Aging - Concepts and Controversies - Essay Example

Ageing Name Institution Instructor’s Name Course Date of Submission Ageing Introduction In today’s society, old people have virtually being forgotten. In most cases, old people suffer in silent. When they complain, they are said to be are nagging. Most of the old people are taken in nursing homes in a move to get them out of the way. They are mostly ignored. In this study, the issue of ageing will be discussed. An interview with old people will be carried out to ascertain the issues affecting old people in society today. The perspective of the old about the world today will also be discussed. As a young person, I have never thought much of the old people. I saw them just as a disgruntled lot who like complaining and who like being taken care of. I never thought that there are any significant issues old felt needed to be taken care of. I always viewed old people as backward and people who just hate young people. It has always being my view that old people, in their old age, have no much ambition other than just wait to die. In addition, I have always viewed old people as people who always live in the past because most of them keep talking about how their past was, how things were in the past (Moody 2006). Before I carried out an interview with one of them, I never thought of any significant issues old people can identify other than the need to be taken care of. I thought that the old person would identify negligence from family members as the only significant issue that he has. Another significant issue that I thought the old people will identify is the return to old ways of things. Old people have complained about how the new generations have veered away from the good old and traditional ways of life. I expected them to identify individualism as another issue of significance. I expected that old people would complain about the problem of individualism and the move from socialism of the society (Katz, Peace & Spurr 2012). Old people have always valued a society build upon sharing and communal values. I hoped them to identify individualism as an issue of significance and one that should be dealt with. After carrying out an interview with one of my old friends I discovered that the most important thing in his life at this stage was family. My old friend told me that he wished to spend time with family members and feel part of a family. He told me that he missed those days when the family was large and everybody was home. Another important thing he identified was financial stability. He wished to be stable financially so that he can live well. On the issue of age, my old friend told me that he felt old. He told me he discovers he is old because he is no longer agile and has many health problems associated with age. About how age is affecting his relationship with other people, my old friend told me that his age has made him to have few young friends. This is because they think he is outdated. the perspective of the old people about the world today is that the world today is chaotic and very confused. The old people cite cultural erosion, the shift from valuing family life to individualism and moral decadence as some of the issues bedeviling the world today. They compare the current world with their world and say that their world was orderly and people upheld social order, unlike the current world. Significant issues among the old The significant issues identified by old people include loneliness, financial worries, and health concerns, housing problems, isolation, crime and lack of social contact. Engagement and empowerment is also another significant issue that was identified by old people (Boulé & Tidd 2012). When people grow, they want to have close family members near that so they feel part of a family. I discovered that old people are just as social as the young people and want to also socialize. However, most of our old people are neglected and left to live on their own. This problem makes them to feel very lonely because of lack of people to associate with and talk to (Silverstone & Hyman 2008). This problem is very acute especially among old people who have lost their spouses and are therefore left to live on their own. Old people feel that the rest of the society, especially the young and middle aged generations, has neglected them. They complain that they are no longer considered part of the families. Their wise counsel is never sorted or even taken heed of. Most old people abhor being taken to homes. They want to remain with their families so that they can share with the young generations the vast knowledge they have gathered throughout their lives (Frewer 2001). However, due to being left and being ignored by the young generations, the old people are a frustrated lot. The problem of loneliness has made many old people to get stressed and even depressed. Health is another significant issue identified b y old people. The old people get worried over their failing health. Most of the old people experience many health problems that include hearing difficulties, failing sight, physical deterioration and other health problems associated with old age. The old people are of the view that the society has done to ensure that measures have been put in place to address many of their health problems (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman 2013). The old people are also worried about poverty in their lives. Most of them would like to have a good financial base so that they enjoy life in their old days. The issue of poverty is made even worse with the lack of any income generating activities to these old people. Most of them depend on their pensions as a source of income. However, the pension is not enough to cater for all their needs. Most old people live in owned houses that have no mortgages. However, the housing problem identified by the old people is the inability to afford care, fuel and lack of money to maintain the properties. Old people also lack the required information on property in case they need to move to another house (Balchin & Rhoden 2002). The housing problems among old mainly involve the lack of ability to take care of the property, the inability to move to another good house and the lack of information on other new and good houses that they move to (Hyer & Sohnle 2000). Most old people are also about their security. They are especially concerned with the increased wave of insecurity in society and most fear to venture out in the night. The problem of isolation is closely linked to loneliness. Isolation among occurs among old through decrease in social contact. As people grow old, most of their family members move away from home leaving the old people alone. The mobility difficulties and ill health brought about by old age also contribute to the problem of isolation as old people are sometimes forced to remain indoors (Lobo 2011). The social isolation among old people is also brought about by the advancement in technology and the changes in the way of life. The life lived by old people in their heydays is different from the life lived by the present young generation. This has made the old people to be confused and feel isolated. This is because they cannot keep with the violent and party-like lives assumed by the young generation. The feeling of loneliness and isolation felt can be understood from a psychological point of view. Human beings are social animals and they always want to have the feeling of belonging and being loved (Holland & Peace 2001). Lack of love and sense of belonging makes people to feel unfulfilled and sometimes they may get stressed. From Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, human beings always crave for material wellbeing, sense of belonging and love (Holzknecht et al 2007). Lack of these things makes people to be psychologically affected. After the interview, I realized that some of the issues I thought were of significance to old people were not true. For instance, my assumption that old people complained of being neglected because they only wanted to be taken care of was wrong. The old people were more interested in associating with other family rather than just wanting to be looked after. All they needed was to feel part of the family and live in the comfort that there were people around they can talk to and share their wisdom (Ritzer 2005). My view that old people were out of touch with the current world was also wrong. Though the old people are aware of the technological advancement and the advent of communication devices, they value physical contact and the feel of personal touch. They value personal communication as compared to communication through the phone and social media. The old people are also concerned with current issues in society, contrary to my initial belief that old people always thought in a backward manner, always living in the past. However, there were also a number of similarities in what I expected and what I found out from the interview. For instance, I expected the issue of negligence to be raised and when I conducted the interview, the issue was raised. Socialism was another issue I expected that came up in the interview (Institute of Welsh Affairs 2007). However, generally I was wrong in my assumptions of the old people. Analysis of my background experiences that shaped my perspective on older people My perspective of old people must have been formed by background experiences. The standpoint theory states that the perspectives of individuals are shaped by their experiences in social groups and social locations. These perspectives affect the way individuals view their world and others in society. I think my earlier experiences with old people or lack of it shaped my perspectives. For instance, my early life was characterized by a life away from the old people. My parents lost their parents before I was born and this made me lack the valuable lessons young people get from the old people. The old people were virtually absent in my life and this made me not to think of them much as part of the society. These early experiences or lack of them shaped my perspectives about the old people. This lack of contact with the old people made me to take them for granted and not to think so much about them. However, after the interview, I discovered so many valuable things about the old people. The old people are a wise lot who have vast knowledge about life in general. They know a great deal about life and how to solve so many problems in life. I discovered that they also need the attention and care and they are a loving lot. I learned a great deal about the old people and how they are also curious to learn new things (Harding 2004). However, due to negligence from the rest of the society, old people have to content with living alone or being taken to care homes for the old. Though the care homes provide them with company, the old people value family and would like to spend more time with their grandchildren and their children. Although they disapprove of the life lived by most young people, they adore their company and they always feel so happy when they surrounded by young inquisitive people who want to know about life in the past and they are always too happy to impart the knowledge (Orbe 1998). The sharing of the information always makes to relish their past glorious days they are so proud of. In general, old people face many problems in society today. The most significant issues among old people today include health problems, loneliness and isolation, crime and insecurity, poverty and housing problems (Silverstone & Hyman 2008). In addition, contrary to common beliefs among young people, old people are not useless and backward but they are very wise. Bibliography Frewer, L. (2001). Food, people and society: a European perspective of consumers' food choices : with 63 tables. Berlin, Springer. Moody, H. R. (2006). Aging: concepts and controversies. Thousand Oaks, Calif, Pine Forge. Katz, J., Peace, S. 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