Chapter 9

End of Life Care in Older Adults

Susan E. Lowey

Abstract

Older adulthood is considered to be the last phase of life in the human lifespan. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [1], the average age of death in the United States is 78 years. It is a well-known part of the human experience that death most commonly occurs during older adulthood and is more widely accepted by society than when death occurs in a child or young adult. Old age is characterized by the developmental stage of life known as integrity versus despair [2]. In this last developmental stage of life, an individual is left challenged to accept and find meaning in the life that he/she has lived.

Total Pages: 123-145 (23)

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