Chapter 13: Aging

Amount of family involvement is _____ in the US

decreasing but varies by culture and community

Divorce rates are high/low

high

The median age has been______-, which indicates the population as a whole is growing ______

increasing, growing older

The number of people in assisted living or nursing homes is ____ but will ____ in the coming years

low, skyrocket

Aging people are become more or less educated

more

The generation that is aging is more or less diverse

more

By 2050 the number of people over 65

will double

Important Factors When Aging

-Identity (maintainign sense of identity) -Activity (staying active) -Independence (remaining independent) -Relationships (social connectedness) -Purpose (having a sense of purpose) -Hope

gerontology

-a field of science that seeks to understand the process of aging and the challenges encountered as seniors grow older -investigate age, aging, and the aged. -study what it is like to be an older adult in a society and the ways that aging affects members of a society

cohort

-a group of people who share a statistical or demographic trait

geriatrics

-a medical specialty that focuses on the elderly.

grief

-a psychological, emotional, and social response to the feelings of loss that accompanies death or a similar event

social gerontology

-a specialized field of gerontology that examines the social (and sociological) aspects of aging -focus on developing a broad understanding of the experiences of people at specific ages, such as mental and physical wellbeing, plus age-specific concerns such as the process of dying.

graying of America

-a term that describes the phenomenon of a larger and larger percentage of the population getting older and older

Sandwich generation

-adults providing for their parents and children at the same time -primarily women in their 30s and 40s

secondary aging

-aging that occurs due to controllable factors such as lack of physical exercise and poor diet is

supercentenarians

-are people living to 110 years or more

centenarians

-are people living to be 100 years old, and they are approximately 1,000 times more common than supercentenarians -growing quickly

primary aging

-biological factors such as molecular and cellular changes

filial piety

-deference and respect to one's parents and ancestors in all things

Five stages of grief

-denial: this is characterized by the person's not wanting to believe he or she is dying, with common thoughts such as "I feel fine" -anger,:when loss of life is seen as unfair and unjust -bargaining: trying to negotiate with a higher power to postpone the inevitable by reforming or changing the way he or she lives -depression, allows for resignation as the situation begins to seem hopeless -acceptance: the person can face death honestly, by regarding it as a natural and inevitable part of life and can make the most of their remaining time

ageism

-discrimination based on age -ageism exists in all cultures -ageist attitudes and biases based on stereotypes reduce elderly people to inferior or limited positions ex: talking loudly to an elderly person bc you assume they have poor hearing

The number of people 65+ has ____ since 1970

-doubled

Conflict theory and aging

-elderly struggle with other groups—for example, younger society members—to retain a certain share of resources

subculture of aging theory

-focuses on the shared community created by the elderly when they are excluded (due to age), voluntarily or involuntarily, from participating in other groups

activity theory

-functionalist theory -believe the more active and involved an elderly person is, the happier he or she will be

disengagement theory

-functionalist theory -suggests that withdrawing from society and social relationships is a natural part of growing old -as the elderly withdraw, they receive less reinforcement to conform to social norms and allows a greater freedom from the pressure to conform

Younger generations have ____ tendency to move elsewhere

-greater

The number of older people that are working is

-increasing

Aging

-is a lifelong process and entails maturation and change on physical, psychological, and social levels -much like race, class, and gender, is a hierarchy in which some categories are more highly valued than others

The poverty rate of the aging

-is decreasing

elder abuse

-occurs when a caretaker intentionally deprives an older person of care or harms the person in his or her charge

symbolic interactionism and aging

-old age and aging are socially constructed and determined by symbols that resemble aging in social interactions

Aging Experience from the View of Aging

-older people don't feel as lonely or depressed as we think -don't mind being as alone as we think -aging people are group that is happiest and highest on the scale of well being -more accepting of dying than we think -fear being victimized, impoverished, or kept alive in diminished capacity

Cultural Attitudes about Aging

-people have a fear of aging and dying -negativity towards the aging community -assumptions about the elderly -distance from elderly

Five categories of elder abuse

-physical abuse, such as hitting or shaking -sexual abuse, including rape and coerced nudity -psychological or emotional abuse, such as verbal harassment or humiliation -neglect or failure to provide adequate care -financial abuse or exploitation

selective optimization with compensation theory

-recommends that seniors select and optimize their best abilities and most intact functions while compensating for declines and losses -balancing the losses associated with aging with the gains stemming from the same -physical decline postulated by disengagement theory may result in more dependence, but that is not necessarily negative, as it allows aging individuals to save their energy for the most meaningful activities

senescence

-refers to the aging process, including biological, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual changes

assisted living

-residents typically only require custodial care

nursing home

-residents usually require around the clock care and monitoring -typically live with more complex health care conditions

Functionalism and aging

-seniors are one of society's vital parts

age stratification theory

-suggest that members of society might be stratified by age, just as they are stratified by race, class, and gender -different age groups will have varying access to social resources such as political and economic power

modernization theory

-suggests that the primary cause of the elderly losing power and influence in society are the parallel forces of industrialization and modernization -as societies modernize, the elderly, unable to work outside of the home, have less to offer economically and are seen as a burden

exchange theory

-suggests we experience an increased dependence as we age and must increasingly submit to the will of others because we have fewer ways of compelling others to submit to us -elderly become less able to exchange resources, they will see their social circles diminish

life expectancy

-the average number of years a person born today may expect to live

baby boomers

-the cohort born between 1946 and 1964 and now reaching their 60s -driving much of the dramatic increase in the over-sixty-five population -will put increasing burdens on the entire U.S. healthcare system

continuity theory

-the elderly make specific choices to maintain consistency in internal (personality structure, beliefs) and external structures (relationships) -older adults will usually maintain the same activities, behaviors, relationships as they did in their earlier years of life

gerotranscendence

-the idea that as people age, they transcend the limited views of life they held in earlier times -throughout the aging process, the elderly become less self-centered and feel more peaceful and connected to the natural world

dependency ratio

-the number of nonproductive citizens (young, disabled, or elderly) to productive working citizens

life course

-the period from birth to death, including a sequence of predictable life events such as physical maturation -each phase comes with different responsibilities and expectations, which of course vary by individual and culture -dependence and independence levels change throughout the life course

thanatology

-the systematic study of death and dying

physician assisted suicide

-the voluntary or physician-assisted use of lethal medication provided by a medical doctor to end one's life

hospice

-type of healthcare that treats terminally ill people when "cure-oriented treatments" are no longer an option

gerontocracy

-type of social structure wherein the power is held by a society's oldest members -found in many preindustrial societies

Do women or men have longer life expectancy?

-women