Building Competency in Diabetes Education THE ESSENTIALS

CHANGES ACROSS THE LIFESPAN| 4-35

Figure 6 3UevalenFe RI diabetes in Canada 1

Government of Canada (75)

The subgroup of persons who are 85 years of age or older is the most rapidly increasing demographic group in the world (70).

Challenges in the older age group The older adult faces many physical, cognitive and social challenges. With the natural process of aging, there are physical changes related particularly to mobility and body function. Cognitively they may be experiencing memory loss, depression and, in some cases, stages of dementia. Their social challenges may include loss of a loved companion, financial concerns and isolation. However, this is also a very heterogeneous population where there is a wide variability in the ability of the individual to meet these challenges (70,73,74). Erickson describes the developmental task for this age as “integrity versus despair” where the older adult reflects on his/her life and judges their accomplishments in terms of success or failure (37). Success breeds integrity whereas reflection on a life of disappointments results in despair. Challenges for the older person with diabetes (77): • Not being physically able to do some of the things they would like (because of hearing loss, decreasing visual acuity and dexterity, dental issues, etc.). • May be suffering from declining mental ability.