Study Guide Exam 4 1 How do different cultures respond to death Easterners see death has an ever changing process soul passing from body to body no permanent self In Canbodia Buddhists believe that people that live a good life and do good deeds will be rewarded in their next life monks help care the soul to heaven In the US death has become a taboo subject people tend to hide their dying from public view 2 How has the treatment of death changed in the U S Most people do not think of death until they are older it is now treated as an end to all life and people do not want their loved ones to suffer while they are dying 3 What are Elizabeth Kubler Ross five stages of dying Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance 65 79 and 50 64 follows disease depression 4 How can individuals express their desires about end of life decisions Living wills 5 What are the trends in suicide by age group Highest among 80 second highest among 6 What are some of the main psychiatric disorders faced by older individuals Alzheimer s 7 What are the factors that influence adjustment to widowhood for men and women Women it involves social support reason for loss relationship to spouse Men it involves not being prepared for death of spouse life on their own lack of social support gendered roles 8 What is the hospice philosophy It is to allow the terminally ill to die easily and at peace 9 What does hospice care provide Meds treatment rehabilitation emotional social and without pain and in familiar surroundings spiritual support also practical support 10 What options are available to preserve the long term stability of the Social Security trust fund Restoring the trust fund means testing and privatization 11 What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option for Social Security reform Restoring the fund would mean people could work longer but the con would age discrimination job competition minorities most affected Means testing would mean confidence in social security 1 percent reduction of Consumer price index would resolve 78 percent of the deficit cons would be less support for social security and reduces the incentive to save for old age Privatization would mean workers might receive a better rate of return on their investment but low income families would have less rise in inequality in old age to invest and some might loss all their retirement savings 12 What is the difference between a defined benefit and a defined contribution plan Defined benefit plan would pay monthly benefits to a worker at retirement based number of years worked and prior earnings Defined contribution plan have a fixed amount that is deposited into an account for the worker by the worker the employer or both like a 401k they will receive the balance of the account including any gains losses expenses or forfeitures 13 What are some of the causes of gender inequality in income security in old age Women spend more time away from work because of family responsibilities including raising children and household chores which leads to less earned income and benefits 14 What are some of the causes of racial and ethnic inequality in income security in old age Racial decimation lack of opportunity less wealth irregular work patterns high turn over less education and lower earnings 15 What do the spouse and survivor Social Security benefits provide Spouse is 50 percent of worker s benefit and survivor is 100 percent of the worker s benefit 16 What is vesting When a retirement account requires a number of years before an employee is allowed a pension benefit 17 What is bloc voting Voting for candidates based on promises made prospective voting or not voting for them based on past performance retrospective voting Do older people engage in bloc voting no 18 What organizations represent the interests of older people The red hat society Alliance for Retired Americans AARP National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare National Association of Retired Federal Employees 19 What is an entitlement program Social security and Medicare programs governed by formulas set in law and not subject to annual appropriations by Congress 20 What is the generational equity debate about The argument is that the elderly have been the beneficiaries of an unfair distribution of public resources that has left them as a group financially better off than the nonaged population What evidence exists to support or disprove this theory There is no evidence to support this but there is none to disprove either 21 What is the epidemiologic transition A change in the leading causes of death from infectious diseases to chronic diseases 22 How do voting patterns differ by age People are more likely to vote as they grow older this may be due to a cohort effect makes older people s votes weight more heavily than younger people Voting does decrease among older disabled people It is difficult to separate age cohort and period effects People that are older may have always been more inclined to vote However voter turnout is consistently high among older voters for all election years 23 What are some social movements of older people Townsend movement is a proposal to give all people 65 or older a pension of 150 a month and Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988