Week eight- Putting theory into practice

Life Development In Action
So far we learn that lifespan development is about focusing on the  patterns of change through lifespan from prenatal to death. "Lifespan development began as a field dedicated to the study of developmental psychology.The influence of social factor (such as culture/ethnicity and socioeconomic status)
intellect or personality(Life Smart p.300).  I learned about the theories that apply to physical, cognitive, and social phenomena. Most of the theorist are new to me. Maria Montessori that I read about in theories of childhood by Mooney, I found her very interesting in that she gave the world a "scientific methods, practical and tested". She brought the best out of the children that she worked with and her style was recognized worldwide. Her work can be considered as "Action research" which is more formal methodology that includes the characteristics of an informal inquiry , but addresses the short-term problem or question identified by an individual or group, while also addressing the long-term benefit to society. Collaboration is an important aspect of action research, and participants learn together while they ask questions and attempt to solve inherent problems". (Life Smart p.300).

I also read about Erik Erickson whom I have study prior  to taking this class but this class actually made me study his theory more in depth. It is very important to the field of Nursing and relate to me personally since I take care of patient from adolescence upwards. Learning his theory allow me to focus on individual differences through the life span. It mades me looks at some of difficult patients that does not  resolved conflicts in one stage  and gets fixated. This class has been great.

Week Seven- Dying and Spirituality

Must We Age and Die?
Must we all decline as we age, moving inevitably toward death? So far, no person has attained immortality. (Life Smart p.256).  What is missing in death and dying?
What is death? "Establishing when people are truly and finally dead has been a medical, and therefore social problem for centuries. Fear of being prematurely buried alive has been one of humankind's oldest fears."(Life Smart p.280). This has always been my questions for the past 16yrs since my mother passed away. Because I have live here in the United states for many years, and been exposed to all the technologies when I was told my mother died, I was devastated not knowing the cause of her death at age 62 and not sick. I still question my family that were present at the time of her death that who pronounce her dead. Most of this people are not in the medical field and kept wondering if they know the different between different types of death mention in the book: clinical death, biological or cellular death and social death. To make the matter even worse she was a practice Muslim and has to be buried before dawn.

Another area in the readings that I can relate to is: The role of grief-"Grief is an emotional response to the loss of another person, and includes feelings of anxiety, despair, sadness, and loneliness."(Life Smart p.284). In my Nigeria culture, yorubas to be specific, if a person died, people mourn differently depending on the age of the deceased. When my grandmother died I was about 14yrs old, we all cried and cried on that day. Then on the 8th day we are all dancing and eating which yorubas termed celebrating the life of the death especially if they left older children behind. It was different in terms of my mother, I had delayed grief probably because I was not physically there or have all these doubts about the cause of her death. I could not attend the funeral in Nigeria due to some reasons beyond me but my older sister was able to videotaped all the events and I finally able to put closure to it after 40days.

Week Six- Early and Middle Age

"Emerging into Adulthood"(18-25years)
Intimacy Vs Isolation
Early adulthood , as discussed in chapter nine "is the life period during which physical changes slow down after a dramatic changes that occurs in adolescence".(p.210).  A time for exploration and experimentation. For most of us in my culture we just get into expectations mode just because most of us take adult role right from the adolescence. The chapter talks about the initiation into adulthood around the world that is followed by a pattern in every culture. "There is no one way to cross from childhood into adulthood, and many rituals has existed for thousands of year-attesting to the importance of such acts in societies around the world. Some rites involve physical acts, whereas others are social or introspective. Despite variations, there appears to be need to mark the transition into adulthood" (p.209). In my culture, what I can call initiation into adulthood is the celebration of one's 21st birthday, at this age most early adult would have almost  finished their college degree, have the courage of being independent, shows a significant amount of self control and mostly focus on task that is very meaningful.

"Aged to perfection"(25-65years)- "Middle age is the awkward period when Father Time starts catching up with Mother Nature".
significant cultural meanings and cognitive changes are the major milestones in this stage, Chapter ten talks about the physical changes in middle adulthood and the main factors affecting them. "In the middle age, habits that are formed in earlier life stages can start to have consequences that affect health and well-being. While most young adult wants to stay healthy and maintain trends, some practices behavior that are very dangerous to their health."(p.234) In the middle age, making  lifestyle decisions including the use or abuse of alcohol and drugs make age happen fast. it is of important as true in earlier life that overweight is a matter of concern. The difference is that older individuals do not often have the same time or energy to sustain exercise plans and practices which they made in their younger years.
 physical- signs of aging begins to show at this age; skin tone and texture, pigments change, hair color, thicken nails and yellowish of  teeth occurs.  Cardiovascular health is one major area that the chapter talks about, the changes in the cardiovascular system result in heart disease if proper precaution were not taken to lower blood pressure or blood cholesterol. Loss of senses is another area of decline, my vision started getting worse two years ago at late 40s that I have to start using glasses for reading. The main physical change in women is the menopause when ovaries cease to produce hormone estrogen and progesterone. (p.237). An interesting part of the readings was about the  menopause and hormone replacement.  It is good for me to read and know that according to research  "Nigerian women also experience shoulder discomfort during menopause."(p.238).

Week five- Developing Identity

Physical changes that occur during adolescence are rapid in both height and weight, and even in their brain activity. Chapter 8 talks about the physical and psychosocial development that occurs at the age of 12 and 20. Identity formation during this stage according to  Erickson's theory strives to discover what makes them special and different. "The main task is to achieve a state of identity,something to which one strives,rather than a final, definitive identity."(Life Smart p.134). This is the period when teens identify their strength  and weakness and determine  the roles they can best play in their future. For this reason parent and care giver have a lot to do in giving support to the teens and helping them achieve their best. As a mother of three adult now, I remember what really help me through this stage in my children's life is listening to them and respecting their opinion and most importantly  praying with, and for them. I made it a point of duty while my children was in high school to pray with each one of them before leaving home for school.  Letting teens knows that we are there for them will not allows their peers to take control of their life.

Puberty which is the periods of hormone changes whereby sex hormones increases. In this stage adolescence develop their sexual, gender and ethnic identities. They become more importantly to their peers, a periods where they  tends to face the treats of their peers and surroundings that can damage their well-being. Especially in the western world where everything is at the teens finger tips and they are expose to illegal drugs, cigarette smoking and sexually transmitted disease. The book talks about the role that family plays in the life of the teens, because the teens go through a lot of body image disturbance and pressure from peers. Support from parents especially mother is very crucial otherwise teens will not be able to adjust to all the changes. "while adolescents' relationship with both parents remain significant, mothers are generally perceived as more supportive than fathers. "(Life Smart p.195) Because of this critical periods parents should be aware and play an important role in their teens life. Teenagers need  their parent support so they can achieve their best. Growing up in Nigeria, I remember how I was so close to my mother in some instances as in getting all my needs met but very distant in discussing some personal problems with her due to cultural reasons so I determined to be close to my children and allow them to freely discuss their struggle with me either academically or socially and they always have my acceptance.

Week four- Early and Middle childhood

Chapter six, talks about growth in early childhood. Growth  occurs gradually at a slow process but very complex. During the years 2-6, children grow about 12 inches and continue to gain weight at the rate of about 5 pounds a year. Boys and girls show about the same rate of growth during these years, and although there is a predictable pattern for growth in most parts of the body. growth varies from child to child.(P130). I learned about the changes that occurs during the stage of child development,the physical development and brain development stood out and very interesting, how children compare themselves to others and it helps them to construct new tasks. I have three children and reading this chapters and thinking back, all I could say is that I wish I had knowledge in child development prior to having my children. I will recommend to my children that they take a crash course in child development. Chapter seven talks about  how children learn, cognitive, language, social, physical skills and they learn from what they see not what we want them to learn.

Early childhood education is another topic that I can relate to in reading chapter six, I remember my first daughter was home with me and my mother till she was one year old. When my mother went back to Nigeria we had to take her to babysitter for couple of hours a day. I remember how she cries a whole whenever her father had to drop her off. This went on for a another year until I decided to stay home and take care of her. Then one of my friend told be about the Montessori schools but unfortunately I could not afford it. Eventually I learned about the head start school whereby monthly payment is determined by parents income.  "Head Start as a national program to increase school readiness among children by providing educational, health, nutrition, social, and other services to low-income children and their families". My experience at  the center is a negative one because children are not educated whatsoever. so I complain that Rosemary can't read and the response from the director is that "children are here to associate with their peers, we will not stop them from what they already known."

Another interesting readings was on the different  parenting style, according to the definition on (p.142) I am an authoritarian parent and culture has a lot with it. I raise my children the way I was raised. This has both negative and positive effects on the girls. Now that they are grown for example they tried to do some of the things they will not do when they are younger like talking back to me in other to make a point. I find it difficult to answer the question on punishment- "Do you think that corporal punishment is valuable way to handle a child who misbehaves? Would yo spank you child?. One thing I learned from my mother that really help is the idea of talking to my children before and after using punishment.

Week 3-The biological and psychological basis of development- Heredity at work

The  next three chapters  for this session enlightened us on how human being's journey to life begins with fertilized egg or zygote. "From our microscopic beginnings we travel along a developmental path-one that is rooted in biology, but affected by psychological and social forces."(P.54). Chromosomes, DNA, and Genes are the three structures in the cell nucleus that work together to coordinate our biological makeup. "Chromosomes are structures in the cell nucleus that are composed of DNA and proteins. Every human cell(excluding egg or sperm cells) has 22 matching chromosome pair, plus a 23rd pair of sex chromosomes that determine whether a person is male or female.(P. 54). This chapter reminds me of my life during the child bearing of my girls. When my oldest daughter was born, my ex-husband was happy, then came the second and she was a girl too. he became worried and turned to culture. "enough of girls". This was so sad because it reminds me of my maternal grandparents when my grandmother did not have a male child after the fifth child, my maternal grandfather's family arranged another wife for him. Unfortunately the woman had three boys and they all died at a young age and the only surviving one is a girl. This kind of thinking has caused many problems for many African people. One would think that in the twenty-first century there should be an adequate knowledge for all men to know that they produce XY chromosomes and female produces XX chromosomes and whatever the male release to the female would determine the sex of the baby. My ex-husband did not get this and it was the main reason why our marriage ended after my third child was a girl. I'm very happy with my girls and they are the source of my joy.
"Every pair of genes ultimately determines the specific traits we inherit, from hair and eye color skin shade, the tendency toward baldness, blood type, and so on (P.55). Heredity is the passing on of genetic traits from parents to offspring, sometimes people's actions and ways of life can be traced down to great-great grandparents. My paternal uncle and aunties believed I am their mother. They always tell me how I look, and act so much like her which means we share the same phenotype- " A person's characteristics of traits." We can also inherit some abnormalities which can affects the entire genetic process.

Week 2- Theories of Development:-Using the the unique theories of development in setting priorities

Many theories was discussed in the book (life Smart) in such a way that there was a clear distinct approach to understanding human development. Erickson's psychosocial theory states there are certain relationships that allow us go through life and progress through stages of development. In every stage there is a crisis that must be resolved. According to Erickson, human life progress through a series of eight stages. I can relate to the second stage autonomy vs shame and doubts when children learns how to control their body functions whereby toilet training play a major role which leads to feelings of control and sense of independence, growing up in Africa, during my generation there is no such thing as toilet training and anyone with bed wetting problem are dealt with severely and many children experience shame.
 There are some theories that do not fall into one of the broader theoretical categories but, rather, stand alone as influential in the field. "Evolutionary development psychology is an explanation of development  that assumes our physiological and psychological systems resulted from evolution by selection" "Evolutionary developmental psychology can be defined as the use of principles of Darwinian evolution, particularly natural selection, to explain human development. it involves the physiologic." I believe all human being has some knowledge in our brain that allow us adapt to situation. This usually happens through culture and values of our ancestors.
Another interesting topic to me is the "Humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs(1987),while not a distinctly developmental theory, emphasizes the importance of growing and developing as a person to achieve one's potential."(P.44).
As a nurse, I prioritize patent's multiple problems by using  a framework that nurses frequently use when dealing with patent's problems  which is the hierarchy of human needs developed by Maslow. He proposed five levels needs that motivate human behavior and divided them as follows;The physiologic needs, Safety and security needs, Love and belongings needs, Esteem and self actualization needs, Self-actualization needs.