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Expert on aging delivers challenge to help elderly
YOUNGSTOWN
Respect, advocate for and empower older adults.
That’s the challenge issued by Dr. Karen A. Roberto, a nationally known expert on rural health and aging, to service providers and students considering careers involving the elderly.
Those are the basics that adults older than 60 deserve as they deal with and make adjustments to the chronic conditions, health issues and physical limitations that accompany getting older, said Dr. Roberto, keynote speaker for the Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education’s 36th annual Ohio Professional and Student Conference on Aging.
The event was Friday at Youngstown State University’s Williamson College of Business Administration. It was organized by Dr. Daniel J. Van Dussen of YSU’s gerontology department.
The university for many years has provided courses on the subject of serving older adults, and a major was approved in 2008, said Dr. Cynthia Anderson, YSU president.
“Ohio has a significant budget challenge, and YSU’s challenge is to educate those who want to work with older adults,” Anderson said.
“Our society is aging, something we often think of as a negative,” said Dr. Roberto, director of the Center for Gerontology and the Institute for Society, Culture and Environment at Virginia Polytechnic University.
“There are challenges to aging, yes, but we need to draw on the strength of the elderly. They are more resilient than we think,” she said.
The title of her presentation was “Fostering Resilience: Lessons Learned from Vulnerable Elders.”
Older people adapt to their health problems and frailty by stopping and/or modifying physical activities, reducing living areas and accepting help from family and friends, though it sometimes causes tension.
They may need some assistance, but they don’t want their children and grandchildren to take over, Dr. Roberto said.
One of the afflictions that can come with old age is mild cognitive impairment, or dementia, Roberto said.
Symptoms of MCI include being less engaged in day-to-day activities, reduced social contacts and increased health limitations, she said.
Care-partner responsibilities include keeping physical track of and assigning activities and tasks to keep them busy. The caregiver often becomes the sole decision-maker for responsibilities that previously had been shared and takes charge of the elderly person’s health and well-being.
She said caregivers need to take care of themselves and ask for help from family and friends.
The elderly make significant changes, often not without resistance, to maintain their independence.
“Older adults are often pragmatic and philosophical and find a balance between their desires and limitations,” Dr. Roberto said.
“I learned it’s not fun, but that’s how I’m doing it,” said one of the women Dr. Roberto interviewed in her research on older rural women.