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  1. STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT—PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGE: ego integrity and acceptance versus despair and disgust.
  2. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT (see also Chapter 7. Physiological Integrity)
    1. Continues to decrease in vigor and capacity.
    2. Has more frequent aches and pains.
    3. Likely to have at least one major illness.
  3. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
    1. Mental acuity continues to slow down.
    2. Judgment and problem-solving remain intact, but the processes may take longer.
    3. May have problems in remembering names and dates.
  4. SOCIALIZATION
    1. Individual is faced with the reality of the experience of physical decline.
    2. Physical and mental changes intensify the feelings of aging and mortality.
    3. Increasing frequency of death and serious illness among friends, relatives, and associates further reinforces the concept of mortality.
    4. Constant reception of medical warnings to follow certain precautions or run serious risks adds to general feeling of decline.
    5. Individual is less interested in obtaining the rewards of society and is more interested in using own inner resources.
    6. Individuals feel that they have earned the right to do what is important for self-satisfaction.
    7. Retirement allows time for expression of own creative energies.
    8. Overcomes the splitting of youth and age; gets along well with adolescents.
    9. Learns to deal with the reality that only old age remains.
    10. Provides moral support to grandchildren; more tolerant of grandchildren than was of own children.
    11. Tends to release major authority of family to children while holding self in the role of consultant.