The article “The intersection of Mental Health and Successful Aging” discusses successful cognitive and emotional aging in terms of biological mechanisms, interventions, and strategies for practitioners to promote cognitive and emotional successful aging. The graying population of the world is on the rise and number of those reaching the age of 60 will exceed the number of children. The baby boom population already reached 60 in the year 2005. Hence, more health professionals will be taking care of them.
Successful aging has become an important study along with other geriatric sciences. Definitions There is wide range of definitions proposed for the term successful aging, however, person’s cognitive and emotional health are the key features and rate-limiting factor in old age. Therefore, successful aging can be promoted by the mental health practitioners. Longevity can be said one phenotype in successful aging but only if older age people are healthy enough to enjoy life.
However, none would like to live to the age where he gets Alzheimer disease and functional disabilities and a life in nursing home. Rowe and Kahn articulated that successful aging is different from normal or pathological aging. According to them successful aging is defined as healthy life without any disease and disability, efficient cognitive and physical performance and active participation in social and productive activities. The operational definitions vary and different according to different studies.
Few studies regard successful aging as good physical function, while some other studies stress on healthy cognitive function and social involvement. Many elderly report themselves as successfully aging due to their improved cognitive function though they might be suffering from some kind of chronic disease and physical functional limitations. A high number of propotion of people can be said as successful aging on the basis of their cognitive performance excluding physical assessment.
There are hardly any aged who fit to the Rowe and Kahn model of aging. Around 80%-90% of those between 65-75 and 60% of those above 85 rated their health as good when a population-based study of aging people was conducted in Utah. The positive aging and successful cognitive and emotional aging is defined by Cognitive and Emotional Health Project as the growth and preservation of cognitive structure that older people keep themselves socially active, spend purposeful life, independently with the ability to recover from illness.
In the psychiatry science the focus of good health has now changed to the view that outcomes must be better, it is not that one will never get diseased but those who suffer from mental disorders like schizophrenia and Alzheimer must have the ability to recover from the diseased state. As it is usually observed unhealthy old age people compound the psychiatric problems and physical illnesses. Healthy old age can tie several problems including managing disability.
Those who are successfully aging do not become much dependent on others and the notion of successful aging is a new model for the psychiatrists. A 50% remission rate was obsereved in older patients of schizophrenia in New York according to remission criteria of Andereasen and colleagues, however, study conducted in San Diego only 8% showed remission using a different alternative recovery criteria including living independently. Successful aging is said to be useful for older people with chronic mental illness as it will promote health and measure outcomes and is specific to older people.