Psychosocial Process and Interaction Skills for Elderly Clients

Psychosocial Process and Interaction Skills Needed When Working with the Elderly Client
Author’s Name
The Institutional Affiliation
Course Number and Name
Instructor Name
Assignment Due Date
Psychosocial Process and Interaction Skills Needed When Working with the Elderly Client
Introduction
The subject of aging is surrounded by a range of theoretical ideas, with many of them running unparalleled to each other. The theorists have found it hard to create an objective standpoint to view the process of aging (Johnson et al., 2019). Therefore, a controversial debate surrounds the quest for manners and skills applied to dealing with elderly clients in the healthcare setting. However, a few common misconceptions and myths remain at play during the interaction between caretakers/service providers and elderly clients. This paper aims to dive into the theoretical background of aging and glean insights to form recommendations about the skills and techniques required to interact with the elderly fraternity effectively.
The paper extends into three significant parts. The initial section lays out the psychosocial process of aging in the light of vital theoretical contributions, followed by the identification of key challenges facing this population. Finally, there is a set of practical recommendations for the frontline practitioners and providers in healthcare aiming to enable them to interact with the elderly clients smoothly.
Psychosocial Process of Aging
As a part of building an understanding of the ideal manner to deal with elderly clients, it is fundamental to familiarize oneself with the process of aging from psychological and sociological perspectives. This understanding will impart an insider's view of how it feels to be elderly and what specific needs of elderly clients are to be highly prioritized. An essential contribution in this regard is made by Erik Erikson, who developed an 8-staged model of aging. The stage that is of utmost importance for the study at hand is the final one, where integrity and ego take center stage (Maree, 2021). Erikson surmises that older adults are in the habit of reviewing their past and drawing conclusions regarding the degree of success and failure. People who stick to integrity, which is a sense of wholeness, feel less time-starved, happier, and willing to accept their impending demise with peace (Maree, 2021). On the other hand, people who think they had chosen the wrong path and wasted the chance of living an otherwise happier life sink into despair. They feel unaccomplished, and the sense of having too little time to improve their life adds to their misery (Maree, 2021). Ultimately, they end with a burden of regrets.
Erikson's aging process is rather descriptive since it splits the experience into two prospects. Rather than other theories that generalized the underpinning ideas, Erikson emphasizes the need for looking at the elderly in line with their expertise and approach within the final phase of their life (rough above 65 years). Therefore, before applying any strategic framework for effective interaction, it is important to categorize the elderly either as possessing enough integrity or as lost in despair.
Erikson's view of aging has much in common with Mas...