An Exploration of the end of Life and Death

Your primary questions for this discussion forum correspond to each of the chapters assigned in the reading and are as follows: 1. In Chapter 17, the chief concern is dealing with health-related aging. What is pathological aging? What are the major categories or illnesses that the text identifies to be associated with pathological aging? Do you think about what your physical health will be like when you are elderly? What are some preventative measures that you can take now to help decrease the likelihood of contracting any of the most serious illnesses associated with aging? What are some of the risk factors for illness that adults can control? What are some risk factors that are beyond one’s control? 2. Social relationships change significantly as we age. Chapter 18 details how the social world and intimate relationships adapt to the constraints of older adulthood. Why do you think marital relationships become more stable as we age? What is cohabitation and why do you think couples who cohabitate during later adulthood have a stronger commitment to stay together as compared to younger couples who cohabitate? Do you approve these types of living and love relationships? Why or why not? 3. One of the most difficult things discussed in Chapter 19 is the loss of a loved one and the grieving process. The textbook provides you with a variety of grief stage theories. When you sit back and examine the grief theories, what do you see as the limitations of each of the theories? What are the major strengths of the theories? Please identify the one theory that you think is most accurate and describe it to the class. Why do you think it’s most accurate? After reading all of the theory and research, when it comes down to it, do you think there is just one way to grieve the loss of a loved one?