Ageism is something that almost everyone will experience and is something that affects every individual from all walks of life. At first glance, ageism may not seem like a social problem. However, the more the topic is examined, the more one will realize this is a wicked social problem which affects the globe. According to the National Institutes of Health, 8.5 percent of the population (617 million) is over the age of 65. Due to the improved health care system and longevity, this number is expected to reach 17 percent (1.6 billion) by 2050 (NIH 2016). As technology and medicine advances, the percentage of elderly individuals will continue to increase as well. These advances in ageism cause a relatively new social problem; one that our grandparents …show more content…
Disparity between the type and age of the elderly will vary. For instance, the lack of proper health care and sanitation increases the percentage of frail elderly individuals in developing nations. Due to the lack of funds and poor industrialization, developing nation will have greater difficulty dealing with this issue than developed nations (Saylor). This means, there will be a higher demand for caretakers, which takes away from a family’s earning potential. Thus, the family dynamic must alter to accommodate these older individuals. Developing nations will find this increasingly difficult to manage. Similarly, an increased demand for health care providers will be required in the developed nations as well. However, this is not as detrimental because developed nations have additional funds and better services to fulfill this need. Regardless of the nation, in one way or another, a graying population impacts …show more content…
A higher life expectancy coupled with an increased birth rate would put a great strain on the food resources. According to the Global Food and Agriculture Organization, we are currently using more food than what can be produced. In particular, this is a significant issue in developing countries where food and water are scare, and access largely depends on what a family can grow. Thus, having people live longer would place an additional strain on the issue. Besides food, longevity affects housing. Not only would there be limited available housing, but there will be an increased need for accessible housing, such as housing with no stairs and secure bathrooms. Finally, an increase in the elderly would absorb the majority of existing health care providers. Currently, (at least in the U.S.), nursing home facilities and house aids are already crowded, and as discussed in class, the current social institution to help the elderly are poor. Thus, if the elderly population grew, the available health care services would be limited. As a result, the whole societal system would need to be altered to
Aging and old age for a long time presented as dominated by negative traits and states such as sickness, depression and isolation. The aging process is not simply senescence most people over the age of 65 are not Senile, bedridden, isolated, or suicidal (Aldwin & Levenson, 1994). This change in perspective led the investigation of the other side of the coin. Ageing is seen as health, maturity and personal Royal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generatively, coping and acceptance of age-related constraints (Birren & Fisher, 1995). Psychological und...
Finally, another influence the new technology has on the citizens in their daily lives is the prevention of aging, especially in their physical state. “Work, play—at sixty our powers and tastes are what they were at seventeen. Old men in the bad old days used to renounce, retire, take to religion, spend their time reading, thinking-thinking!” (60) In the world there is no age restriction, this is because everyone looks the same.
An aging population is indeed a problem for the society and will possibly cause many social and economic difficulties in the future. According to David Foot (2003), professor of Economics at University of Toronto, an effective birth rate of 2.2% against current 1.75% will be necessary to replace the current work force in the near future and the government’s policy of bringing in more immigrants will eventually fail (Foot, 2003, 2). However some people predict that the increased size of an aging population will drive growth in the home, health care, and many other industries resulting in job creation and economic growth (Marketwire, 2013, 1). Majority of the people are of the opinion that the issue will be mainly in the health care and economic activity. As humans age, they start to develop health problems, leading to more visits to a medical clinic putting extra burden on health care system.
Nelson argues that ageism exists in America due to the cultural bias of American society towards the youth. According to Nelson, American culture encourages the youth to emulate a very individualistic and dominative personality, thereby promoting the idea that the life of the youth is in their own hands. Aging and death are factors that are not in our control, so lack of control causes youthful individuals to lash out in fear towards aging, death, and the elderly. This argument is made stronger by the comparison between modern, westernized culture and a more conventional, eastern culture. Nelson compares the idea eastern cultures promote a sort of reverence towards elders due to their long life and wisdom. In eastern culture, the youth look up to their elders with respect and dignity, while the modernized, western culture promotes a more individualistic viewpoint. By presenting this comparison, as well as the
It is blatantly evident that America is a country in which youth is king. Everyone wants to look young, feel young, and possess that youthful vigor and dynamism that is so highly respected by both the media and by the public. Our shelves are stocked with products to make us appear younger in any way, shape, or form; our most popular reality TV shows revolve around the lives of the young and beautiful. It seems that America’s population has forgotten that with luck, some day we will all become older. We will become those wrinkly, slow, and uncannily wise beings that hover in the background of today’s society. And what kind of life will we find once we reach that invisible point? Today’s elderly are treated with resentment and antagonism that is in appalling opposition to the respect that they deserve.
As the decades have passed, the life expectancy has increased rapidly. This means people are living longer lives and becoming much older than the average life expectancy. Along with living a longer life, ageism may start to appear in older adult’s everyday routines. Ageism can be seen in many places, for instance,: the grocery store, on billboards, in doctor’s offices, on commercials, etc. This seems to be a growing complication and may even hurt the feelings of some people reaching retirement age. Although some advertisements may not seem like they are trying to show any kind of bias, but in some cases they are.
Hiller, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
The term “ageism” is not easily understood by most of the population because of its acceptance as normal behavior due to the ingrained attitudes that most people develop in their youth, but health care workers must fully embrace the term within their profession in order to avoid becoming a contributor to the historical prevalence of prejudices and discrimination. The term ageism is defined by Klein and Liu (2010) as “the discrimination of individuals based solely on age” (p. 334). “Ageism is a social construct that is internalized in the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of individuals” (Klein & Liu, 2010, p. 334). Robert Butler, a well-known gerontologist, coined the term “ageism” citing that the discrimination and prejudice associated with this term is often based on the lack of a person’s experience with older people (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). Ferrini and Ferrini (2013) refer to the strong influence that cultural beliefs and attitudes as well as a person’s current age influence the perception of aging (p. 6). Everywhere within society there are influences that encourage ageist attitudes such as media conveyances through movies, books, television, greeting cards, magazines and the Internet (Ferrini and Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). These negative connotations related to growing older begin to influence all people at a very young age and therefore impact their attitudes as they make career decisions. This has directly impacted the number of health care providers who specialize in geriatrics as well as the attitudes of those who do provide services for older adults. These false perceptions and negative attitudes are currently impacting the q...
According to the U.S. census bureau older adults are an important and rapidly growing segment of the United States’ population. There are about 40 million older adults aged 65 and older residing in Unites States and it is projected to be more than double by 2050(Population Reference Bureau, 2015). This projection is due to advancement in health care facilities and better education (Population Reference Bureau, 2015). As people age they face various physical, psychological and social roles changes which affects their quality of life.
The world is said to reach a population of 9.2 billion people in 2050. The economy of a country is affected in multiple ways; one of the factors affecting the progression of an economy is the life expectancy. In the past decade, the sizes of families are decreasing due to many reasons such as low fertility rates, economic reasons, high education, and etc. causing an increase in the elderly population. Over the years, the life expectancy is continuing to rise at a phenomenal rate as the technologies advance to protect myriads of lives. The increased ageing population has been putting constant pressure on the economies to provide for the sick and the unemployed. In turn, this hinders the progress of the economy. But on the contrary, the increase in older citizens in an economy has also benefitted t...
In today’s society, what was once said to be true and taken as fact regarding older people is no longer the whole story. As Laslett states, “At all times before the middle of the twentieth century and all over the globe the greater part of human life potential has been wasted, by people dying before their allotted time was up.” (1989a), and to a great extent a lot
One of the most important concerns that not only the certain region or country but the whole globe is facing with is the societal aging. Societal aging refers to the “social and demographic process that result in the aging of a population” Aging of the population would impact different aspect of social life. For instance, as the baby boomers aging, the evolvement of those generation in different community would increase. Also, the expectation of better healthcare and ethical issues around the aged people has grown (Morgan & Kunkle 2016: 6).
People are discriminated due to different reasons. That black guy can’t have a job in his country. That woman can’t get a degree and move forward in her education to reach her ambitions. That immigrant can’t work in that foreign country. All these are forms of prejudice which simply means to prejudge. So, as shown there are many forms of prejudice such as sexual, racial, age, and linguistic prejudices.
Aging is universal and it is a process that everyone has to go through. The only difference is that everyone goes through this process at their own pace influenced by factors that will be discussed later on in this paper. When we think about factors that have an influence on older adults and how their life may be affected, we must consider the different social institutions while analyzing influences from social factors, cultural factors, and personal values. Abuse to older adults, stereotyping and informal care and technological advancements that affect older adults are the three topics that will be discussed in this reflection. Furthermore, will connect the three topics I have chosen to the knowledge that I have gained from my interaction
Population ageing is affecting the whole world. Global population will no longer be young due to lower fertility, improved child survival and better health. Population ageing is occurring in all regions and in countries at different levels of development as the figure 1 shows .