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The author describes gerotranscendence as a process that occurs when o h adults shhiftf;.m a rationalfocus on the present-abj material world to a more universal and transcendent perspective. Accompanying this shif2 is a desire to move toward the end of li~$ with a sense of integrip and mceptance of on& choices. By gaining an undwstanding of gmtranscdnce, counsehrs can better meet the need of their aging clients. Using existing gerotranscendence literature a a gurdeline, suggestions are Made for appropriate counseling intmentions.As an adolescent, I witnessed the physical decline of my paternal grandmother as she first spent a couple of years living in my family's home, a time that was followed by her ultimate decline into death a few years after her move into a nursing home. Born into a family of Presbyterian missionaries and widowed at an early age, having had six sons who were betyeen the ages of 2 and 16 years, her life was one in which her faith accompahied her from struggle to struggle. College-educated, just as her own five brothers had been, at a time when education was certainly an anomaly for women and a "lady" when ladyhood was still aspired to by young women, Margaret McIlwaine lived a challenging life. Yet as she moved into her 80s and as her health began to decline, she seemed to have few complaints, few demands, and a decreased need for companionship. She did not seem irritably discontent. She simply seemed to have retreated within herself and to have become more reflective and less interactive with others. This shift from an outer-to an inner-directed standpoint in an older adult can surprise family and caregivers who feel that the individual is somehow "slipping away." However, greater understanding of the changes experienced during the end of life transition can better prepare counselors to meet the needs of older adults and members of their support system. Many theories have been developed over the past several decades in an attempt to explain the cognitive, affective, and physical functioning changes Suzanne Degges-Wbite, Counseiingand Development, School ofEducation, Purdue University Calumet.
The author describes gerotranscendence as a process that occurs when o h adults shhiftf;.m a rationalfocus on the present-abj material world to a more universal and transcendent perspective. Accompanying this shif2 is a desire to move toward the end of li~$ with a sense of integrip and mceptance of on& choices. By gaining an undwstanding of gmtranscdnce, counsehrs can better meet the need of their aging clients. Using existing gerotranscendence literature a a gurdeline, suggestions are Made for appropriate counseling intmentions.As an adolescent, I witnessed the physical decline of my paternal grandmother as she first spent a couple of years living in my family's home, a time that was followed by her ultimate decline into death a few years after her move into a nursing home. Born into a family of Presbyterian missionaries and widowed at an early age, having had six sons who were betyeen the ages of 2 and 16 years, her life was one in which her faith accompahied her from struggle to struggle. College-educated, just as her own five brothers had been, at a time when education was certainly an anomaly for women and a "lady" when ladyhood was still aspired to by young women, Margaret McIlwaine lived a challenging life. Yet as she moved into her 80s and as her health began to decline, she seemed to have few complaints, few demands, and a decreased need for companionship. She did not seem irritably discontent. She simply seemed to have retreated within herself and to have become more reflective and less interactive with others. This shift from an outer-to an inner-directed standpoint in an older adult can surprise family and caregivers who feel that the individual is somehow "slipping away." However, greater understanding of the changes experienced during the end of life transition can better prepare counselors to meet the needs of older adults and members of their support system. Many theories have been developed over the past several decades in an attempt to explain the cognitive, affective, and physical functioning changes Suzanne Degges-Wbite, Counseiingand Development, School ofEducation, Purdue University Calumet.
PurposeOld age, in its most intense and extreme aspects involving frailty, dementia, Alzheimer's and death, is more often ignored rather than discussed in contemporary anthropology, remaining largely inaudible and invisible. This paper explores the marginal position of the study of old age in contemporary anthropology against the backdrop of the prominence of the post‐colonial agenda. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the comparison between the neglected Third Age and the abundantly discussed Third World in the context of the anthropological discourse on others.Design/methodology/approachThis is a theoretical paper on ageing.FindingsThis paper explores the marginal position of the study of old age in contemporary anthropology against the backdrop of the prominence of the post‐colonial agenda. The comparison between the neglected Third Age and the abundantly discussed Third World is discussed in the context of the anthropological discourse on others. Studying the old‐as‐other reveals two types of alterity: that which is culturally constructed as different vs that which is essentially different. The others that dominate the agenda of contemporary anthropology are culturally constructed, while the old‐as‐other is an ontological essence. The condition of being old, it is argued, is essentially beyond culture, constituting an extra‐cultural materiality. As such, the old‐as‐other does not answer to the anthropological dictum of representing the “natives' point of view” and cannot fit the contemporary hermeneutics of anthropological relativism. Contemporary anthropology, which resists essential objects such as the savage and the old, thus ignores the raw materiality of old age while producing ethnographically‐informed commentaries on eldercare.Originality/valueThe paper is original in highlighting the juxtaposition between the savage and old age that is used to facilitate an understanding of the contemporary discipline of anthropology as a regime of social constructionism, which fails to confront and represent the bare materiality of old age.
It is possible to arrange this type of group activity for older people, resulting in possibilities to use aspects of the theory of gerotranscendence as an intervention in gerontological nursing.
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