Retirement and Aging

Large communities of military retirees form in areas where there are complexes of Navy and Marine Corps installations and facilities. Chaplains in these areas are often called upon to render counseling and referral assistance to retirees and members of their immediate families for the special stresses associated with retirement and aging. Because retirement can produce a major life crisis for any person, members facing retirement may be at risk for several different types of stress- and anxiety-related disorders. For the aged, problems may include diminishing health, fixed income, self-preservation, and security.

Retiree affairs and problems associated with retirement are handled by a wide variety of military and civilian agencies. If assigned to a station or unit where there are large numbers of retired or elderly members in the community, you should make certain you are aware of the available human resources agencies and programs that can provide services for these types of clients. Figure 2-7 provides a listing by category of several agencies that can help your clients through the stresses related to retirement and aging. It will be your responsibility to maintain up-to-date files on each of

Figure 2-7.-Agencies associated with programs for the retired and aged.

these categories. Be prepared to devote a considerable amount of your time and attention to making sure these files are complete and up to date. Remember, the percentage of retired and elderly persons in our society is steadily increasing. The retired and elderly may constitute a significant percentage of the clientele seeking help at your religious ministries facility (RMF).

In your career, you will encounter many different types of people. Some of these people will be trying to cope with tragic and traumatic circumstances. The information in the following paragraphs should help you understand your role of assisting your chaplain in these events.

PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO DISTRAUGHT PERSONS

People spend their time, energy, and means setting up their lives in a certain way. When a crisis takes place,

many plans and hopes are disrupted and altered, perhaps forever. Change is dreadfully trying for some people. When change occurs, people will often turn to a Navy chaplain for help. The reactions people will have to changes, certainly to unanticipated and sudden ones, will vary widely.

As an RP, you will inevitably be in a situation in which you must deal with distraught or overwrought persons. Types of RMF encounters-routine, ceremonial, and dramatic-are outlined in figure 2-8. You should be able to recognize these situations by their descriptive terms.

Routine and ceremonial encounters will seldom require any radical decision-making responses on your part. Dramatic encounters, however, are another story. In dramatic encounters, you will deal with people in extreme crises. In general, these people will be reacting to a condition that has deprived them, or is threatening

Figure 2-8.-Types of RMF encounters.

to deprive them, of someone or something representing the fulfillment of their basic human needs. In other words, these people will not be experiencing a content, sound life-style with the basic human needs fulfilled. For these people, an important part of life is missing, such as a sense of identity and belonging to society, a sense of physical and psychological well-being, or a supportive network of family and friends. In dramatic encounters, people may be facing a period of impact or an unwelcome truth, a period of recoil where they isolate themselves, and a period of posttraumatic self-denial or remorse. Although these crisis states are not inevitable in every emergency, they are common occurrences whenever people are facing traumatic or devastating events.