Critically Evaluate How Environmental Factors Impact on the Experiences and Life Events of an Adult Who You Know, and How These Factors Influence That Person’s Health, Wellbeing and Use of Support from Others
Critically evaluate how environmental factors impact on the experiences and life events of an adult who you know, and how these factors influence that person’s health, wellbeing and use of support from others.
I am going to discuss an eighty two year old woman who I am going to call Mrs Smith (her name has been changed to protect her identity). Mrs Smith is the middle of five children, who has lived all her live in the South of England. She married at nineteen and had four children, all of whom are now grown up, happily married and with children of their own, giving her ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Mrs Smith’s husband died in 1998 and she has lived on her own ever since. In this essay I am will be drawing on five environmental perspectives, individual environments, personal and family relationships, physical environments, community and cultural environments and the impact of poverty on health, and will be looking at how each of these perspectives have impacted on Mrs Smith’s life experiences, the influences they have had on her health and how she accesses support from others.
Individual environments will impact on the health and/or longevity of Mrs Smith. There is evidence to suggest that, on the whole, people are living longer lives than they did in centuries past. Victor (2005) stated in England and Wales in 1901 ‘some 40% of all deaths were accounted for by children aged 0-14’ (Reader, page 69). By 2008, 83% of deaths were accounted for by those aged 65 and over; Mrs Smith is therefore more likely to live a longer life now than she could expect if she were born in 1830 rather than 1930. There is also evidence to suggest that women tend to live longer than men and factors such as healthy diets, not drinking or smoking and exercise can also have an impact on longevity. Dr Tom Perls suggested that ‘some people seem to have a genetic predisposition to aging more slowly’ (LG 6.1) and, as a non-smoking, healthy-eating, teetotal who gardens
I am going to discuss an eighty two year old woman who I am going to call Mrs Smith (her name has been changed to protect her identity). Mrs Smith is the middle of five children, who has lived all her live in the South of England. She married at nineteen and had four children, all of whom are now grown up, happily married and with children of their own, giving her ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Mrs Smith’s husband died in 1998 and she has lived on her own ever since. In this essay I am will be drawing on five environmental perspectives, individual environments, personal and family relationships, physical environments, community and cultural environments and the impact of poverty on health, and will be looking at how each of these perspectives have impacted on Mrs Smith’s life experiences, the influences they have had on her health and how she accesses support from others.
Individual environments will impact on the health and/or longevity of Mrs Smith. There is evidence to suggest that, on the whole, people are living longer lives than they did in centuries past. Victor (2005) stated in England and Wales in 1901 ‘some 40% of all deaths were accounted for by children aged 0-14’ (Reader, page 69). By 2008, 83% of deaths were accounted for by those aged 65 and over; Mrs Smith is therefore more likely to live a longer life now than she could expect if she were born in 1830 rather than 1930. There is also evidence to suggest that women tend to live longer than men and factors such as healthy diets, not drinking or smoking and exercise can also have an impact on longevity. Dr Tom Perls suggested that ‘some people seem to have a genetic predisposition to aging more slowly’ (LG 6.1) and, as a non-smoking, healthy-eating, teetotal who gardens
References: Godfrey, M., Townsend, J. and Denby, T (2004) quoted in Building a Good life for Older people in Local Communities http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/building-good-life-older-people-local-communities accessed 20/05/2012 accessed 20/05/2012 accessed 20/05/2012 Holland, C. and Peace, S. (2010) Life Course quoted in Katz, J., Peace, S. and Spurr, S. The Open University (2012) K319 Adult Lives Chapter 14, The Policy Press, Bristol Jordan-Marsh, M. and Harden, T.J. (2005) ‘Fictive kin: friends as family supporting older adults as they age’, Journal of Gerontological Nursing, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 24–33 quoted in The Open University (2012) K319 Adulthood, Aging and the Life Course Learning Guides 7.3, The Experiences of Caring and Supportive Relationships http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=21620§ion=3 accessed 20/05/2012 Joseph,K. (1979) pp27-28 quoted in Mack, J and Lansley, S. (1985) Poor Britain http://www.poverty.ac.uk/sites/default/files/how_poor_is_too_poor_0.pdf accessed 20/05/2012 accessed 20/05/2012 Oswald, F. and Wahl, H. (2003) quoted in Home and identity in Late Life, chapter 2, page 23, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=peoUWT22l24C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false accessed 20/05/2012 The Open University (2012) K319 Adulthood, Aging and the Life Course Learning Guides 6.1, Life Expectancy http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=51669§ion=1 accessed 20/05/2012 The Open University (2012) K319 Adulthood, Aging and the Life Course Learning Guide 8.1, Home and the Life Course http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=56661§ion=1 accessed 20/05/2012 The Open University (2012) K319 Adulthood, Aging and the Life Course Learning Guide 9.4, Maintaining and Supporting Community Life http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=80834§ion=4 accessed 20/05/2012 Victor, C. (2010) Health and Morality quoted in Katz, J., Peace, S. and Spurr, S. The Open University (2012) K319 Adult Lives Chapter 7, The Policy Press, Bristol