The Social and Behavioral Aspects of Aging - Essay Example

Gerontology Clinician Gerontology, scientific study of old age, emphasizing the social and behavioral aspects of aging. Although ageing is a lifelong process and varies in its effects from individual to individual, old age has been commonly defined as beginning at the age of 65. Since 1920 the number of people living to old age in industrial societies has increased greatly. As childhood diseases are eliminated and better sanitation methods are introduced, life expectancy will also rise in developing nations.George L. Maddox , 1987) Gerontologists study how older people are treated within a society and how elderly deal with the inevitable problems of aging, particularly those involving health and income. Health problems include normal losses in hearing, eyesight, and memory, and the increased likelihood of the incidence of chronic disease. These losses are gradual and proceed at different rates for each individual. In general, the health of older people today is superior to that of previous generations- a condition that is likely to improve still further as more people receive better medical care throughout their lives. In most industrial societies, the high cost of treating chronic illness has been assumed, at least partially, by national health insurance schemes. The second major problem of the elderly involves income and economic welfare. Because most old people no longer form part of the labour force, some form of income maintenance is necessary. Industrial societies generally employ systems of pensions and social security benefits partly for this purpose. In spite of this fact, however, many elderly people live below, on, or only slightly above the poverty level; these are predominantly women and members of ethnic and other minority groups for whom economic security has always been insecure. (Le Shan, 1986) The third factor is that the vast majorities of elderly men are married and live with their wives in homes of their own. In the west generally, many widowed women are able to maintain an independent one- person household. Thus, fewer than about 20 percent of the elderly live in the household of an adult child, and around only around 5 percent are in institutions such as hospitals or nursing homes. Those who live with an adult child or who are institutionalized are typically very old or have serious health problems. Although both the elderly and their children express a strong preference for independent residence, most old people live within a few hours' travel of one of their children. The fourth factor is that the Social relationships might be difficult to maintain in old age because of health limitations, the death of family members and friends, loss of workmates, and lack of suitable affordable transport. Still, many old people invest as much time and energy as possible in friendships and family, and find companionship at special centers and day clubs for senior citizens. Historically, in the past particularly, old people commanded respect, as; indeed they still do in countries such as China and Japan, and the fate of other family members. In most modern societies, however, young people are independent; they themselves choose whom they will marry, and receive public education.(Rashkis, Harold A, 1981). Elderly people themselves, however, often display high levels of morale, satisfaction with life, and feeling of self-worth, even though recently there have been increasing instances of neglect and ill-treatment of elderly people. The important variables in this are, of course, health and income. The responsibility of modern societies in this respect is to ensure that the aged have their basic needs met and that they have the resources to continue to function usefully and happily within the community. (Butler, Robert, 1975). Ageing in biology, combination of changes in an organism that appear to occur inevitably and irreversibly with the passage of time, eventually resulting in death. Among humans they include a decrease in tissue flexibility, loss of some nerve cells, and hardening of the blood tone. But old people can prolong their death through Aquatic Exercise Physical activity which would reverse some of the physiological changes associated with ageing, such as loss of muscle mass and it also provide a workout without undue strain on the joints and muscles. Among humans, for examples, females typically outlive males by about eight years. Most experts now believe that ageing is not the result of a single mechanism but represents many phenomena working in agreement. The process of human ageing must also be considered in the context of complex and changing societies. The ways in which people age are not entirely fixed by biology; they are also affected by individual environmental and social circumstances. Consequently, ageing is increasingly being studied as a process that includes psychosocial and cultural components; in addition, the subject is being extended to include the entire course of life, rather than being restricted to the period of old age. Growth of Aged populations These United Nations (U N) statistics illustrate the explosive growth of aged populations around the world. By 2050, for example, nearly 30 percent of the people living in the world's most developed countries- those in North America, Western Europe, and parts of Asia- will be at least 60 years old, up from less than 15 percent in 1950. Social and Behavioral scientists dispel the myth that intelligence peaks in adolescence and then deteriorates; another is that sexual activity begins an irreversible decline in the middle years, whereas sexual life activity is now known to continue even into the very late years of life. Because the ageing process is unalterable, behavioral researchers are seeking ways in which it can be modified. For example, certain memory- aiding strategies have been found to help reverse the short- term memory loss experienced by some old people. Nursing- home arrangements to promote independent behaviour have been found to bring patients to better levels of functioning, including some patients once thought to be hopelessly impaired. Relatively simple, research- tested changes in food flavouring have been found to solve nutritional problems that result from age-related declines in the senses of taste and smell. Artificial aids are also being improved to meet the visual and hearing problems of later life. Family (sociology), basic group united through bonds of kinship or marriage, present in all societies. Ideally, the family provides its members with protection, companionship, security, and socialization. The structure of the family and the needs that the family fulfills vary from society to society. The nuclear family- two adults and their children- is the main unit in some societies. In others, the nuclear family is a subordinate part of an extended family, which also consists of grandparents and other relatives. A third family unit is the single- parent family, in which children live with an unmarried, divorced, or widowed mother or father. Anthropologists and social scientists have developed several theories about how family structures and functions evolved. One theory is that, in prehistoric hunting and gathering societies, two or three nuclear families, usually linked through bonds of kinship, banded together for part of the year but dispersed into separate nuclear units in those seasons when food was scarce. The family was an economic unit; men hunted, while women gathered and prepared food and tended children. (Amoss, Pamela T., and Harrell, Steven, 1981) Many social scientists assert that the modern Western family developed largely from that of the Hebrews, whose family developed largely from that of the Hebrews, Whose families were patriarchal (male-governing) in structure. The family resulting from the Graeco- Roman culture was also patriarchal and bound by strict religious precepts. In later centuries, as the Greek and the Roman civilizations declined, so did their well- order family life.( Fisher, David Hackett, 1978) With the advent of Christianity, marriage and child- bearing became central concerns in religious teaching. The purely religious nature of family ties was partly abandoned in favor of civil bonds after the reformation, which began in about the 1500s. Most Western nations now recognize the family relationship as primarily a civil matter. During the 20th century, extended family households declined in prevalence in the west. This change is associated particularly with increased residential mobility and with diminished financial responsibility of children for aging parents, as pension from jobs and government- sponsored benefits for retired people became more common. Since 1960s, several variations on the family unit have emerged. More unmarried couples are living together, before or instead of marrying. Similarly some elderly couples, most often Widowed, are finding it more economically practical to cohabit without marrying. Ageing causes decreased mobility, physical capacity, and intellectual ability, even in the absence of any disease. The presence of physical deterioration due to old age and the interaction between more than one disease in any one individual often makes the medical treatment of elderly patients more complex than that of younger people. Sometimes a person fails to tell the doctor about an important symptom because he or she assumed it is simply "a sign of old age". Thus we can conclude this essay by saying that old people while compared to earlier times can sustain the pressures of today's world with help of their hard work, economic independence, will power, political ,social, environmental support, medical advancement and physical exercises. Work Cited Amoss, Pamela T., and Harrell, Steven, Eds. Other Ways of Growing Old: Anthropological Perspectives. Stanford, 1981. Case studies on aging in various cultures and in monkeys. Butler, Robert N. Why Survive Being Old in America. 1985. Harper, 1975. Realistic, Pulitzer Prize-winning portrait of aging. The Encyclopedia of Aging. Ed. by George L. Maddox and others. Springer, 1987. Useful authoritative reference of 500 terms, 2,000 sources. Fischer, David Hackett. Growing Old in America: The Bland-Lee Lectures Delivered at Clark University. expanded ed., 1978. Oxford. Documented social history. Le Shan, Eda. Oh, To Be 50 Again! On Being Too Old for a Mid-Life Crisis. Times, 1986. Sensitive approach to changes; in large type. Rashkis, Harold A. Caring for Aging Parents. Stickley, 1981. Explores conflicts of adults caring for their parents, children. Read More