PHYSICAL FACTORS
Health Patterns
This stage is noted for its decrease in physical strength and stamina. However, we probably have little idea what is possible if nutrition, exercise, and emotional stability have been the rule up to this point. Elders are in a "think" stage, and they do not need to use their bodies inordinately. However, they may be much more robust (without great exertion) than we presently think they can be. It all depends on what has gone before and the preparation and dignity with which they approach this time.
Nutrition
This stage reveals the culmination of all previous habits in diet. Along with disposition, diet can contribute to elder years full of vigor. Health is a natural state; disease is the evidence of unnatural impositions on health. There is no reason why this should not be so in regard to persons of mature years. Of course, some physiological processes must be given careful consideration during this stage. Osteoporosis is a familiar condition, caused by the leaching of calcium from the bones, making them more porous and brittle. So absorbable calcium intake should be adjusted. Menopause may also require some dietary shifts to account for chemical changes. Other examples could be given, but all conditions can be met with conscientious diet and a healthy disposition.
PSYCHO-SOCIAL & CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Developmental Urges & Tasks
The urges of life come full circle, and this stage, like the first, contains the seeds of love. However, this love is full-blown, a culmination of all the experience, wisdom, and virtues that have been accumulated. Full integration of personality brings one once again to a simple sense of Being, but now with more innocence than any child and more potency of expression than any younger adult. At this stage, love and wisdom are expressed through one's very presence, not by achievement or demonstration of ability.
Erikson also speaks of this stage containing the compulsion to integrate experience and personality. This is seen as the elder's best hope against despair and loneliness. However, one who has spent a lifetime coming into alignment with the Creative Process cannot help but integrate -- he or she is full of integrity. Such a mature adult is not battling against despair; this person is too busy being useful and productive, too full of a sense of purpose and design to be bothered with the feelings of dejection that may arise.
Sense Development
The older adult rightly moves from finesse with the material world to fine-tuning the ability to discern subtle essences of situations. The concern now is for noting and following the invisible rhythms through which the creative expression flows naturally. In attunement with these rhythms, it almost seems that results appear for this person just by being. Expression is effortless, possibly quite practical and matter-of-fact. But actually it is quite potent, because behind the words and acts is a deep recognition of how everything fits together with perfection and harmony -- letting the Creative Process work.
The elder has a very different sense of time, of what each moment contains. Time seems to be elongated, now that the rush of accomplishment is over. This contributes to the aura of wisdom elders project. It also can make them excellent companions for young people, who have yet to know the contraction of time in the adult world. Many preschools and elementary schools have adopt-a-grandparent programs, and many teenage "candystripers" have found great fun and reward in working with elders in hospitals and nursing homes. Elders have time to share with everyone.
Character Development
With a lifetime of experience in the Creative Process, and the stability of character that naturally elicits, the elder exudes wisdom and compassion. A sense of simple and powerful being is present, and this takes the place of former achieving. There is absolute dignity in the elder -- not haughty, but assured and completely accepting of life's rhythms. As life draws to a culmination, the elder knows that all is well. Fear of infirmity and death may arise, but not enough to sway this person from continuing as a living symbol of sweet and effective movement with the Creative Process.
If this is so, why is it that in our society there is so little regard for the elderly? And why are there so many older people living in fear, neglect, infirmity, and despondency? The answers are many. First, there is no respect for the Creative Process; most people think decay and death are the only factors in old age, and they do not want to be associated with it. Second, the experience previous to old age has almost insured misery: poor nutrition, the harboring of ill feelings and attitudes, lack of care for the body, and a refusal to completely grow up emotionally.
It is interesting to note two authoritative views on senility. One states that senility is mainly attributable to lack of oxygen over a long period of time; simply put, the brain has been slowly starving. The other view states that senility is the childish personality that never matured, but was only covered up by a "grown-up act" that is crumbling because there is no longer the mental, physical, and emotional strength to keep it up. In either view, there is indication of a lack of dignity and self-worth that had been going on for some time. In other words, the Creative Process has been ignored at certain levels, and the fulfillment of life's design and purpose has been thwarted.
The elder years are meant to be the "fire" cycle of the life process, the harvest of a long and generous sowing. This would be reflected in the heart, not so much in outer activity (although there may still be a considerable amount of that, too). To witness this in an older person is to know that life on earth is truly fulfilling and purposeful. In this light, even death may be met creatively, and the process of dying can be a time of thankfulness for the completion of a life work. For those who remain, bereavement is appropriate when it is balanced with appreciation for the process and the design that can bring fulfillment to the life cycle.
Educational Approach
As in the stage before, learning is self-induced. Since there is a gradual lessening of emphasis on managing/administrating material processes and events, the elder begins to translate the sense of governance and stewardship in more subtle ways, having to do with personal rhythms and how they tie into world rhythms as well as archetypal rhythms. This is a time of "learning" what full humanness means, consciously and subconsciously. It is a time of "learning" how to integrate experience, thought, and feeling so that one is an effective and radiant example of fulfillment, right up to the end of the life cycle.
In practical terms, many elders find themselves very active in the learning process. Some seek degrees once childrearing and professional commitments are over. Elderhostels are convened on college campuses every summer, offering relaxed and congenial learning settings for this age group. In these, elders can learn for pleasure and pursue new or lifelong interests with experts in the field. Needless to say, everyone benefits.
SOCIALIZATION & GUIDANCE PROCESSES
Responsibility
As achievement gives way to simple being, the elder graciously gives up the feeling of being responsible for running the world in a material sense. Now the sense of responsibility is found in being a resource and an inspiration to others. Simple acts are the avenues to this as much as great triumphs in some field of endeavor.
As this stage progresses, the responsibility for physical care may rightly pass on to others -- family or group living. There need be no sense of imposition on the part of younger people, nor sense of shame on the part of the older. For if this elder is still letting the Creative Process be exemplified, everyone recognizes that although physical needs may need assistance, there is something offered in return that is beyond price.
Society and Community Involvement
In the later years, there is a new kind of mutual support system. Since physical achievement is receding, the support given by an elder comes more and more in the form of nurturing and inspiring younger people. As this process increases, so does the need to provide care for the elder. As stated earlier, there is no sense of burden in doing this, for there is great appreciation for the essences this person carries, even if physical and material means are diminishing. This holds true all the way to the end of the life cycle, when mutual support and appreciation reach their highest awareness.
Housing for the elderly is a concern in many communities as well as many families. A rich variety of options is becoming available, from communal group homes to luxury retirement communities to temporary cottages that can be set up in a suburban back yard. For the infirm, ideas from around the world are being brought together to create enabling environments. These are housing plans that allow those assigned to wheelchairs or beds to live with maximum dignity and independence, yet still allowing inclusion in the family or community. In all these options, there is a recognition that it is important to have elders around, not shut out of society in institutions. Elders have invaluable gifts which can only be known when the heart of our society is open to receive them.