How May Sensory Changes Affect the Everyday Lives of Older People? Our awareness of the world occurs through physiological mechanisms that process afferent, sensory information. Like all physiological mechanisms these are subject to detrimental changes as the body ages. It is essential to understand these changes so that we can meet any extra requirements that may ensue. This is increasingly important as the proportion of the population that is elderly steadily rises. Individuals over the …showed first 75 words of 1871 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1871 total…of depression and decreased self-sufficiency in daily living activities (Carabellese et al., 1993). Unfortunately the changes discussed in this essay usually occur with other problems, such as infirmities, poverty, widowhood, retirement and an increased dependency on others, thereby straining the individual's personal adjustment. We can alleviate this emotional burden by helping the elderly cope with their sensory impairments. I hope this essay has demonstrated how important, and often how simple it is, to achieve this aim.