Activity: Chapter 9
After spending an afternoon interviewing my elderly neighbours I gained insight into how they perceive the aging process and its impact on the quality if their lives. First, and foremost they viewed aging in a very positive and healthy manner. The believed that a positive attitude assists in accepting physical and psychosocial changes. They enjoyed the fact that they were both physically fit and cognitively alert. They both felt confident that with the advances made in health care that the quality of their lives would continue to empowering. They enjoyed the benefits of being Senior Citizens, discounted travel, free education, and other incentives marketed towards the aged. The expressed a sense of well-being with respect to the numerous housing options geared towards the graying population, such as Retirement Villages, and assisted living. However, the subject of Long Term Care or Nursing Home placement was something that they both regarded with very negative emotions. There was also a sense of sadness and longing for more contact with their offspring and grandchildren. In countries like China where grandparents are an integral part of the family, the United States has seen a major shift away from the nuclear family.
It is my personal belief that America is a nation that suffers from ageism. It is the fear of growing old and the stereotypes that aging brings that causes ageism. Daily we are faced with advertisements that focus on youth, on looking, fe...
Ageism is shown in both novel by Harper Lee and the article by Scott Wooldridge about millennial’s by stating that because of how young you’re more likely to be less intelligent and have almost to no experience compared to older people therefore making them seem more superior.
Bookman and Kimbrel acknowledge the gap between financial status as well as culture and race, they stated, “.because elders are widely diverse by race and socioeconomic status, their families attach differing cultural meanings to care and have widely different resources with which to accomplish their care goals” (2011). Thus, creating the large gap seen in nursing home facilities. Specifically, cultures like the Chinese maintain traditions like filial piety, in which the adult children must care for their elderly parent (Li & Buechel, 2007). This type of culture defines the line between those who view nursing homes as ideal and those who prefer a separate form of older adult care.
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
305). Society is constantly bombarded by messages informing us about how to reduce the signs of aging, instead of accepting the natural process (Germov, 2014, p. 305). These beliefs have lead to ageism being very common in society. Ageism is best defined as the negative attitudes, which are associated with the aging process (Novak, 2006, p. 3). Ageism involves an individual or group being stereotyped and experiencing discrimination due to their biological age (Novak, 2006, p. 3). This discrimination can be direct or indirect discrimination, victimisation or harassment (Johnson, 2013, p. 27). Unlike other individuals and groups who are stereotyped and discriminated against, those who are making these comments will one day themselves be of old
Ageing is something that everyone will eventually experience if they are fortunate to live a long life. The process of ageing comes with various negative and positive outlooks. In western culture, ageing for both genders is particularly condemned. In the media in particular, the process of ageing for men and women vary greatly. Where, women are condemned for ageing more than men are. Media greatly highlights on the stereotypical notion of ageing especially in the aspect of portraying men and women and their social roles through advertisement. I will be discussing
No one ever expects to live out his or her later years in life in a nursing home. When people are young they may not realize the obstacles in life that may cause them not to have a place or person to spend their older years in life with. Regrettably, many of the elderly are not treated with the care and respect they deserve. “Poor quality of care is endemic in many nursing homes” (Fernandez, 2011). It is the responsibility of the younger generation to make sure that the elderly are taken care of and that neglect does not happen. Nursing homes have too many patients and not enough care-givers compared to home care that has familiar one on one care. Home-based
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...
Older adults are a very knowledgeable population and have had a lot of life experiences. As people age, things start to change physically, mentally, and socially. It’s important to understand the process of aging, so that older adults can be taken care of properly. I interviewed P.R. who is a 71-year-old male that lives alone in his home. P.R. is a retired coal miner, and is currently living off his social security and savings. He lives close to both his daughter and son, who frequently help him out with things that are needed. P.R. was able to give me a lot of insight about specific challenges that he has experienced in his life that is associated with aging. I will be discussing challenges that P.R experienced physically, mentally,
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).
Ageist stereotypes in the media are another reason why ageism is now more pervasive than ever before. Stereotypes of growing older often include generalizations regarding the declining of health, happiness as well as attractiveness, and the media often take advantage of these misconceptions by presenting them as factual. In the media, elders are predominantly portrayed as sweet and vulnerable and this narrative is extended into news stories featuring elderly people. Stereotypes of older people being viewed as warm, but incompetent figures who are in need of our pity is precisely what narratives from the media perpetuate. At times, even well-intentioned advocates working to aid the elderly, unconsciously further perpetuate these stereotypes by using them to secure the resources and benefits that are genuinely needed by the
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
Everyone believes that older people can’t work with technology, have a decline in mental and physical health, and can not adapt to change. This assignment has made me realize that everyone gets old, but that does not mean they should be stereotyped so quickly. Older people can not help that they are getting older. This assignment has helped me understand that older people are treated differently in the United States and China. In the United States, older people are usually placed in assisted living
America is a country where everyone is free to live however they like, but it is possible for some people to live a happy life, if no one is around to take care of them. Nearly three hundred million people reside in the America, and out of those three hundred million populations, senior citizens make a 12 percent of the entire population. A senior citizen is commonly known as a person who is over the age of 65 and living on retirement, or known as social security benefits (Census Bureau). Ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt implied the act of Social Security in 1935, seniors are regularly provided a financial help, but seniors, along with financial help, seeks also accompany of someone who can look after them. Because of constantly growing needs of senior citizens, government as well as many non-profit organizations is working on helping seniors. Therefore I decided to research on this particular issue in my community, and I found that 64.5% of seniors are living alone in metropolitan area of Atlanta.
Younger generations, including children, teenagers, young adults and the middle-aged, control media, television, and film. Consumerism can be to blame, however this is becoming more prominent in today’s world because younger generations hold media directly in the pocket, purse, or backpack, acting as a personal remote for their youth aimed dominate objective. This emphasis on youth has created stereotypes of the older generations, the seniors of our society. Stereotypes are born through media and now perpetuated immediately as younger generations continue to press send, upload, share, or post. Ageism has continued as middle-aged citizens turn into senior citizens, cycling through generation after generation. As a society, there seems to be a fear of aging because it makes us feel powerlessness, it creates body disabilities and malfunctions, its inability to race around, be important, and to take care of itself (Thone Preface). We feel no longer in control of our bodies while we age, but we are in control of our bodies for much longer than society, media, and advertisements lead us to believe. Ageism doesn’t only hurt seniors now, but will hurt younger generati...
Aged care is becoming such a huge part of our health system and society in general. It is so important that we come to an understanding on not only how it affects the community and society that we live in but the requirements that need to be met in order to care for older adults. Throughout this paper, we will discuss active ageing and the cultural, physical, economic and social well-being of older adults, as well as the affect that community as on the older population and visa-vasa. Accompanying this essay is a flyer that well be used to define active ageing, why it is important to individuals and the community. It is important to understand what active ageing is and that health is measured by more than just physical