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TREATMENT OF ELDERLY IN MODERN SOCIETY.
Term Paper ID:28506
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Essay Subject:
Discusses low status in industrialized nations such as U.S. Disengagement theory, activity theory. Compares U.S. to Ireland in terms of social services.... More...
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5 Pages / 1125 Words
10 sources, 15 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses low status in industrialized nations such as U.S. Disengagement theory, activity theory. Compares U.S. to Ireland in terms of social services.
Paper Introduction:
Different cultures treat the elderly in different ways. Cox (1998) notes research showing an inverse relationship "between the degree of modernization and the status accorded old persons" (Cox, 1998, 1), which means that in the more industrialized nations, the older person has a lower status than is the case in less industrialized nations. This is something we can see all around us as our own culture celebrates youth to the exclusion of the old and has been charged with throwing away older people.
The position of the aged in modern society is clearly a reflection of the process of disengagement, referred to by Morgan & Kunkel (1998) in terms of retirement. Disengagement should be a social process that moves older people into a new arrangement, but still "into full participation within the
Text of the Paper:
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New York: McGraw-Hill. "Aging in rural communities." NationalForum 78, 38-41. The position of the aged in modern society is clearly a reflection ofthe process of disengagement, referred to by Morgan & Kunkel (1998) interms of retirement. In Ireland, the Social Welfare Acts are reviewed each year, and thereis also other legislation concerned with social housing, health, education,and community employment. (1989). Morgan, L. and Ingersoll-Dayton, B. An increase in this ratio won't necessarily bring economic ruin, either. When the elderly are spoken of today, it is often in terms of how theaging baby boom population is creating an economic drain on the countryrather than in terms of how the elderly are treated. Such symptoms includeconfusion, forgetfulness, disorientation, incontinence, combativeness, andmood swings. (1998, March 22). America isalso not the only country facing economic issues because of this fact, andIreland, which has an extensive network of social services for the elderly,is also facing a monetary shortfall and similar problems: As we move into 1999 there are over 35, people on waiting lists, a number of health boards are running out of money, and the State's flagship Tallaght Hospital is in serious budgetary difficulty. It is noted, forinstance, that in many Florida retirement counties, today's elderly-to-worker ratio exceeds the projected national ratio for 2 2 : The ratio of elderly to working-age adults is a crude measure of economic dependency, because some people work past age 65 while others aged 18 to 64 are not in the labor force. "Conjugal socialsupport and patterns in later life." Journal of Gerontology, 4 , No. "Roles for aged individuals in post-industrialsocieties." In Aging, H. Depner and Ingersoll-Dayton (1985) note that theolder the couple becomes, the more support they are likely to require.However, family structures having changed, they are also more likely tohave only each other for immediate support, thus placing the burden on theone who has deteriorated the least. Probably the most distressing thing is the loss of the personas an individual with whom one can communicate and who could providefeedback to the caregiver that his or her efforts have some effect and areappreciated. Depner, C.E. References Brody, E.M. (1998). And yet the total health budget has doubled in the past five years ("Health services crying out for Cowen's reforming zeal," 1998).It is also noted that overall, Ireland's health spending when compared toother European Union countries has been progressively declining: The proportion of GDP devoted to health here ranked joint fifth relative to other member-states in 1985, and 11th in 199 . Charlottesville andLondon: University Press of Virginia. The typical older family today consists only of thehusband and wife, and approximately two-thirds of all aged persons arehusband-wife couples living alone, most of whom maintain their ownhouseholds (Cox, 1988). New York: Springer Publishing. At every stage in life we are faced with the need for individual andsocial adjustments in response to changes in roles, expectations, andpatterns of behavior. Cox (ed.). American society has, by and large, become more remote from theindividual in many ways, with a number of forces reducing the value ofcommunity and isolating individuals across the life cycle. (1988). The Combat Poverty Agency (CPA) was establishedby statute in 1986 under the Combat Poverty Act under the aegis of theDepartment of Social Welfare. This is somethingwe can see all around us as our own culture celebrates youth to theexclusion of the old and has been charged with throwing away older people. http://www.ireland.com/special/reviews/1998/ireland/ireland21.htm Miner, G.D., Winters-Miner, L.A., Blass, J.P., Richter, R.W. Patterns ofaging have been changing as life expectancy has changed. This is atruism that is often misunderstood, as if our rural heritage had been onein which the extended family provided greater support than the urbannuclear family tends to offer to the elderly today. Longer life expectancy hasincreased this time and also means that any children are likely to bethemselves married and moved out by the time any member of the couplebegins to deteriorate. Too often, the elderly are seen merely as a burden on the youngerportion of the family, with particular fears about long-term care forhealth problems or Alzheimer's. The reality issomewhat different: The romantic image of the rural elderly passing their later years away in an idyllic country setting, surrounded by beautiful vistas and the extended family, has been abandoned as more realistic data have been gathered. Winograd. The symptoms themselves translate into special needs forcare. http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/ireland/social.htm. The rural elderly, when compared with their urban counterparts, have less income, live in inferior housing, experience poorer health, and are served by less public transportation (Bull, 1998, 39).Gullette (1999) notes how images of aging have been shaped by the media sothat we tend to think of the aging population in certain terms as a periodof decline: These discourses make us "experience" aging as if decline were, at one and the same time, a given, a merely personal process (an effect that ignores the falsely universalizing features of the narrative and its constructions of difference and sameness) and a universal wholly biological process (an effect that erases culture altogether: group differences, competing discourses, my right to name its individual dimensions)(Gullette, 1999, 211-12).However, in many ways the decline that many elderly experience is less amatter of the fact of aging itself than of the way society treats theelderly, removes them from normal social discourse, isolates andmarginalizes them, and generally discards them rather than keeping them asa valuable part of the family and the community. Aging: The social context.Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Gorge Press. Social Security could be saved by a combination of political reform, boomers delaying their retirement, and a rapid increase in the economic output of workers (Edmondson, 1996). Cox, H. Declining to decline. The typicalcouple twenty years ago had a life expectancy that enabled them to livetogether approximately 31 years after marriage. Miner et al. andValentine, J.L. (1996, June). Disengagement should be a social process that movesolder people into a new arrangement, but still "into full participationwithin the social world" (Morgan & Kunkel, 1998, 6). Some derive from the symptoms themselves,which are singularly distressing to the caregivers. Cox (1998)notes research showing an inverse relationship "between the degree ofmodernization and the status accorded old persons" (Cox, 1998, 1), whichmeans that in the more industrialized nations, the older person has a lowerstatus than is the case in less industrialized nations. "Social aspects of sustainable development in Ireland" (1997, April1). Brody (1988) notes that family members,most often the central caregivers, face the ongoing, unrelenting, time-extended daily task of maximizing the patient's functional capacities.Brody further notes the fact that an Alzheimer's patient presentsextraordinary difficulties. Caring for Alzheimer's patients: A guide for familyand healthcare providers. "The long haul: A family odyssey." In L.F.Jarvik and C.H. Disengagement theorycontrasts with activity theory, and activity theory in fact emerged as aresponse to disengagement theory. Since 1993, the only member-states to spend a smaller proportion of GDP on health are the UK, Luxembourg, and Greece ("Health services crying out for Cowen's reforming zeal," 1998). The critical factors for the adjustment of the oldercouple may be their ability to perform successfully their new roles and thevalue placed on these roles by others in their social milieu. Edmondson, B. and Kunkel, S. (1998). "When boomers retire." AmericanDemographics. 6,761-766. "Health services crying out for Cowen's reforming zeal" (2 ).Ireland.com. Treatments for the Alzheimer patient: The longhaul. Gullette, M.M (1997). The theory holds that there is a positive relationshipbetween activity and life satisfaction and that the greater the loss inrole, the lower the life satisfaction. A scheme of capital assistance is availableto approved bodies providing accommodation for people who qualify, meaningthe elderly, homeless and handicapped persons, victims of violence anddesertion, single parents, or people otherwise accepted as qualified forlocal authority housing (""Social aspects of sustainable development inIreland," 1997). Different cultures treat the elderly in different ways. The fact that the American population is aging has been noted manytimes, but America is not the only country with an aging population.Ireland is another Western democracy with an aging population. Agenda 21 - Ireland. Bull, C.N. (1989) find that when the major caregiver gives out,the care system collapses. (1985). New York: Insight Books. Activity theory offers a more normativeview of aging.
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