The effectiveness of occupational therapy in the elderly

Abstract

Ageing is a biological process and human behaviour in old age varies greatly in what men and women expect of it. Ageing and occupational therapy concern all men, and is best looked at as the stage that fulfils the cycle of our life. Ageing does not need to be hidden or denied but can be understood, affirmed and experienced as a process of growth. In the first chapter of this dissertation, the various physical, psychological and social changes that occur in an ageing person will be discussed. Changes do occur and a person's health does appear to be on the decline in old age, but still ageing is not a reason for despair, but a basis for hope. It is not a slow decaying but a gradual maturing; not a fate to be undergone but a choice to be embraced. [...]