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• Chronological Aging


  Refers to the actual amount of time a person has been alive
• Social Aging


  Changes in roles and relationships as a person ages, influenced by societal expectations and assumptions
• The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) is a global collaboration focused on healthy aging aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals
• Geriatrics


  Focuses on the care of the elderly population, preventing, diagnosing, and treating health and disease conditions
• Psychologic Aging

  Psychological changes involving mental functioning and personality as humans age
• Functional ability includes capabilities to

  • Meet basic needs
  • Learn, grow, and make decisions
  • Be mobile
  • Build and maintain relationships
  • Contribute to society
• Gerontologic Nursing


  Combines basic nursing knowledge and skills with specialized knowledge of aging in both illness and health
• Global Aging is the population of older people worldwide
• Biologic Aging


  Senescence or deterioration of function characteristics, physical changes that occur as humans age
• Cognitive Aging


  The decline of cognitive processing, including learning, memory, language, and intellectual competence
• Healthy Ageing is the process of developing and maintaining functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age
• Gerontology


  The study of aging processes and individuals across the life course, including physical, mental, and social changes
• Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia are among the top 10 causes of death worldwide, ranking 3rd in both the Americas and Europe in 2019
• As a person ages, changes in cells, tissues, and organ systems occur, and scientists do not fully understand why some age more rapidly than others
• More than 1 billion people aged 60 years or older, with most living in low and middle-income countries, lack access to basic resources necessary for a life of meaning and dignity
• Life expectancy in the Philippines in 2020 was 71.79 years
• The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) is a global collaboration aligned with the last ten years of the Sustainable Development Goals to improve the lives of older people, their families, and communities
• Nurses are encouraged to provide customized, culturally specific care that fits with a patient's values, beliefs, traditions, practices, and lifestyle
• Types of Biologic Theories of Aging

  1. Stochastic Theories - aging occurs randomly and persistently with time

  2. Nonstochastic Theories - aging is predetermined through programmed cell changes or changes in the neuroendocrine or immunologic systems
• Significant declines in physical and mental capacity can limit older people's ability to care for themselves and participate in society
• Patients could experience adverse physiological symptoms if their cultural needs are not taken into consideration
• In 2019, people were living more than 6 years longer than in 2000, with a global average of more than 73 years compared to nearly 67 in 2000, but only 5 of those additional years lived in good health
• Areas for action in the Decade of Healthy Ageing

  1. Age-friendly Environments - physical, social, and economic environments are important determinants of healthy ageing

  2. Combatting Ageism - negative attitudes about older people are common and seldom challenged

  3. Integrated Care - older people require non-discriminatory access to good-quality essential health services

  4. Long-term Care - access to rehabilitation, assistive technologies, and supportive environments is essential for older people
• Women are disproportionally affected by Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, with 65% of deaths being women
• The Philippines will experience a growth in the population of Filipinos 65 years and older, and the nation is not prepared to meet the needs of the aging population
• Ignoring diversity in healthcare may lead to unequal nursing care and negative patient outcomes
• Immunity Theory

  1. Age-associated changes in the immune system

  2. Nutrition, like Vitamin E, believed to improve immune function

  3. Immune system composed of bone marrow, thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes seeks out and destroys foreign objects
• Free Radical Theory


  1. Unstable free radicals result from oxidation of organic materials

  2. Antioxidants protect against free radical damage
• Numerous theories describe how and why aging occurs, but none is universally accepted
• Continuity Theory


  People maintain their values, habits, and behavior in old age
• Middle-Range Theory developed by Flood in 2005


  1. Defines successful aging as cumulative physiologic and functional alterations associated with time

  2. Nurses must target interventions for mental, physical, and spiritual health
• Cross-linking Theory

  1. Irreversible aging of proteins like collagen

  2. Chemical reactions create strong bonds between proteins causing loss of elasticity and function
• Theory of Thriving (2002)


  Nurses must intervene to promote older adults' growth and development
• Scientists do not fully understand why some people age more rapidly than others
• Activity Theory (1972)

  Staying active physically and mentally is the best way to age
• Neuroendocrine Theory

  1. Pituitary and hypothalamus control mechanism for the body

  2. As age advances, control mechanisms fail leading to failure of the pacemaker and death
• Genetic Theory

  1. Lifespan depends on genetic factors

  2. Genes control genetic clocks determining metabolic processes and cell division

  3. Organism is preprogrammed for a predetermined number of cell divisions
• Wear and Tear Theory

  1. Cells wear out through exposure to stressors

  2. Cells become exhausted from constant energy depletion adapting to stressors
• Disengagement Theory (1960)


  Aging involves mutual withdrawal between older persons and others in the environment
• As a person ages, changes in cells, tissues, and organ systems occur