Death and Dying

Late adulthood is the last stage of life; it starts around the age of 65 to death. This is considered the age of wisdom and strength. Life starts from the moment of conception and from that moment until death people experience different factors in their lives that can determine how long their life span will be. Late adulthood is the stage of life many people wish they could be able to reach. Even though everyone will age at some point, there are measures that can be taken to reduce the effects of aging. There factors related to promoting health and wellness. Successful aging can happen with the presence of certain physical factors that include exercise, nutrition and, proper sleep. Psychological and sociological factors also play a role in how individuals age;

As people approach the end of their lives, they and their families commonly face tasks and decisions that include a broad array of choices ranging from simple to extremely complex. They may be practical, psychosocial, spiritual, legal, existential, or medical in nature. For example, dying persons and their families are faced with choices about what kind of caregiver help they want or need and whether to receive care at home or in an institutional treatment setting. Dying persons may have to make choices about the desired degree of family involvement in caregiving and decision-making. They frequently make legal decisions about wills, advanced directives, and durable powers of attorney. They may make choices about how to expend their limited time and energy. Some may want to reflect on the meaning of life, and some may decide to do a final life review or to deal with psychologically unfinished business. Some may want to participate in planning rituals before or after death. In some religious traditions, can be part of end-of-life concerns. In other cultural traditions, planning or even discussing death is considered inappropriate, uncaring, and even dangerous, as it is viewed as inviting death (Carrese & Rhodes, 1995).

This paper will give a detail analysis of death and dying issues related to aging and the complex psychosocial components and ramifications. The role of a human service worker in the death and dying states for aging adults will be examined. Social policy issues, programs and services related will be examined. Current aging policies and how they play out in real time with specific examples .The controversy of assisted suicide will be evaluated based on death and dying issues .The differences in culture, race and ethnicity as it pertains to death and dying will be conversed. Why an understanding of death and dying issues are important for health and human service workers.

All end-of-life choices and medical decisions have complex psychosocial components, ramifications, and consequences that have a significant impact on suffering and the quality of living and dying. However, the medical end-of-life