As the population ages, why is there a continued focus on youth? Is it denial or is there something
to it? As it turns out the focus on a 'youthful feeling' may have a really pay off. In a JAMA Internal
Medicine article, it found that "people who felt three or more years younger than their actual
(chronological) age had a lower death rate compared with those who felt their age or those who
felt more than one year older than their actual age." b There was a strong relationship between
feeling younger and cardiovascular health. Why? feeling younger leads to better overall health
habits. b There was strong correlation with 'good habits' like exercise. “When people see
themselves as old, they are more likely to abandon physical challenges which feel difficult, such as,
‘I don’t think I should ski any more, I’m an old man.’ When people feel younger psychologically,
even if physical exercise is challenging, they are more likely to pursue it, believing no pain no
gain,” Godman (2014). When people feel younger, they also make better choices about diet and
that has a positive impact as well. Feeling younger also bring about a better sense of resiliency
and that keeps people young as well (Godman, 2014).
In an interesting article by Clarke and Kortochenko, 2011, they discuss the change in focus from
appearance to function as we age and that while there can certainly be overlap that is subject to
social and societal pressures much of the gains are in terms of relative function. There are
certainly variations between men and women but they found “that the onset of health issues and
a concomitant loss of functional abilities led to a re-evaluation of their personal priorities whereby
looks became less salient." Clarke and Kortochenko (2011) The focus on youth becomes the end
around to feel better and function better in the time we have in our bodies rather than b b to focus
on looking younger as the goal.
Beauty can be described in many ways to various people and countries and is guided by cultural
influences. b As the population steadily gets older, our culture becomes more fixated on looking
young and beautiful. Society, the media, and advertising have greatly influenced how many
Americans view themselves. The obsession with looking forever young can be attributed to the
technological revolution. Growing old is reinventing itself in this new era of plastic surgeries, mini
facelifts, Botox, fillers, chemical peels, and liposuction. The digital era of taking selfies on
Instagram and keeping up with the latest trends on tik Tok has managed to keep baby boomers
young with the help of filters and photoshop. Americans have long been obsessed with aging
gracefully. The older generations are more focused on leading a healthier lifestyle, proper
nutrition, thus resulting in an increase in life expectancy. Currently, the life expectancy in the
United States is 79.05 a 0.08% increase from 2020. As people live longer, they are more consumed
with looking young, aging is one factor that many Americans can control, and there is a giant
industry that will help them achieve their beauty goal. I feel the fear of no longer being attractive,
useful, and relevant can contribute to this way of thinking.
"Beauty is the apparent new indicator of social worth. This contrasts with cultures where age is
revered and elders are deferred to with respect" (Honigman, R., & Castle, D. J., 2006) has changed
how the older generation handles technology. More and more people are connected and the older
generation is no exception. Staying connected in social media has allowed many baby boomers to
numerous benefits, however "this constant access to information leaves the impression that a
titbit of knowledge, or a sound bite, is enough to be relevant. It suggests that a quick ten-minute
read or video is equivalent to wisdom gained from years of hard-earned experience" (Archer,
2013). This type of mindset is also evolving as technology becomes more integrated into our lives,
and as our options and choices become greater to control.
American Society is one that is focused on death-denying culture (Hess 2018). People tend to
believe that Hospice care, that is care on end-of-life services focused on patient comfort, is giving
up. The ability for people to deny and refuse to accept that their loved ones are dying seems to be
an issue in American culture that leads to a less than dignified death. Death is an almost taboo
topic that most people avoid to same themselves the pain of admitting anyone they care about
will pass on. Hospice care is highly misunderstood and seem as the final moments in a person's life
but in fact can be very beneficial for those who qualify. To qualify people must have a diagnosis of
a terminal illness with a life expectancy to be six months of less. While some chose invasive and
extensive measures to prolong their lives other chose the hospice care route. Where some
people's goals are working hard to stay alive as long as possible hospice focuses on a dignified end
of life, including comfort, support, and care that is patient specific. Medical professionals, patients
and family members tend to focus on the physical wellbeing and care of patients but with hospice
care they focus on not only the physical comfort but also emotional and spiritual wellbeing in
combination. It is a collaboration between disciplines in hospice care including but not limited to
nursing, chaplains, social services, therapy services including massage therapy and music,
volunteers, and other means to help comfort patients and make the dying process as painless and
dignified for the patients and their families as possible (Hess 2018). Hospice has a negative
connection to finality for patients and their families but it does not need to have the shroud of
negativity that it does. Instead of looking at it as a finality people can look at it in terms of
appreciation for comfort and care and the gradual acceptance of the reality of death. Due to the
nature of the death-denying culture instead of embracing death to celebrate someone's life we
tend to focus on the inevitable loss of a loved one.
People look at death as a reminder of their own mortality and it makes them question the world
and themselves. They do not want to have the hard conversations regarding their eventual exit
from this earth and most people avoid the topic of end-of-life care, final wishes, and death. The
problem with a society focusses on death-denying is that there is not a focus on celebration of life
and a chance to say goodbye with a focus on do not go (Nelson 2019). It is important to begin to
create an open conversation about death to help create awareness, make it easier to have the
hard conversations, decrease the awkwardness of end-of-life talk, and remove the taboo mentality
surrounding death. Most people do not want to live at all costs but with the lack of
communication regarding death and patients’ final wishes our death-denying culture tends to
provide care and treatments until the patient’s death.
Working in long-term care hospice and death is a common occurrence. This week alone we lost
two of our long-term care patients who were on hospice. I find it interesting to see the differences
of opinion when it comes to end-of-life care. One patient did everything for the last two years to
stay alive while other families are present and are there with their loved ones. I think it would be
interesting to see how things would change if death became a more normal topic with open
communication on what people really want with the changes to their lives and the eventuality of
death. We are absolutely a death fearing society and, in my travels, I have been unsuccessful in
finding a lot go evidence that exists to contradict that. I believe that our modern medicinal
techniques and the advancement of medical science has led to the idea that some feel they "can
defeat death" or at least, delay it indefinitely. While modern medical science has certainly
extended life expectancy in most of the world, one must always consider the fact that you can
beat death. In my profession, it is also not just about the fear of death, it is also the fear of letting
a loved one go. There are many who do not fear death at the same time and write down their
final wishes in the event they are not in the mental capacity to make decisions on their own. In
healthcare, families will often undermine their loved ones wishes by demanding heroic efforts be
done even when their loved ones do not want it as well as the fact it may be medically futile.
I believe the reason we continue to focus on youth and beauty is largely because of society and
our culture. We want to "live forever" and we justifiably want to be saved in the event of a major
incident or event. We also live in a society where to be viewed as a contributing member, you
must have youthful abilities and be able to have proactive changes that are naturally evolving in
the modern society. Social media plays a role with that as well as the ability to have cosmetic
surgeries. In fact, anecdotally, cosmetic surgery is a growing industry because older populations
can utilize filters on social media to preview their procedures. I found this idea terrifying and
disturbing. We have set unrealistic expectations on appearance and death. Our older population
must understand this in a healthy way.
Oates, Julianne R. “Death and Dying.” Stat Pearls [Internet]., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 30
Aug. 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK536978/.
Hess, K. (March 27, 2018). America's Death-Denying Culture. Brighton Hospice. Retrieved from:
https://brightonhospice.com/death-denying-
culture/#:~:text=American%20society%20is%20considered%20a,death%20as%20an%20inevitable%
20reality.&text=The%20American%20death%2Ddenying%20culture,one's%20physical%20decline%2
0and%20mortality.
Nelson, A. (Nov. 4, 2019). "We lived in a death-denying society, and that needs to change". Marie
Curie Palliative Care Research Centre. Retrieved from:
https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/talkabout/articles/why-do-we-need-to-talk-more-about-dying-and-
death/259787
Archer,D. (2013) Forever Young: Americas Obsession With Never Growing Old Website:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201310/forever-young-
americas-obsession-never-growing-old
Honigman, R., & Castle, D. J. (2006). Aging and cosmetic enhancement. Clinical interventions in
aging, 1(2), 115–119. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2695163/
Clarke, L. H., & Korotchenko, A. (2011). Aging and the Body: A Review. Canadian journal on aging =
La revue Canadienne du vieillissement, 30(3), 495–510.
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