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Biomedical subjects

R Kastenbaum

Publications and source records attributed to R Kastenbaum.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

The moment of death: is hospice making a difference?

The moment of death was a compelling image and dominant concept through much of history. In recent years this term has become destabilized by technological advances and changes in clinical practice. Perhaps even more significantly, the meanings previously associated with the death-bed scene and the final breath have become increasingly marginalized. Hospice programs continue to demonstrate that enlightened and dedicated care can markedly reduce the suffering of terminally ill people and their families. The vast experience acquired by hospice programs, however, has not yet been translated into a vision of the moment of death and the death-bed scene for our times. Several reasons are identified for the limited interest and even more limited hospice-based research into the death-bed scene and the moment of death. Hospice programs could contribute much to our understanding of the final moments of life if this should ever become a priority.

Death↗
PubMed1992

Death, suicide and the older adult.

Elderly people who are at high risk for suicide often have characteristics that are associated with reduced opportunity or inclination to communicate (e.g., male, living alone, residing in a low-income transient urban area, suffering from a depressive state). This paper attempts to provide converging perspectives on death and suicide from the standpoints of both the external observer and the elderly person. An interpretation of the statistical pattern is followed by a critique of current policy proposals for limiting society's response to the needs of vulnerable people on the basis of a "natural life span." Studies of elderly people themselves reveal a great diversity of attitudes toward death that is not well served by generalizations and stereotypes. However, it appears that stressful conditions of life arouse more anxiety among older people than does the prospect of death.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Racism and the older voter? Arizona's rejection of a paid holiday to honor Martin Luther King.

Two propositions that would have established a paid Martin Luther King holiday were defeated in Arizona's statewide elections of November 6, 1990. Communities and counties with high proportions of senior adult voters cast proportionately more votes against these propositions. Was this an example of racism among the primarily anglo senior adult voters of Arizona? Three models were proposed to account for the general pattern of election-related behavior as well as the vote itself: 1) proactive racist, 2) pragmatic self-interest, and 3) fortress mentality. It was suggested that proactive racism and pragmatic self-interest accounted for less of the opposition to a paid holiday honoring Martin Luther King than did a fortress mentality that has developed through a combination of circumstances. Attention is also given to the larger question of senior adults as perpetrators as well as victims of bigotry.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1990

The age of saints and the saintliness of age.

The image of the saint as an old person is a familiar one. Does this mental association have any basis in fact? This article reports a study examining the age of saints, and includes a discussion of the saint as a possible model for the old person. The sample of 487 saints (118 females, 369 males) was drawn from reference sources to meet the criteria of a) actual historical person, and b) established dates (years) of birth and death. Those who died as martyrs were analyzed separately. Martyrdom was twice as common among the males. Almost all female martyrs died young; males were more likely to be put to death in their forties. Saints whose lives were not brought to an abrupt end by martyrdom were studied more extensively. Male saints, combining all historical periods, had a mean longevity of 69.9 years: literally the proverbial "three score and ten!" Female saints had a mean longevity of 58.1. A series of quasicomparisons suggests that saints, especially the males, have had a longevity advantage throughout most of history. However, a time trend was noted among the males: the number of very old saints has diminished markedly in recent times, and centenarians, in particular, have been absent for more than seven hundred years. The data suggest that interactions exist between gender and historical period. Four alternative hypotheses about the possible age-saint relationship are examined in light of the present findings, and the saint is explored as a possible model for coping with the burdens and trials of old age, contrasted with current age-based health rationing concepts.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Old men created by young artists: time-transcendence in Tennyson and Picasso.

In their youth both Tennyson and Picasso created masterpieces that envisioned old men. Both the poet and the artist would live to become old men themselves. This paper explores the context within which these early masterpieces were created, the style and substance of the works themselves, and the possible relationships between their young and old selves as mediated by their own artistic creations. "Ulysses" was written and "The Old Guitarist" was painted soon after the young artists had suffered the sudden death of a close friend. Numerous other similarities between Tennyson and Picasso are noted, although their lives and personalities also differed in many obvious ways. Both remained creative in old age and both found a way to express their attitudes toward life and death in their last works. Although Tennyson and Picasso are obviously "exceptional cases," there is reason to believe that many other people also transcend their momentary position on the lifespan and, by acts of empathic imagination, "commune" with past and future selves. Developmental theory might enrich itself considerably by considering these processes and their functions and consequences.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Brief periods of environmental enrichment facilitate adolescent development of gerbils.

In a lifespan study, measures of motor behavior and somatic growth were recorded monthly from 31 male and 31 female gerbils. Each month, after measures were recorded, the gerbils were placed in a large, outdoor environment, or in a small indoor control cage for one hour. The enrichment experience for one hour a month had no effect on motor behavior between 2 and 7 months of age, but facilitated adolescent development. Area of the ventral gland increased more rapidly in gerbils given environmental enrichment. In male gerbils, the hindlimb was longer in those given environmental enrichment, but the opposite was true in female gerbils. More female gerbils had seizures than did male gerbils after 3 months of age, and enrichment had no significant effect on seizures in female gerbils. In male gerbils, however, more of the gerbils given enrichment experience had seizures from 2 to 4 months of age and fewer had seizures at 5 and 6 months of age than did controls.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

The 4% fallacy: R.I.P.

It is perhaps time for the 4% fallacy to rest in peace. Those who are alert to logical and methodological issues have probably registered the message clearly enough in the years since the first article appeared [1] and those who prefer fallacy have by now well demonstrated their invincibility. The diligent labors of McConnel [2, this issue], however, invite a brief and final response.

Aged↗