Advocate Case

As adults age they face several issues which include shelter, health, death, dying, illness, and aging. Every person must cope with these changes as they advance in years. The body begins to change and function differently than it did several years before. Memory loss is one of the issues for aging adults. Also, death, it can be greatly accepted or greatly feared depending on the person and his or her conditions. Elderly adults have many coping mechanisms they use today that extent from personal and religious beliefs to organizational assistance and family.

When the brain becomes affected by age, the thought and judgment from the individual is poor. Memory loss becomes a huge issue because problem solving and/or even the simplest things in the day-to-day routine turns into a challenge. Also the senses lose sensibility. These senses decrease and the adult loses the ability to live normally and enjoy life. Mental Health issues have dramatically increased over the years due to the elderly living longer. There are two million people over the age of 65 years old. In the early 1900's people did not live as long, not giving dementia time to set in. Depression in elderly a lot of times is mistaken for dementia. It is important to catch depression as early as possible to avoid any risk of suicide. There are two forms of dementia: Alzheimer's and Multi-infarct Dementia (www.helpguide.org).

Many adults welcome the thought of dying and others have great anxiety about dying. The differences in these feelings can be based on differences in biological function, social background, environment, and cultural and religious beliefs. As human beings we are afraid of dying without accomplishing goals and dreams we may have. We also fear the death of loved ones. Many adults in this stage are afraid of death or even talking about it. Others are even comfortable with planning their funeral.

Other issues faced by our elder generation is housing. Not only are their retirement funds probably not sufficient for their medication, food and health, also for shelter. In our society we believe that most elderly individuals remain in their home until the die, oblivious to many reasons why this at times does not happen. Some elderly are left alone in their homes, even when they don't have the physical or cognitive ability to care for themselves. This leads to those that can afford to live in retirement communities to move out of their homes. Retirement communities offer, many services, such as shuttle buses and most are handicapped accessible. Another housing service is subsidized senior housing, which the cost is more affordable. It is provided in form of tax credit or rental vouchers. One problem with that is the upkeep of the houses, since many can't do house chores and maintain the properties clean. The assisted living facilities are in a more structure environment with nursing care. Homelessness is also a huge issue in the