This is an 11 page paper discussing a case study of an elderly woman in regards to the gerontology theories of disengagement and activity. A case study of an elderly woman, Rena Graybeal, consists of two aspects: part one, her biography which explores her biographical details, education, social supports, retirement, finances, politics, religion, relationships and health status; and, part two, her life in relation to the gerontology theories of disengagement and activity. The disengagement theory and the activity theory present two contrasting concepts of what functional roles older individuals play in society: disengagement, in which older individuals gradual disengage themselves from activities in society in order to allow for the younger generations which leads to life satisfaction; and activity, in which older individuals continue to maintain high activity levels in order to continue to contribute to society which leads to life satisfaction. Upon reviewing Rena Graybeal’s biography and current life, it becomes obvious to readers that Rena has always had and continues to have an active life consistent with the activity theory. Rena continues to contribute to this generation and the next, is aware of political, environmental and social issues, and maintains an open-mind in regards to religion, politics, family and other important components which makes her a functional member of society.
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supports, retirement, finances, politics, religion, relationships and health status; and, part two, her life in relation to the gerontology theories of disengagement and activity. The disengagement theory and the activity
theory present two contrasting concepts of what functional roles older individuals play in society: disengagement, in which older individuals gradual disengage themselves from activities in society in order to allow
for the younger generations which leads to life satisfaction; and activity, in which older individuals continue to maintain high activity levels in order to continue to contribute to society which
leads to life satisfaction. Upon reviewing Rena Graybeals biography and current life, it becomes obvious to readers that Rena has always had and continues to have an active life consistent
with the activity theory. Rena continues to contribute to this generation and the next, is aware of political, environmental and social issues, and maintains an open-mind in regards to religion,
politics, family and other important components which makes her a functional member of society. I. Biography and Content Areas i) Biographical Data, Stereotypes Rena Graybeal is 85 years old and
will be 86 in June 2003. Her family tree reveals some of the stereotypes of her parents generation in that her maternal grandfather worked as a farmer and minister while
her mater grandmother remained a homemaker. This traditional family format was also reflected in her paternal grandparents in which her paternal grandfather was a farmer and her paternal grandmother remained
a homemaker. Rena described her childhood and was strict in regard to the traditional moral codes which were considered important in regards to their adherence to church values of family
and character. In her mention of her education (to be discussed in Part I, ii) Rena notes that she wished she could have gone into nursing "but Appalachian did not
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