The population of people aged over 65 years continues to increase rapidly across the globe.  The elderly have various special needs as some have behavioral and mental health problems.  The course reading explores the mental disorders attributed to anxiety and depression among the elderly which affects their ability to perform different tasks.   Therefore, the psychological care of the elderly involves alleviating emotional suffering as well as improving the mental health of the elderly thus enhancing the quality of life.  This paper focuses on discussing the surprising facts regarding psychological care among the elderly (GeriatricNursing.org. 2018).

Perception and cognition are one of the surprising facts which explores the cellular and molecular aging mechanism of mind and body which are often misunderstood by many people.  This fact reveals how age relates to various changes, not limited to physical aspects, digestive, neurological and urogenital among the elderly.  Another surprising fact relates to self-concept and self-perception which illustrates how depression affects the elderly.   Based on this fact, individuals infer attitudes and opinions towards the elderly which makes them have a feeling of rejection. Therefore, psychological care among the elderly should focus on encouraging the caregivers to show a positive attitude for the elderly (GeriatricNursing.org. 2018). Originally, I considered cognition and perception as a myth, as the elderly cannot get depressed for feeling rejected. In reality, this aspect of psychological care for the elderly is a reality as it’s based on evidence which explores the increasing number of depressed elderly people in the societies.  The nurses can influence attitude among the public and caregivers through promoting strong social connections with the elderly to facilitate positive self-perception.  Also, nurses can promote psychological care for the elderly through therapy to enhance emotional closeness as well as improving inter-generational relationships among the elderly.

References

GeriatricNursing.org. (2018). PSYCHOLOGICAL CARE OF THE ELDERLY. Retrieved from https://geriatricnursing.org/psychological-care-of-the-elderly/