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Many sources provide us with stereotypes of older adults….
Quantitative vs Qualitative Analysis
Quant: Proportion of older adults in media = to populationQual: Look at content Portrayals (positive, neutral,
negative)Print Media: Birthday Cards Electronic Media: TV, Advertisments
Project #1: Qualitative Analysis, Does Ageism Really Exist?
Compare Print media with Electronic Media
Read 10 cards for children
10 cards for adults10 cards for older Adults
Watch 10 TV commercials each withChildrenAdults
Older adults
Rate each card as being positive, neutral or negative(Report in percentages)
List stereotypes about aging that are portrayed in these cards
and TV commercials
The Study of Aging
Lecture 2 – Chapter 2
Why study aging?
1. A recent phenomena!!!!
Human life expectancy
YEAR Life Expectancy
2000 BC 18
500 AD 22
1400 > 33
1790 36
1850 41
1900 50
1946 67
1991 76
2000: 77 2001: 77.2 2005: 77.6Men: 74.4
Women: 79.8
Why study aging?
2. Life long process…begins at birth….Aging is not reserved for senior citizens
“Old age is like everything else. To make a success out of it you have to start young”
- Fred Astaire
Why study aging?
3. How will the aged affect society?
Problems to be addressed
1946-1964: Post WWII Baby Boom!
78 million (30% of adults)2011-2030: 65 years olds
Kathy Casey turning 60 (1/1/2006) first baby boomer 1 sec after midnight (1946) …every 8 seconds
2030: older adults will double & working age will only increase by 25%
Gerontology vs Geriatrics:
Medical care vs the general study of aging
Social Gerontology:Social & sociocultural factors
Aging: experiences and consequences of time
Gerontologystudy of all aspects of aging and its consequences
Geriatricssubdivision of medicine that is concerned with old age and its diseases
Senescencechanges in structure and function of an organism that can be observed after sexual maturation; a deteriorative change that causes an increase in mortality with age
SenilityThe endpoint of senescence
Life Expectancy average length of life from birth
Maximum Life Span Potentiallongest life an individual can live
Terms you need to know…
Approaching the end of the geological cycle of erosion
biggie!!!
• Greek Mythology:
• Aurora (goddess of the dawn) + Tithonus (Trojan)
Was made to never die…forgot the details….AGING!
Cursed to live forever…gray hair etc…lock up in a room babbling…changed him into a cicada…his babbling…grasshopper….
History of Aging(mythology: problems
with immortality)
Pandora’s Box: plagues, disease & Old Age were release!!!
Began with Prometheus…
“Innate Heat” theory of why we age Hippocrates (4th century BC):•heat the most significant life factor•born with a fixed quantity of heat•with aging heat diminishes – natural course of events
Aristotle (4th century BC):•twist on theory…fire essential •same thing as with heat •aging, or through violence or disease, always leading to death
Galen (AD 130-200):•The first to characterize aging as a process beginning with conception•added the elements of blood and semen to the life forces which he viewed as sources of tissue generation •Development a process of drying…aging = too much drying
History of Aging(Greek Philosophers )
Cicero (106-43 B.C)•Roman orator and politician
“Every stage of human life, except the last, is marked out by certain and defined limits; old age alone has no precise and determinate boundary.”
“Old age, especially an honored old age, has so great authority, that this is of more value than all the pleasures of youth”
• Psychological growth• Experience• Intellectual Activity
I am grateful for old age as it has made me less interested in good food and more interested in good conversation
Roger Bacon (c. 1220-1292)•Franciscan friar•English philosopher•Oxford professor
•Old age could be warted off bu:eating a controlled dietproper restexercisemoderation in lifestylegood hygieneinhaling the breath of a young virgin(Kind David…sleeping between 2 virgins)
16th 17th CenturyEarly scientific era
Al-Khadir & Alexander
watch the Water of Life revive a salted fish
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León (1513)Fountain of Youth Florida
Anti-aging
Colonial America
Older adults important not youngveneratedhonoredspecial consideration
• 1 out of 50, 65 yrs or older• Puritans believed old age was a sign of God’s power
Gerontophilia: respect & reverence for the aged
America (American Revolution – 1770-1820)
Attitudes changing: • contempt for older adults• “old fogey” “geezer” “old goat”• mandatory retirement
Why? More older adults death rate
birth rate
Revolutionary Spirit - Against the establishmentDark wigsno special consideration
Gerontophobia: a fear of and negative attitude toward aging
Beginning of a new revolution – understanding the social impact20th century
1930’s older adults social problem -Incapacity-isolation-Poverty (depression = 50% for elderly)
Social & Scientific Backing
Legislation: Social security act (1935)Gerontological Society of America 1945)Journal of Gerontology (1946)National Institutue on Aging (1974)
Differential Research (quasi): IV groups already set up
Cross-sectional design used mainly in developmental studies
• measures different subjects at one time
Survey: attitudes, self-reports
Longitudinal design used mainly in studying aging
•measure the same sample of respondents at different points in time (change over time)
Differential Research (quasi): IV groups already set up
Limitations & Problems: relationship between IV & DV may not be real but may be due to a shared life experience
“Cohort Effect” :shared experience
Older people more cautious about going into debt than younger people Great Depression
EXCITING TIME in the field of gerontology!!!
InterdisciplinaryPsychology, Sociology, Social Work, Public Policy, Biology, Nursing
Study the challenge of aging society
********************************************
1957: only 75 courses were taught (social gerontology)!!! (Friedsam, 1995)1992: 50% of colleges offer gerontology classes
1999: 203 colleges have gerontology undergrad degrees (1976…no)
Epilogue: Education & Careers in the Field of Gerontology
Gerontological Specialist: degree in traditional discipline(Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Nursing) + additional training
Gerontologist: degree in gerontology
Gerontologist Work in
HEALTH FACILITIES
•Hospitals•Nursing Homes
•Community Clinics•Hospice•HMOs
•Mental Health
SOCIAL SERVICES
•Family Service Agencies•Department of Social Services
•Senior Centers•Church Related Agencies
COMMUNITYAGENCIES
•Senior Centers•RetirementCommunities
•Adult Day Care
RESEARCH• Universities &
Colleges•Government agencies
•Corporations
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES• Federal & State•Area Agencies
on Aging
LIVING ARRANGMENT• Retirement Communities
