In order to orientate in the world, the sensual capabilities of the person are not enough. Combining separate attributes of the subject and creating an integral picture of the world is archived through perception –the process of interpreting the input of sensory input into recognizable objects. After reading chapter six in Life-Span Human Development by Sigelman and Rider, titled Perception, the concept that I found most important is related to identifying the perceptual impairments that older people face later in their life.
The Concept
The main idea of the concept is the clear indication that sensual and perceptual abilities decline with age. On the one hand, the sensory threshold lowers, preventing detection of lower levels of stimulation, and on the other hand, the perceptual abilities themselves decline as well. The main changes are related to the following areas:
- Vision – the most common problems for adults 70 years or older are cataracts and visual impairment with 57% and 20 respectively (Sigelman & Rider, 2009, p. 176).
- Hearing – 90% of people older than 65 have impaired hearing (180).
- Speech Perception – the loss of the ability to follow technical presentations, or a fast speech (181).
- Taste and smell – the decline of the ability to recognize food (181).
- Touch – the decline in the sensitivity to the external simulation.
Reflection
The significance of the topic can be seen in that people can underestimate and overestimate the abilities of older people. The worst of these two is the ignorance of these people’s needs and the accommodations that can be presented to them. As stated in the chapter, the decline in the sensual and perceptual abilities is the bad news, while the good news is that these changes are gradual and they can be compensated. The main problem is that for these problems to be solved they should be acknowledged and identified. I think that taking account of such decline in perception, considering my current field of study, is major step. The latter is true not only on the organizational level, in which hospitals make accommodations for elderly people, but on the personal level as well, specifically in the nursing field.
Application
As stated in the previous section, the application of such concepts can be seen through the making accommodations, on both the personal and the organizational level. On the personal level the latter is specifically important from the perspective of nursing positions. Such factors as speaking in a clear and simple manner, raising the voice, and aiding in reading important information can be seen as examples of such application. The findings of this concept are also related to the consideration of the perceptual weaknesses and strengths on the organizational level. A simple example can be seen in eliminating food from the ration, which is less recognizable by the patients, e.g. blended food. Accordingly, social workers can make adjustments in terms of temperature, where monitoring the changes in temperature is important as many elderly people fail to recognize such aspect. Other applications include considerations to the font of the brochures printed in hospitals, the lighting, and others.
It can be concluded that the concept of perceptual deterioration with age is important. The significance of this concept lies in making life comfortable for elderly people, so they will not feel that such deterioration affects the quality of their lives. Accordingly, making accommodations on personal and organizational levels will help these people to live full lives.
References
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2009). Life-span human development (6th Ed. ed.): Wadsworth Cengage Learning.