SEVEN SUNDAYS REFLECTION

1. Who are the elderly?

The elderly character in the film “Seven Sundays” was led by Ronaldo Valdez,
who plays the role of Lolo Manuel.
2. What roles did they play?
Lolo Manuel is a father of three sons and a daughter. All of them have their
own family, that is why he is longing for their attention. He is also a loving
grandfather to his grandchildren.
3. How were these older actors portrayed?
In the film, Lolo Manuel is a lonely father who was misdiagnosed with lung
cancer; he was very loving, caring, and all he wanted for his family was to be
be reunited again and just to spend the remaining days of his life with his
children. For him, seeing them together makes his heart fillled with gratitude
and contentment.
4. How were older people portrayed?
There are negative portrayal of older people on media. This includes
stereotyping. Older people tends to be perceived as weak, needed
assistance, incapable of doing things, and many more. Other people have
these assumptions about how people at a certain age should behave or
function as an individual.
5. Physiologic changes you have observed from the elderly character?
Some of the physiologic changes that I observed from Lolo Manuel are
wrinkled skin, his white hair, he is also prone to illnesses and gets easily
exhausted.
6. What would be the impact of the elderly (character) in the movie?
The elderly character, who is also the father of the family, had a great impact
in the movie. I believe the plot of the story revolved around him. He causes
other characters, his children, to act at a certain way and make decisions
according to what is beneficial for their father.
7. What would be the impact of aging members in the family?
Aging family members can create multiple impacts on our family's life, this
could include but not limited to emotional and financial effects. Caring for
them can generate different emotions such as fear and anxiety that the care
you provide is not enough to prolong their lives, or even anger since you have
to set aside your own needs/priorities in order to take care of them. Financial
impact is also experienced when health care and medical expenses comes in.
Taking care of our own family members will not be an easy job but because
we love and care for them; we will do anything just to provide everything that
they need.
8. Can you identify theories of aging and its nursing implications
they maybe present on the movie stream?
One theory from Programmed Theories of Aging or the theory that claims
that the human body is designed to age, is present in the movie. It is
the Immunological Theory which states that the immune system is
programmed to decline over time, leaving people more susceptible to
diseases. The reason why the older character in the movie acquired
Pulmonary Tuberculosis can be due to this theory.

9. What are the challenges faced by the elderly (character) on the

movie stream?
Some of the challenges faced by the elderly (character) on the movie stream
are declining health, guilt because he wasn’t able to take care of his children
when they were young, and witnessing fights of his grown up children.

10. What is the present demography of aging in the Philippines and

its implication to Health and Nursing Care Learning.
In the present times, the age structure of the Philippines resembles many
other developing countries because there is a greater proportion of younger
Filipinos in comparison to older Filipinos. Despite the larger number of young
Filipinos, the 60 years and older population of the Philippines is expected to
increase by 4.2%, whereas the 80 years and older population is expected to
increase by 0.4% from 2010 to 2030 (Help Age Global Network, 2017b).
Currently, life expectancy of Filipinos is 57.4 years for males and 63.2 years
for females.
Access to health care services can help improve the quality of life of older
Filipinos who may have health conditions, especially because many older
Filipinos are burdened by both chronic and infectious diseases (Help Age
Global Network, 2017a). The 2010 Expanded Senior Citizens’ Act does
provide health service benefit to older Filipinos, such as discounted
pharmaceuticals and vaccinations. The expected increase in number of older
Filipinos in the future may also place a strain on the Philippine health care
system because the health care work force may not be prepared to properly
assess and treat older patients.