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).