Health and Aging Chapter 1 Notes in 2011 Canada had 4.95 million people aged 65 and over experts expect that it will grow to 9.8 million people by 2036 an older population will put new demands on Canada’s social structures Social Structures: a relatively stable pattern of social interactions the family and education system and health care system all fit into this definition and they will change the following ways as the Canadian society ages 1: more Canadians will live in three and four generation families. and many more will become caretakers while they are still active in their careers 2: school and universities will attract more older students then ever before. These students will want to have more flexible schedules as well as different kinds of teaching methods 3: the health care system will also change (currently short term care) because older people tend to have chronic ailments like arthritis. Therefore the an aging society needs to prevent illness before it occurs Gerontology: the discipline that systematically studies aging. it looks at the subject from two points of view: how aging will affect individuals and how an aging population will affect the society Myths and Realities of Aging Stereotyping can lead to misjudgement of people, inappropriate treatment, and in the case of older people, they assume they need help stereotyping can lead to prejudice and a negative attitude toward a person and to discrimination, unfair treatment based on prejudice rather than merit gerontology has 2 goals: first - scholars and researchers work to produce accurate knowledge about aging. Second - professionals who work with older people apply this knowledge to create a better life for their clients. the try to decrease prejudice by presenting the facts of aging Myths people feel lost in retirement. They often get sick and die shortly after Reality: few people face sickness and loneliness due to retirement. some retire due to bad health, however in most cases retirement has little if any effect on life satisfaction and health. Myth: most older people feel depressed, lonely or bored Reality: Older people form a diverse group. Some people have psychological problems, while others report a high level of satisfaction Myth: people in older age groups face a higher risk of criminal victimization than people in younger age groups Reality: older people face a lower risk. seniors are three times less likely in fact. They do however face relatively high rates of certain kinds of crimes, like fraud, con artists. A number of conditions create a higher risk of fraud among older people. These include lack of information, social isolation, and lack of wariness in business relations. Myth: Most old people live in institutions Reality: most seniors (91% women and 95% men) live in private households. women run a higher risk of institutionalization at every age after 70. The likelihood of institutionalization for both sexes increases with age. These rates have slowed however. Attitudes Toward Old Age - Stereotypes: an exaggerated and often prejudiced view of a type of person or group of people they often have some basis of the truth but they exaggerate and often lead to discrimination when it comes to old age there are both positive and negative stereotypes: the wise old farmer and the dirty old man. Unfortunately the negative stereotypes tend to outnumber the positive age stereotypes lead to negative attitudes and biased behaviour towards older persons even from members of the older age group. Black Sheep Effect: group members tend to derogate in-members whose characteristics tend to threaten positive perceptions of the group Elderspeak: a specialized speech register resembling baby talk in addressing older adults. This form uses shorter phrases, words with fewer syllables and slower speech Stereotyping leads to elderspeak Ageism: prejudice against older people. a socially constructed way of thinking about older persons based on negative attitudes and stereotypes about aging and a tendency to structure society based on an assumption that everyone is young. ageism effects self image: they start growing old in people’s eyes and slowly they begin to share their judgement a person can internalize ageism beliefs ageist behaviour takes place in the medical setting. Doctors use age as a way to limit the use of expensive treatments. They may feel that younger patients have more years to benefit from this care. ageism arrives because the people of the younger generation feel as distaste for aging. They see aging as weakness, sickness and dying. ageism tends to hid as humour. These make older people seem physically and psychologically weak , and less able to do things. Ageism and Discrimination in the Workplace employers view older workers as more expensive and effective than younger workers they believe this despite anti-discrimination laws and evidence that older people are actually able to learn new tasks and tend to have higher loyalties and less absenteeism. firms that want to retire older people will do so through voluntary buy outs even where mandatory retirement is illegal people aged 50 and older said they felt less confident about their ability t o find a new job they felt that age discrimination posed the biggest barrier to this many old job hunters tend to conceal their age when looking for a job ageism not only hurts a person’s self-image but in the workplace it can lead to low wages and a decrease in their quality of life A New View of Old Age research shows that older people live rich and complex lives that contradict the stereotypes. the corporate world has begun to see them as a market for new goods and services projects that target baby boomers are set to be the next big ad women make up a large segment of the mid to later life market these women say they are satisfied with their life, self-confident and empowered. markets target this rich market by catering to the desire of a mature woman’s need to look and feel young and good. this has caused the uprising in the term “successful aging”. with anti-aging products being advertised everywhere in order for them to deny their age they separate older people into the “us” (the healthy, active ones) and the “them” (poor and disabled who live on the margins” Ageism as a Disease the image of later life rejects people with chronic illness, disability, low income, or visual signs of physical decline. this view of healthy aging links physical decline to disease as an abnormal state of aging because it is undesirable and preventable women use clothing to hide their aging bodies and think they are hiding the ugly parts of them older mean also express dissatisfaction with their aging bodies and tend to engage in physical activity to stay in shape. men become progressively dissatisfied with their bodies as they age amortality: ageless self, to deny aging and death itself, hoping for a scientific breakthrough before they reach that point positive aging soon equates to denial of aging older people feel pressure to look eternally young Education as an Antidote for Ageism people with more knowledge about aging had a more positive view of later life; they could see things from an older person’s perspective people who had personal contact with an older person tended to stereotype less young people and old people tend to spend little time with each other, knowing little about one another which often leads to their separation due to ageism when interviewing students they found that they saw aging as a passive and negative part in their life, these results fit closely with the disengagement theory Disengagement Theory: as people reach their 60s , they give up many of the roles they have played, withdraw from society and develop a passive style of interaction Ageism and Social Policy ageism is most often found focused on one individual. They exaggerate the physical and mental changes that come with age ageism can also reflect a fear of an aging society they see the new generation of older people as a burden to society they fear an increase in older people will cause rises in costs for pensions and healthcare, and t hat this will lead to an economic and social collapse older people are seen as greedy and blamed for public debt and portrayed as a threat to the sustainability of public programs intergenerational equity: the call for the balance of support of older and younger people throughout public policy studies conclude that over the life course, private exchange between parents and children is not balanced. It heavily favours children. Up to age 70 older people give more support to their children then they receive Federal government statements make little reference to intergenerational tensions and instead express support for Canada’s older population a balanced view for intergenerational relationships is called “a society for all ages” this approach rejects the growing tendency to isolate different age groups, particularly at the beginning and later stages of life, and encourages intergenerational programs, practices and policies these initiatives have become increasingly popular because the benefits to both old and young participants are visible and immediate