementation. Experience is the best teacher, and to know how each class should be handled, professionals need to follow the wisdom of those who have passed through those stages. As the population of people above 65 continues to increase, their views on different phases of aging should be considered and analyzed for decision making.
References
Albert, S. M., & Freedman, V. A. (2010). Public health and aging: Maximizing function and well-being. Springer Publishing Company.
Loe, M. (2011). Aging our way: Lessons for living from 85 and beyond. OUP USA.
Tomás, J. M., Sentandreu-Mañó, T., & Fernández, I. (2020). Frailty Status Typologies in Spanish Older Population: Associations with Successful Aging. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(18), 6772.