Representations and Challenges of Ageing: A Sociological Essay

This essay delves into the multifaceted aspects of ageing, examining how old age is represented and experienced across different cultures and historical periods. It utilizes a life course approach to analyze the long-term impacts of various exposures on health in later life, emphasizing the influence of socio-economic conditions. The essay highlights the significant demographic shift towards an ageing global population, exploring how cultural beliefs and societal norms shape attitudes towards the elderly. It contrasts varying approaches to elderly care and respect in different societies, from Japan's reverence for elders to the challenges of ageism and social isolation in Western cultures. The essay also identifies critical challenges faced by ageing societies, including loss of independence, poverty, mistreatment, and health issues like dementia and sensory impairments, while acknowledging the increasing longevity and improved health of older adults. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need to address these challenges through improved healthcare and social support systems.

LIFE APPROACHING
AGEING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ESSAY.............................................................................................................................................1
How might representations and experiences of old age differ across culture and history, and. .1
what are the challenges we face in an ageing society?..............................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The moment people born, they start ageing which means that this is the beginning of a
complex life-course. Each human being live through various events that affects their life and
based on this concept this essay will cover about representation & experience of old age differ
across culture and history and what challenges people face in an ageing society.
ESSAY
How might representations and experiences of old age differ across culture and history, and
what are the challenges we face in an ageing society?
Life course approach examine the long term impact of both physical and social exposures
during childhood, gestation period, adolescence, young age, and later adult life on health in later
life. A temporal and social perspective are emphasized by a life course approach and while
looking back to an individual's experiences to know about current patterns of disease and health.
It has been determined that, healthy ageing is a challenge and if people can find the factors that
affect ageing then they can start to change those factors (Hutteman, Hennecke and Specht,
2014).
Socio- economic conditions occurs throughout the life-course that give shape to adult
disease and health risk. This is because subjection of health damaging are socially patterned and
due to an individual's response which may alter the risk of future vulnerability. Therefore, the
power of the link between adult disease & socio economic experiences at different stages can
give clues to the underlying aetiological processes. It has been further determined that this
approach is not a new concept as it had been experienced in earlier life also, shaping adult health.
Ageing refers to changes in human being life such as physically, mentally and functionally
throughout their entire life.
It has been discovered that in countries like UK from last 200 years, life outlook at birth
has just doubled from around 40 years to over 80 years. Further, in England women adult
mortality has been estimated from Auglican parish registers which discovered an increase in
adult survivorship that started in the year as 1700. Apart from this, it has been also observed that,
in the year 1950, not country had more than 11% of its population as aged i.e. 65 years and
above. Later on the ageing of the world's population appeared, due to which times fertility
reduced and became a global phenomenon (Settersten, 2018).
1

Moreover, the research states that the life course of ageing is not only just a biological
process, but it is also a cultural one. There are various cultures in this world, and different
cultures have different behaviour & practices around the ageing & death. Further, perspective of
these cultures can have a huge impact on people's experience of getting adult. The sensitivity
towards ageing can vary from one society to another and it can also alter with time. Adults are
often respected in such societies but the degree of this respect relies on two factors. The first
factor is defined as health & mental abilities of older persons. It has been observed that, people
view with respect to those adult in good health, whereas, those in poor health are seen with
disrespect. In this contrast, this society differentiate between young-old and old-old.
This is because, the old-old who are in bad health are treated as burden due to their
physical unfitness. In addition, society sometimes abuse them, left them to die, kill through
ritualistic sacrifice or expected to kill themselves. Second factor influencing how the older
people are viewed is a society's economy. Elders have more social influences among their
family, when they are wealth (that depends upon their own land, livestock or real estate or how
much money they have). Therefore, the statement states that the stronger the economy will be,
the more resources people can obtain in later life and the greater their power will be. Hence, if
society's economy make a difference, then improvements in the economy can affect the way
society view to older people. It has been observed in many societies older people respect is
strong enough to challenge modernisation (Qualter, Vanhalst and Verhagen, 2015).
Elders have a wealth of experiences & skills, they have gone through various situations
that other people cannot even imagine and yet human beings continue to ignore these
experiences of lifetime. It has been determined that the emergence of age categories is closely
connected with the social ordering process that is seen in this western culture. As the beginning
of nineteenth century, differences between ages step by step begin to appear, including functions,
spaces and habits of each age group. During that time, the life span was divided first time into
more formal stages. In other words, this states that the identification of older age at stage one is
the part of the wider historical process, whereas, new stages have come out just like; childhood
and adolescence and is a part of ongoing trend towards bigger segregation of age groups. When
investigating a universal human experience such as ageing, it resulted in understanding other
people and places and how they treat elder people in different cultures. Apart from this, many
2

cultures see age 65 as older adults. In Japan it has been observed that elders are highly respected
& they even celebrate old age. In this way, most of the countries have a respect for their adults.
Western cultures are seemed to be youth centric, emphasizing dimensions like
independence and individualism (Bleidorn, Arslan and Gosling, 2016). Also, cultural beliefs
give shape to social norms & values surrounding the process of ageing & the role of older
people. Ageing of older people does not only refer to their physiological age but it also refers to
the attitude, beliefs and thoughts towards them. Most developed countries have accepted this
ageing concept as per WHO, still there are several such cultures who treat elderly in different
ways. Around the world the older people and care varies from culture to culture. Further, in
Australia the adults are free & independent and also are expected to manage their own life.
Whereas in African cultures, the care of older adults relies on the families of those elderly
individuals. Taking care for elder people in the western side of the world by their family
members is often voluntary & not seen as a duty. Therefore, this response of people towards
elderly people is considered as shameful to not to take care of their own parents during their later
age.
In western culture, families take care of their parents in their old age only when they are
in need or need any assistance or when they are not in a good health. This states that, western
cultures promote elder adults as independent and individuality. For example, in the United
Kingdom, care of elderly in most cases depends upon what caregiver will receive in return in the
future. On the other hand, adults in America are happier & healthier than ever before and it is
one of the places around the world where elderly are not always given the respect they deserve.
However, one positive side is that it is taking various measures and actions to respect their
seniors. In UK, social isolation is linked with loneliness and people aged over 65 were reported
to be always feel lonely. Further, 10% of aged people are working in each of the four nations of
the UK. In the year 2013, the vision of adapting our communities for an ageing population comes
in Age UK's Agenda for later life that sets out some of the challenges & and some opportunities
for modification. It has been discovered that, since middle of 20th century the population has
been ageing and the ageing society emerges as a result of low fertility rates & also reduction in
mortality combined with raising longness. Therefore, the entire process of ill health increases
with rise in age. Diseases that are very common at this age in the UK involves diabetes, heart
failure, cancers, stroke, & mental health issues (Arnett and Tanner, 2016).
3

It has been determined that ageing is such a stage of life which comes with many
challenges. One possible part of this process is loss of independence, which means reduction in
physical ability & age discrimination. Further, the word senescence refers to the process of
ageing the consists of biological, emotional, intellectual, social & spiritual changes. As it has
been observed that the elderly commonly don't have jobs or any work to earn, then poverty can
be a challenge. Also, because of culture misconceptions, elder people can be target of
representation. In UK and US at the beginning of twenty-first century the population of adult
people was making efforts to put this trend of poverty to an end. With this context, later on the
ageing population of age 65, the poverty rate fell from 30% to 9%. Additionally, it has been
noticed that many people were obtaining access to better healthcare services (Neighborly Home
Care Explores the 5 Challenges Seniors Face Living at Home Alone, 2018.).
Another major social problem other than poverty is mistreatment and abuse of the elderly
people. The older adult sometime become physically weak, with the biology of ageing. This
weakness results in their dependency on other such as; often for small requirements of household
task like, eating, dressing, etc. Further, older people abuse happens when the caregiver deprives
an adult person intentionally or harm that person on charge. Under this, care providers may be
any family member, healthcare professional, friend or employee of nursing care (Saxe, 2015).
Apart from all these challenges, one of the more threatening aspect of elderly is the
possibility of weakness and disability. Moreover, it has been discovered that, elderly are more
prone to numerous medical problems and the cumulative affect of which can be bigger for any
human being disease. This states that, older people are more at risk of adverse health problems.
In 2001, it was observed that more than 25 % of those elder between age of 50 to 64 in Britain
were reported as disabled. Further, challenges of acute illness may superimpose them on the top
of existing physical or mental impairment and social isolation. Moreover, service user are mainly
elder people in the world and this has influenced both cost and efficiency of emergency care.
However, yet there are many older adults who are living a life with more health & energy which
states that people are expected to live more years without getting disabled.
As, old age is the period of physical decline. Due to this reason, many elderly face
challenges physically. It has been determined that the physical situation of older adult relies on
partly upon the way of living, environmental factors and hereditary (Gorman, 2017). In later life
wrinkles occur on their faces, eyes seems dull, poor working of tear glands and so on. Moreover,
4

mental disorder are very much related with old age and the two major psychosis disorders are
senile dementia and cerebral aterio sclerosis. Further, decrease in mental ability makes them
helpless and they no longer have belief in their own capabilities. Job retirement results in loss of
income & pension that the older people receive as it has been determined that it is enough to
meet the cost of living which always on rise (Olshansky, 2016).
Also, malnutrition in older people is very common over the age of 65 is often under-
diagnosed and may result in other health illness like; weak immune system & muscles. The
reason for this problem is depression, dietary, decline in social interaction, etc. In addition
sensory impairment such as, problem of vision and hearing are very common in America over
the age of 70. Furthermore, it has been observed that many of elderly adult suffer from dementia
i.e. significant deterioration in cognitive capacity like; memory loss, reasoning, attention, and
judgement (Aboderin and Beard, 2015). Therefore, it states that changes in the body over time
leads to loss of muscles, changes in balance & other factors that affect daily functions. Apart
from this, another common challenge faced by ageing society is neglect. Due to their dependency
on others which result in society disregard. Also, death and dying are just part of ageing hence,
people have to face deaths of themselves and their loved ones. The older the people get, the more
health service they need. For which, screening for disease and natural ageing conditions is
considered necessary to catch any health problem in its starting stage only. For all these services,
elderly required health care cost which is rising over time and it is impossible for them to pay for
these costly treatment.
Further, it has been observed that, Alzheimer, cataracts, muscular degeneration, dementia
and osteoporosis all these heath problems have frightened daily functioning of their lives. Small
tasks such as getting groceries, going to doctor's visit, cleaning the house, etc. are considered
more difficult as people get older and they may require assistant on daily basis. Identifying good
help can be a challenge for them. Moreover, people getting older means their friends are also
getting older and for this reason it is common for older people to lose their friends to Alzheimer's
disease or even death. Other challenges faced by them is transportation services i.e. they can't go
anywhere out in the market to buy household things as due to age they can't do driving. Their
reflexes slows down as they grow old and their eyes become less clear which results in difficulty
in driving of elderly (McCormack, 2017). Apart from this, it has been determined that
adjustment to technological changes is possibly the biggest social barrier faced by older people.
5

Loneliness is a challenge that is faced by many elderly people especially they are no longer know
driving, their children have left them, etc. Therefore seniors must be provided special assistance
at home to deal with the life changes they face in their daily life.
It has been suggested that countries should adopt various strategies to overcome these
challenges. Also, the good news for different cultures is that the depression can be now treated,
so they must try to understand the warning signs of it & and assist them to get help. Apart from
this, society must give efforts in understanding signs of elder abuse & neglect & take necessary
steps to help them in their life. Further, vulnerable adult facing problem of finance must be also
helped with money so that chances of occurring depression gets reduces. It has been further
determined that care providers are considered as the best helper to older people. In this world of
new health-care facilities, caregiver can take advantage of these measures to assist elderly.
Families must spend time with their seniors as they are considered most important in adult's life.
Apart from this, transportation should also be available for senior adults so that they go wherever
they want to and this will in turn reduce their sense of isolation (Winter, Diamond and Wylie,
2016).
CONCLUSION
The essay report concluded that, different cultures in this world treat ageing differently.
Some respect their seniors and some not, still they are taking actions to provide dignity to elderly
in their country. Apart from this it also stated challenges faced by ageing society.
6

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Hutteman, R., Hennecke, M. and Specht, J., 2014. Developmental tasks as a framework to study
personality development in adulthood and old age. European Journal of
Personality. 28(3). pp.267-278.
Settersten, R. A., 2018. Propositions and controversies in life-course scholarship. In Lives in
Time and Place and Invitation to the Life Course (pp. 15-45). Routledge.
Qualter, P., Vanhalst, J. and Verhagen, M., 2015. Loneliness across the life span. Perspectives on
Psychological Science. 10(2). pp.250-264.
Bleidorn, W., Arslan, R.C. and Gosling, S.D., 2016. Age and gender differences in self-esteem—
A cross-cultural window. Journal of personality and social psychology. 111(3). p.396.
Arnett, J. J. and Tanner, J. L., 2016. The emergence of emerging adulthood: The new life stage
between adolescence and young adulthood. In Routledge Handbook of Youth and Young
Adulthood (pp. 50-56). Routledge.
Saxe, G. B., 2015. Culture and cognitive development: Studies in mathematical understanding.
Psychology Press.
Gorman, M., 2017. Development and the rights of older people. In The ageing and development
report (pp. 21-39). Routledge.
Aboderin, I. A. and Beard, J. R., 2015. Older people's health in sub-Saharan Africa. The
Lancet. 385(9968). pp.e9-e11.
McCormack, B., 2017. Negotiating Partnerships with Older People: A Person Centred
Approach: A Person Centred Approach. Routledge.
Winter, S., Diamond, M. and Wylie, K., 2016. Transgender people: health at the margins of
society. The Lancet, 388(10042), pp.390-400.
Olshansky, S.J., 2016. Ageing: Measuring our narrow strip of life. Nature. 538(7624). p.175.
Online
Neighborly Home Care Explores the 5 Challenges Seniors Face Living at Home Alone. 2018.
[Online]. Available on: <https://www.neighborlyhomecare.com/neighborly-home-care-
explores-5-challenges-seniors-face-living-home-alone/>
7