Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources: Age and Cognitive Decline – The Link Isn’t all that Straightforward
By Angelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH
The following excerpt is reprinted with permission from Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources.
Aging comes with a wide range of stereotypes and assumptions. The link between age and cognitive decline is one of the most common examples. It’s easy to assume that people become less capable as they age, that their ability to understand and reason naturally decreases.
We can even find ‘evidence’ if we look hard enough, like the way that short-term memory often decreases with age or how seniors sometimes struggle to pick up new concepts.
Despite these patterns, aging and cognitive decline aren’t as well linked as you might expect.
Instead, older adults learn and adapt in many different ways. They often remain fully competent throughout their lives. Many even embrace new concepts and technologies, becoming as engaged as individuals from younger generations.
Age and Cognitive Decline – The Implications for Caregiving
This topic is particularly relevant to caregiving – and for anyone with aging parents (even if they’re not in the caregiving role).
It’s very easy to assume the worst. We’re bombarded with messages about Alzheimer’s and dementia awareness. Most of us have little idea what dementia even looks like or which behaviors are perfectly ordinary as people age.
- For example, caregivers are often told to check their parents’ fridge and pantry for expired food. But, let’s be honest. Most of us have some expired food sitting around that we’ve forgotten about.
- Likewise, we all have limits to our short-term memory. Who hasn’t walked into a room and entirely forgotten what they planned to do?
This often creates a tendency to try and protect.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to protect the ones that you love. But, this form of protection often involves attempting to control areas of the senior’s life, areas where they may not actually need any help.
That pattern can have many negative impacts, like decreasing self-esteem or contributing to depression. It can also create a feedback loop, where seniors do less because they feel less capable. Doing less can contribute to a health decline over time, potentially decreasing the senior’s functionality.
Angelica Herrera VensonAngelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH is a gerontologist born in San Diego and raised on both sides of the U.S-Mexico border. She’s a public health advocate who has spent two decades in community health work and research investigating how immigrant and racial /ethnic minority family caregivers and seniors navigate old age and seek out health and elder care. Today, Angelica supports some of Arizona’s community health centers, which serve primarily Medicaid and underserved communities, in their transition to value-based care.
About Multicultural Guide to Caregiving
Author and gerontologist, Angelica P. Herrera Venson, DrPH, opens up and shares her family’s personal stories and lessons from her field work and research on aging and caregiving with communities of color and first generation Americans.