Elderly Quality of Life: Staying Active and Connected
This paper reviews scholarly literature on maintaining quality of life among the elderly, a demographic that currently numbers approximately 53.5 million in the United States and is the fastest-growing age group in the country. Drawing on sources from the World Health Organization, clinical research, and social science studies, the paper examines key challenges facing older adults — including the overuse of feeding tubes, physical decline, and loneliness — as well as evidence-based interventions such as yoga and community-based programs. The paper concludes that rising life expectancies make proactive quality-of-life planning increasingly urgent for individuals, families, and healthcare providers alike.
- Introduction: Demographic trends and paper purpose
- Defining Quality of Life for the Elderly: WHO model and growing challenges of aging
- Medical Interventions and Their Limitations: Feeding tubes and poor quality-of-life outcomes
- Physical Activity and Yoga as Quality-of-Life Interventions: Yoga's proven benefits for elderly well-being
- Loneliness Among the Elderly: Social isolation and its health consequences
- Conclusion: Summary of findings and future implications
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses concrete statistics (53.5 million elderly Americans, gender-specific life expectancy figures) to anchor the discussion in verifiable demographic reality.
- Balances problem identification with evidence-based solutions, moving logically from challenges (feeding tubes, physical decline, loneliness) to interventions (yoga, technology, community outreach).
- Incorporates direct quotations from peer-reviewed and authoritative sources to support each major claim, avoiding over-reliance on the author's own assertions.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of synthesized literature review: multiple sources are woven together thematically rather than addressed one by one, allowing the argument to build coherently across distinct quality-of-life dimensions (medical, physical, social).
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with demographic context and a stated purpose, then moves through a single extended "Review and Discussion" section covering medical issues, physical interventions, and social well-being. A brief conclusion restates key findings and frames the demographic trends as an emerging crisis. The lecture-script format keeps the tone accessible while maintaining academic citation standards throughout.
Introduction
Today, there are approximately 53.5 million elderly people aged 65 years or older living in the United States, accounting for about 16% of the total population (United States people, 2019). This demographic group is also the fastest growing in the country, and current projections indicate that there will be far more elderly people in the foreseeable future who are living to even older ages. Indeed, some scientists believe that due to ongoing innovations in health care and medical device technologies, humans born today could live to reach 150 years and beyond (Glor, 2012). Given these astounding trends, the question emerges concerning how the elderly can best maintain their quality of life as they become centenarians and older. This paper provides a review of the relevant scholarly literature concerning these issues, followed by a summary of key findings in the conclusion.
Defining Quality of Life for the Elderly
The World Health Organization (WHO) has advocated an aging model wherein the elderly remain robust and active. In this context, the definition of quality of life provided by WHO states that this is "individuals' perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns" (as cited in Singh & Srivastava, 2014, p. 12). Maintaining quality of life, however, becomes increasingly difficult as people grow ever older. In this regard, Olson (2018) advises that, "The frail elderly often suffer from a combination of multiple chronic diseases that produce disability and predispose them to vulnerability [to] acute illness. The proportion of those who are limited in their ability to care for themselves has been rising" (p. 548).
In fact, an unfortunate and undesirable consequence of innovations in health care and medical device technologies has been the extension of life for many elderly people who experience profound suffering due to age-related disabilities and infirmities. Moreover, it is reasonable to posit that these issues will become even more pronounced as people live to even greater ages in the foreseeable future.
Medical Interventions and Their Limitations
One issue in particular deserves attention here. One of the most common methods of prolonging life for the elderly is the use of feeding tubes. These devices require painful surgical insertion and deny the elderly one of the fundamental pleasures they have enjoyed throughout their lives — eating and tasting food and beverages. It is reasonable to suggest that many decisions to resort to a feeding tube to keep an elderly family member alive are made by well-intentioned but misinformed family members who do not receive the facts they need to make an informed choice from their healthcare professionals.
Empirical evidence and a growing body of research indicate that some physicians recommend the use of feeding tubes simply to make the care of the elderly easier and more manageable for staff from a pragmatic perspective, rather than because it is in the best interests of their elderly patients. As Olson (2018) concludes, "The evidence is overwhelming that this does no good for the patient; it neither prolongs life nor improves the quality of life. But it is very hard to get doctors and families to trust the evidence, because it goes against the instinct not to feed the people who depend on you" (p. 650). Furthermore, following the surgical implant procedure, elderly people suffering from dementia may not fully comprehend why there is a painful feeding tube inserted and may react adversely as a result.
Conclusion
The research showed that there are currently around 53.5 million people aged 65 years and older living in the United States, and this demographic group is the fastest-growing in the country. The research also showed that people are going to be living far longer in the foreseeable future, with some scientists projecting life expectancies well over 100 years and even as high as 150 years. Taken together, these trends are converging into a significant challenge for the elderly unless their quality-of-life requirements are taken into account as they grow older.
References
Glor, J. (2012, February 9). Could babies born today live to 150? CBS. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/could-babies-born-today-live-to-150/.
Hariprasad, V. & Sivakumar, P. (2013, July). Effects of yoga intervention on sleep and quality-of-life in elderly: A randomized controlled trial. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(7), 364–370.
Olson, L. (2018, September). Caring for the frail, demented and dying: Prolonging life at the expense of its quality can rob elderly people of peaceful, meaningful years. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 88(9), 648–652.
Singh, K. & Srivastava, S. K. (2014, January–June). Loneliness and quality of life among elderly people. Journal of Psychosocial Research, 9(1), 11–14.
United States people. (2019). CIA World Factbook. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html.
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