ABSTRACT
The distinction between young-old age and old-old age is presented, and given the variability in rates of aging, the need to use subjective age and a person’s reserve capacity in addition to chronological age to demarcate where one stage ends and the other begins. In addition, the chapter presents ways clinicians can help a person cope with their frustration about the decreasing degree of personal control and need to depend more and more on others that is likely to be occurring. Also described is the idea of clinicians encouraging people to be as autonomous as they can be and to set short-term goals to facilitate self-esteem, engagement, and a sense of purpose.
