MODULE 10: HEALTH, AGING, & THE ELDERLY

Challenges of Aging

In the United States, many people view caring for the elderly as a burden. Even when there is a family member able and willing to provide for an elderly family member, 60 percent of family caregivers are employed outside the home and are unable to provide the needed support.

Social Gerontology

In the United States, society tends to glorify youth and associate it with beauty and sexuality. In comedies, the elderly are often associated with grumpiness or hostility. Rarely do the roles of older people convey the fullness of life experienced by seniors.

Health Disparities within the United States

It is important to note that ethnic minorities, including African Americans, Mexican Americans and Native Americans, have higher rates of diseases and causes of mortality than whites.

Theories of Health and Medicine (2 i guess)

Social Conflict theorists suggest that issues with the healthcare system, as with most other social problems, are rooted in capitalist society.

Medical Sociology and the Social Construction of Health

The social construction of health: emphasizes the sociocultural aspects of physical, objectively definable phenomena.

Conflicts Theories of Aging

Age Stratification theory falls under the social conflict theory on aging suggesting that because age serves as a basis of social control, different age groups will have varying access to social resources such as political and economic power.

Conflict Theory on Health

An example of institutionalized sexism is the way that women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with certain kinds of mental disorders.

The Social Construction of Medical Knowledge

Conrad and Barker show how medical knowledge is socially constructed, and can both reflect and reproduce inequalities in gender, class, race, and ethnicity.

Functionalists Theories of Aging

Continuity theory on aging suggests that an enduring attempt to maintain social equilibrium and stability by making future decisions on the basis of already developed social roles contributes to a certain consistent span of life for the elderly, barring a major illness such as Alzheimer's.

Death and the Five Stages of Grief

Cultural attitudes shape the way our society views old age and dying, but these attitudes shift and evolve over time.

Health: A Global Survey

Health differs around the world and some theorists categorize three of the countries based on degree of development.

Universal Healthcare vs. Socialized Medicine

It is important to note that ethnic minorities, including African Americans, Mexican Americans and Native Americans, have higher rates of diseases and causes of mortality than whites. Direct purchase insurance is coverage that an individual buys directly from a private company.

Ethical Issues Surrounding Death

The controversy surrounding death with dignity laws or physician-assisted suicide is hotly debated. Oregon, the first to institute a Death with Dignity Act in 1997, required the presence of two physicians for a legal assisted suicide.

The Sick Role

The individual who has fallen ill is not only physically sick, but now must adhere to the specifically patterned social role of being sick with rights and obligations.

Theories of Health and Medicine

According to Structural Functional theorists, in this model of health, doctors serve as gatekeepers, deciding who is healthy and who is sick, a relationship in which the doctor has all the power

Nursing Shortage

Cultural attitudes in Japan prior to about 1986 supported the idea that the elderly deserve assistance, but major social shifts have created an increased demand for community and government care, and the increase in women working outside the home has made it more difficult to provide in-home care to aging parents, which leads to an increase in the need for government-supported institutions.

The Meaning of Illness

Many contend that our society and even our healthcare institutions discriminate against certain diseases—like mental disorders, AIDS, venereal diseases, and skin disorders. This is known as the stigmatization of illness.

Symbolic-Interactionist View of Health

Medicalization of deviance is the process that changes "bad" behavior into "sick" behavior Medicalization normalizes behavior that was once understood as "sick".