Respect for Elders: Myths and Realities in East Asia

The trend in East Asia from authoritarian and patriarchal relationships to egalitarian and reciprocal patterns of mutual respect between generations is eroding the willingness of younger generations to respect the elderly in traditional ways. Have the Confucian teachings on respect for elders become myths? This article reviews traditional ways of treating parents and elders prescribed in Confucian literature and examines how they are expressed in modern times.     

Perception and Help-Seeking Intention of Intimate Partner Violence in Later Life: An International Perspective

This study examines whether elderly Koreans recognize a scenario of intimate partner violence as such and whether they would seek help in the given situation of elder mistreatment (EM). Two cohorts of Korean elders (one immigrant and one Korea-based), each numbering 124 participants, were recruited using a quota sampling strategy. The study used a mixed method approach, employing a hypothetical scenario, and patriarchy theory informed the study. Findings revealed low perception of the vignette as EM and low help-seeking intention in both cohorts. Among the immigrant cohort, intention to seek help was greater among respondents who were female, demonstrated lower adherence to traditional values, and perceived the vignette as EM. Among the Korea-based cohort, the only significant factor was recognition of the scenario as EM. Development of culturally competent and geographically specific practice and intervention is urgently needed, particularly among elders who have greater adherence to traditional cultural values.     

Elderhood: Aging's new frontier

Drawing on folk wisdom and the social sciences, the surge in older adulthood is re‐framed as a new frontier of individual and societal opportunity.     

Teaching Elder: Erik H. Erickson

A renowned child psychoanalyst, Erik H. Erikson (1902–1994) is perhaps best known for his work on developmental theory (Childhood and Society, 1950) and his studies of the lives of Martin Luther (Young Man Luther, 1958) and Gandhi (Gandhi's Truth, 1969). Twice he found himself intensely engaged in the role of teacher – once as a young artist who had been called by a friend to help in the progressive school formed for the children of Sigmund and Anna Freud's patients in Vienna (1927–1932), and years later (1960–1970) as a tenured professor at Harvard. This essay describes Erickson's teaching experience in both settings and suggests some of the reasons he was honored by Harvard in 1980 as a “humane teacher.” Implications from Erikson's educational practice are drawn that demonstrate how Erikson moved beyond the rote memorization and authoritarian educational practice he experienced as a youth. The essay suggests Erikson's teaching stance at Harvard fits the author's theological tradition's use of the term “teaching elder.”     

“The Test of a Civilization Is the Way that It Cares for Its Helpless Members”: Violence Against Older Women

Violence against women is a major health risk nationally and internationally. However, despite its impact, violence against older women remains an understudied area. Abuse of older women is frequently unrecognized unless encompassed under “elder abuse.” The purpose of this article is to (1) provide a summary of current research on violence against older women, (2) describe methodological biases in research on violence against older women, (3) discuss methodological biases that have kept the problem of violence against older women hidden from view, and (4) propose new directions for feminist research, advocacy, and therapy.     

关注老年癌症止痛

虽然肿瘤的发病率在老年人并不低,但社会对老年人的关注度并不高。几乎所有肿瘤药物临床试验都把老年人排除在外,因此,不少药品说明书特别注明“缺乏老年人资料”。老年癌痛治疗领域也存在同样的问题。老年癌痛的病理生理及心理特点很独特,加之对老年癌病重视不够及缺乏正确评价,所以老年癌痛的研究相当复杂,因而癌痛的处理犹如癌症一样也需要综合治疗。癌痛治疗药物可分成两大类：非阿片类及阿片类药物。非阿片类药物中首选对乙酰氨基酚治疗轻度癌痛,非甾体类抗炎药,特别是选择性COX2抑制剂可在对乙酰氨基酚无效时应用。阿片类药物则广泛应用于中度到重度的癌痛治疗。辅助治疗药物包括三环抗抑郁药、抗惊厥药、苯二氮蕈类药物等。可用于癌痛三阶梯治疗的任一阶段,能够治疗特殊类型疼痛,改善癌痛以外的症状,增加主要药物镇痛效果,减轻副作用,但不推荐常规使用。总而言之,对于老年癌症患者更要强调以镇痛为主的姑息治疗,特别在重症老年患者,可能成为最重要的治疗,有时甚至是唯一有效妁治疗。     

Managing Hypochondriasis in Elderly Clients

The present paper provides a diagnostic and treatment overview of geriatric hypochondriasis. It is suggested that our current definition of hypochondriasis may be inadequate in describing the complexity of the disorder and its varied manifestations in the general population and especially in our geriatric population. Attempts by researchers to provide greater diagnostic clarity are reviewed, including the concepts of hypochondriasis as a discrete disorder (primary hypochondriasis) and hypochondriasis as part of a comorbid mix of disorders (secondary hypochondriasis). Diagnostic features of geriatric hypochondriasis are discussed, including comorbidity, prevalence, the relationship of medical illness to hypochondriacal symptomatology, and etiology. Treatment considerations which are reviewed include: the importance of respect for the defenses of the client, the importance of venting and expressions of feeling by the client, the creation of a psychological atmosphere of professional and interpersonal support, and reattribution training. It is suggested that hypochondriasis is a social “communication” and that comorbidity itself may be the key to unlocking the unspoken “messages” of hypochondriacal older adults.     

On Yoda,Trouble, and Transformation: The Cultural Context of Therapy and Supervision

In America, we miss the pivotal role of trouble in transformation, because our pursuit of a painless and trouble-free life aborts the process by which the psyche “gives birth” to change. As therapists, we know better: healing and growth require movement through, rather than avoidance of, troubling symptoms. Meanwhile our culture, in order to avoid facing the trouble of aging, sidelines and segregates our old people, which lets the Elder spirit waiting in each Old One wither from disuse. We do for our clients what Elders would do for the culture, carrying their accumulated weight of hope and despair, joy and sorrow, violence and peace. Eldering and therapy transform that troubling weight into “spiritual ballast,” providing the stable ground people need for the journey through life. So as therapists, we’ve been drafted, ready or not, and without our informed consent, into the role of Cultural Elder. We are midwives during the labor that births new beginnings. The supervisors among us can be seen as providing for apprentice therapists the final experience that initiates them into this crucial cultural role. In contributing to the reweaving of an unraveling world, our profession serves a function and carries a responsibility much broader than that defined by our credentials.

Family Violence and Health Among Elderly in Croatia

This article presents the research carried out on a sample of 303 elderly men and women. In the last year they reported experiencing violence in the family as follows: psychological abuse (24.1%), financial exploitation (6.4%), physical abuse (4.4%), and sexual abuse (2.1%). The abusers were most often husbands (30.15%), sons (16.64%), daughters (14.01%), and wives (9.21%). In the partner relationship, 44%?of the women and 35%?of the men had experienced at least some form of violence. The results showed that elderly men and women who were victims of family abuse had poorer psychological health than those without such experiences. Elderly who had experienced partner violence consumed alcohol more often than those who had experienced violence by other household members.