Healthy Aging Blueprint Plan

The University of Arizona Global Campus

HUD 5420 Interdisc Theories of Ger Instructor: Gregory Hickman

June 28, 2022

Blueprint for Healthy Aging, Plan to Address the Problem and Facilitate Healthy Aging, and Plan to Measure Progress/Effectiveness

1. Plan/strategy to address identified healthy aging problem

Living unhealthy life has dire consequences on the aging process since it attracts a lot of issues affecting healthy aging. A healthy lifestyle requires a proper state of mind, commitment, and discipline to create and maintain a habit of doing things considered healthy. A healthy lifestyle should be embraced and applied from the early stages of development because some conditions that only appear old emanating from an unhealthy lifestyle usually take a lot of time to develop in the body. For this reason, starting to live a healthy lifestyle when one hits old age, in most cases, does not have a substantial positive impact since the damage is already done. The following should be applied consistently;

Healthy feeding: What is consumed has an absolute effect on the quality of health in the aging process. To deal with a majority of aging challenges, for instance, diseases and overall weakness, it is essential to feed on a healthy balanced diet. In healthy feeding, toxic substances like beer, cigarettes, and products high in caffeine must be avoided by all means.

Proper body hydration: proper rejuvenation allows all body parts to operate as they should, eliminating instances of friction that might trigger pain. In this plan, one must drink the recommended 8ounces of water daily.

Regular body exercises: This is a critical practice that must be done regularly with a minimum of twice a week for at least 30 minutes (North & Fiske, 2013). One must habitually engage in any physical activity, for instance, running, riding, walking, working out in the gym, rope skipping, or playing in and out-door games like table tennis, hockey, football, and many others, to keep the body flexible.

Stress less: stress is not entirely wrong since moderated stress cannot affect healthy aging. In reality, mediated pressure pushes one to do more extraordinary things boosting one’s potential. In this case, one must avoid instances triggering high levels of stress that can easily result in depression or using antidepressants to contain the situation.

Regular medical checkups: since many diseases develop over the years, constant medical checkups are mandatory to ensure that the body is medically fit. The medical checkup should thoroughly review all body parts and organs (Jopp & Smith, 2006).

Maintaining healthy social circles: one should also have a small yet reliable social circle comprised of friends and family members that one can trust and receive necessary moral and social support.

Healthy investing and resource utilization: From the early stages of employment or engaging in economically gainful activities, one should start saving for long and short-term investments (Jopp & Smith, 2006). At the same time, available resources are to be utilized in the best way possible to create a strong economic status to support old age gradually.

2. Plan goals

· Having aging persons with a recommendable aging rate

· Reducing/eliminating chronic diseases that increase the aging rate and lower life span

· Having aging persons with high levels of emotional, physical, and psychological status

· Development of a positive attitude towards old age

· Having aging people financially stable and fully independent

3. Discussion and analysis

Biologically, aging is a process that commences once the child is born. However, different body parts and organs are formed in the early stages of development to reach their entire operational state. However, after attaining the youthful state, the body starts to decelerate, losing vital abilities. A person needs to do everything possible to maintain body abilities acquired during growth to have healthy aging.

According to immunology theory, the immune system is programmed in a manner it declines with time leading to increased vulnerability to diseases. Therefore, this being the case, it is essential to maintain a quality immune system through healthy feeding and hydration. The body is supplied with the right amount of nutrients, cells, and fluids necessary to fight disease-causing agents leading to quality health even in old age (Bengtson et al., 2016). Additionally, the error or damage theory of aging states that vital cells and tissues tend to wear out due to aging. One way to maintain the cells and tissues for longer is through healthy feeding, engaging in physical exercises, and avoiding stress. This is because drinking water boots quality metabolism that eliminates waste effectively and allows quality sweating through toxins taken out of the body. Exercises help in boosting blood flow, reducing stress, relaxation, and quality sleep.

On the other hand, disengagement theory claims that social relationships are critical in aging because they affect one’s emotions, psychology, and overall wellbeing. For this reason, the plan recommends having quality social circles that are easy to manage while reaping full benefits. According to Bengtson et al. (2016), having financial stability is critical in reducing stress which is high when one is ill due to poor lifestyle choices, bad relationships, and lack of finances to maintain desired status quo.

Nonetheless, there are potential challenges or barriers to the implementation of the proposal. One significant barrier is personal beliefs and values, where some might not consider the proposed factors or at least some of them important (North & Fiske, 2013). It means they would do some things right and others wrongly, affecting the plan’s overall success. Secondly, financial constraint is another significant barrier since maintaining a healthy lifestyle is costly. Others have already been affected, and in the state where their conditions cannot be reversed, for instance, they have already developed chronic diseases.

The good thing is that hope is not lost since making positive changes can happen at any time in life. It all requires a change in attitude and behavior. It is essential for those engaging in unhealthy behaviors to make a positive change and engage in only recommended behaviors, and the sick ones strictly follow the doctor’s instructions.

Measuring progress

The overall method of measuring the progress or effectiveness of the proposed plan is noticing positive changes in older adults. For instance, aging people have flexible muscles, increased energy levels, appear overall happy, their skins start to look much more appealing, and have an overall positive attitude towards old age.

References

Bengtson, V. L., Gans, D., Putney, N. M., & Silverstein, M. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of theories of aging (3rd ed.). Springer.

Jopp, D., & Smith, J. (2006). Resources and life-management strategies as determinants of successful aging: the protective effect of selection, optimization, and compensation. Psychology and Aging, 21(2), 253- 265. https://doi.org/

North, M. S., & Fiske, S. T. (2013). Act your (old) age prescriptive, ageist biases over succession, consumption, and identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(6), 720-734. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167213480043