Day 327 of 365 - Attitude Matters
I dove back into the Elderhood book today for some more perspective. How we see aging is affected by what we know and what we believe, as well as the information we are given and its context.
One of my more senior friends, when she hears me talk about needing to prepare more for my senior years with my upcoming 65th birthday, says to me that to her, age is just a number. She is telling me that my attitude toward aging is important, and she's right. Our attitude not only affects how we feel, but also affects our health, how we spend our time and ultimately how long we live. People who have more positive attitudes about aging are more likely to engage in things like exercise and healthy eating which will help them feel better, longer.
The author of the book, Louise Aronson, makes the plea for having more geriatricians who can care for all the functional levels of senior patients, not just the elderly and frail. The specialty of geriatrics generally has low appeal to training doctors, partly due to negative cultural bias about aging, the much lower compensation rate than for doctors in other specialties, and the focus in medicine on treating conditions of the average adult who is not yet senior or trying to treat seniors the same way they treat younger adults.
Ironically, most doctors will end up having in their practice between 30 - 50% of patients over the age of 65. Most are ill equipped with knowing the idiosyncrasies of treating conditions in the aging body. That's due to the very limited clinical training medical students receive with this population.
Since the population demographic of seniors is ever growing, one of the things we Baby Boomers can do is start demanding of policy makers that more knowledge based medical services to our age range be made available. We need to change the cultural norms of negative bias towards older people in favor of ones better suited to our late-life abilities and roles.
Many seniors, me included, will just go to the doctor for check ups less often, because our physicians seem not well versed in dealing with issues we present. When you get the response 'that's just something that happens with aging' and little practical help, it doesn't seem worthwhile. Because of our reluctance, we run the risk of missing something that may be developing. At the moment, I feel in tune enough with my body to get something addressed if there is some significant change, so it's still a risk I'm willing to take. At some point though, it will make sense to go back for annual physicals.
In the meantime, I'd prefer to focus on accepting that I am still the same person despite physical changes and limitations that arise. What's important is knowing what matters most to me and being clear with my family about my priorities for care as I age. As Aronson also points out, 'a solid dose of optimism tempered with just enough pessimism to match goals with realities' will best serve me as I age. I can be optimistic that I'll live a long and purposeful life while being realistically pessimistic about the current quality of services available.
So, my friend is right, that attitude matters. It will help me in being more resilient as I go through my older years.
One of my more senior friends, when she hears me talk about needing to prepare more for my senior years with my upcoming 65th birthday, says to me that to her, age is just a number. She is telling me that my attitude toward aging is important, and she's right. Our attitude not only affects how we feel, but also affects our health, how we spend our time and ultimately how long we live. People who have more positive attitudes about aging are more likely to engage in things like exercise and healthy eating which will help them feel better, longer.
The author of the book, Louise Aronson, makes the plea for having more geriatricians who can care for all the functional levels of senior patients, not just the elderly and frail. The specialty of geriatrics generally has low appeal to training doctors, partly due to negative cultural bias about aging, the much lower compensation rate than for doctors in other specialties, and the focus in medicine on treating conditions of the average adult who is not yet senior or trying to treat seniors the same way they treat younger adults.
Ironically, most doctors will end up having in their practice between 30 - 50% of patients over the age of 65. Most are ill equipped with knowing the idiosyncrasies of treating conditions in the aging body. That's due to the very limited clinical training medical students receive with this population.
Since the population demographic of seniors is ever growing, one of the things we Baby Boomers can do is start demanding of policy makers that more knowledge based medical services to our age range be made available. We need to change the cultural norms of negative bias towards older people in favor of ones better suited to our late-life abilities and roles.
Many seniors, me included, will just go to the doctor for check ups less often, because our physicians seem not well versed in dealing with issues we present. When you get the response 'that's just something that happens with aging' and little practical help, it doesn't seem worthwhile. Because of our reluctance, we run the risk of missing something that may be developing. At the moment, I feel in tune enough with my body to get something addressed if there is some significant change, so it's still a risk I'm willing to take. At some point though, it will make sense to go back for annual physicals.
In the meantime, I'd prefer to focus on accepting that I am still the same person despite physical changes and limitations that arise. What's important is knowing what matters most to me and being clear with my family about my priorities for care as I age. As Aronson also points out, 'a solid dose of optimism tempered with just enough pessimism to match goals with realities' will best serve me as I age. I can be optimistic that I'll live a long and purposeful life while being realistically pessimistic about the current quality of services available.
So, my friend is right, that attitude matters. It will help me in being more resilient as I go through my older years.
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