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Older Adult Stereotypes

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According to Hirst, Lane, and Miller (2015), the myth “You can not teach an old dog new tricks? is detrimental to older adults” (p.186). Cognitive changes have contributing affects on learning (Jackson, Hill, Payne, Roberts & Stine-Morrow, 2012; Wandke, Sengpiel, & Sonksen, 2012). My myth is older adults can not change or adapt to a new way of performing a task. My reason is during clinical, my older adult client had recurrent urinary tract infections and would not change their technique to prevent future infections. The purpose of this paper is to demystify the myth, discuss age related changes, risk factors and negative functional consequences, determinants of health, wellness diagnosis, health promotion and positive functional consequences. …show more content…

The myth “too old to learn” is a stereotype and needs to be changed. Older adults may believe they can not learn impairing their motivation to learn. They can learn, but it must be presented to them in a way that is enjoyable and simple. Naturally occurring age related changes can interfere with learning. Older adults can learn strategies to help overcome these obstacles. They can learn to change modifiable risk factors, which can improve their health. The social determinants of health are interconnected; the promotion of social status is possible if there are support groups. Income is a factor that may be fixed but it does not mean it is a negative influence on learning. These connect with education and literacy because the more literate older adults are, the less social isolation and higher social status. The more education available, the better older adults are with coping with stress. When older adults have a readiness for enhanced knowledge. Nurses can promote healthy activities that encourage changes to lifestyles. The more education older adults have about the benefits of regular exercise and proper nutrition can increase their quality of life. Nurses can be creative when it comes to planning activities such as social interactions during community gardening. Nurses need to be able to think outside the box to help older adults

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