Aging and the Aged Health Article

Viewpoints

Retirement brings many changes to aging people. After working throughout their lives, they may want to relax and get into a routine of sitting and watching television. They may experience a loss of identity after defining themselves by their work for so many years.

The aging lifestyle

After retirement, it is crucial to overall health for a person to find hobbies, social activities, or interests that challenge both mind and body. Most cities in the United States have senior centers that offer lunch programs where people can socialize. Center classes range from line dancing to journal writing. In addition, volunteer opportunities for older adults include serving with law enforcement and as tutors. Many older people remain socially active through contact with friends, family, and neighbors. In addition, more older people are physically active.

Agism and activism

For centuries, cultures including the Native Americans, Samoans, and Chinese honored the older members of their societies. These people respected their elders for their wisdom and experience. However, negative attitudes about the aged date back to ancient times. The Greek philosopher Socrates cited his age as one reason that he planned to commit suicide by taking hemlock. He was 70 years old.

Furthermore, some primitive societies regarded the aged and ailing as burdens. In some situations, people were murdered or given assistance in committing suicide. Assisted suicide was the subject of much debate during the late twentieth century and remains an issue in the twenty-first century, with people divided about whether or not a person has the right to choose to die.

Health issues are just one factor for those who view older people as a burden to society. Negative stereotypes about the aged include the view that they are useless because they don't work and therefore don't contribute to society. This prejudice against older people is known as agism, sometimes spelled "ageism." This negative attitude can be traced in part to the fact that older people are visual reminders of aging and death. In addition, during the second half of the twentieth century, the media celebrated youth as a valued commodity. The appearance of an older person was seen as a rarity, as when Renee Russo appeared in the 1999 movie, The Thomas Crown Affair. Much was made of the fact that she was in her 40s.

Older people took a stand during the 1970s. Maggie Kuhn founded the Gray Panthers, a group that continues to fight agism. The American Association of Retired Persons campaigned and continues to advocate for older people. Both groups champion older adults as vital people with much to contribute to society.

The older population of the late twentieth century now includes Baby Boomers. The first Boomers turned 50 in the late 90s, and this group is expected to vigorously campaign for the rights of the aging and the aged.

Furthermore, with mandatory retirement abolished, people in their 90s and 100s worked at jobs that they enjoyed in 2000, according to the New York Times. However, that same year, agism surfaced after the U.S. presidential election. Disputed election results in Florida led to jokes on TV and the Internet about the incompetence of older voters.

National trends

While older people may share a chronological age, they vary according to their ethnic heritage, economic status, interests, and education. Some are healthy and active; others are frail and not as active. According to Older Americans 2000, the ethnic make-up of people age 65 and older in 2000 was 84% non-Hispanic white, 8% non-Hispanic black, 6% Hispanic, 2% non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander, and less than 1% American Indian and Alaska native. Population percentages are predicted to change by the year 2050 to 64% non-Hispanic white, 16% Hispanic, 12% non-Hispanic black, 7% non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander, and less than 1% American Indian and Alaska native.

The report indicated that older Americans in 2000 were better educated than older people in 1950. The higher education level "positively" influenced health and socio-economic status.

People age 85 and older are the most likely to live in nursing homes. About three-fourths of nursing home residents are women, which reflects their predominance in the population.

A NATIONAL MODEL. Government, the medical community, and numerous organizations are studying issues associated with the ever-increasing aging population. An overview of the issues facing the aging and the aged is demonstrated by the scope of the activities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in2000. Programs and projects included research on the aging process, aging and disease, Alzheimer's, and the relationship between the aging and society. Other HHS activities included a seniors nutrition program, and services and studies related to care at home and long-term care facilities.