CHFD 3710 Exam 1

3 or more generations

• Understand current social issues
• Increasing older ppl will bring changes in social institutions
• More community-based healthcare services
• Older ppl will take part in recreation activity than ever before

A process of systematic stereotyping & discrimination against ppl because they're old

• The desired to help older people
• Compassionate ageism (giving up seat on the bus, etc.)
• Has a positive spin with a negative undertone

Helps older people by providing assistance where they need it

• Set at 65 because most ppl weren't expected to live that long.
• So, they were only helping some people
• The age for eligibility is rising as ppl live longer
• Part of compassionate/"new" ageism

• Part of compassionate ageism, "New" ageism
• Can't discriminate in the workforce based on age

• Cancer survival
• Memory loss
• Loss of sexual vigor (ie- Viagra ads)

• "Ageism at its worst!"
• Baby talk to older people
• Based on stereotypes
• Can lower self-esteem
• Decreases ability to communicate effectively
• Decreases quality of interaction
• Decreases sense of control

• They have large amounts of money
• They have fewer social supports
• They're more vulnerable to deceptive businesses

• Auto or home repair
• Phone slamming & cramming
• Telemarketing
• Bank examiner
• Email phishing

• Lower self-image
• Feelings of inferiority
• Loss of self-esteem
• Loss of independence
• Institutionalization

• Disease
• Disability
• Decline
• Death

• Researchers trained in natural science & medicine
• Scientific methods (but still looking at the problems in aging!)
• Systematic observations

• Included mathematics
• 1st American geriatric publication ("Account of the Body and Mind in Old Age" by Benjamin Rush)
• Started to do research- not just personal experience & observation
• When we discovered that age is not a "disease"
• Began a modern period of aging research

• 1st American geriatric publication (18th century)
• Benjamin Rush
• Based on a review of more than only religious texts

• Quetelet: “social physics” (numbers)
• First use of the term "gerontology"
• Socity of Gerontology of 1912

• Social physics
• Used quantitative methods (numbers) to study physical & social age differences

• 19th century
• Elie Metchnikoff
• Wrote first gerontology text

The earliest society of ppl who came together to focus on aging

Shutting down associated with age

• Clark Tibbits (1954)
• Trying to understand ppl's lives (not just the biological aspects)
• Incl. integration of all 3 core areas of aging studies
• Perspective of individual & social systems
• Life course perspective on change (thinks across the lifespan, considers all aspects of a person's life)

• Biomedicine
• Psychosocial studies
• Socioeconomic-environmental studies

• One of the core areas of aging studies
• Changes in the body that come with age
• DNA, Cells, Body systems, Stress, Dementia
• Experts in most agreement on content in this area

• One of the core areas of aging studies
• Changes that take place within the individual
• Changes between individuals & groups
• Memory, Creativity, Learning, Personality, Relationships, Death & dying

• One of the core areas of aging studies
• Effects of aging on social institions
• Economy, family, healthcare system

Born 1946-1964

• Stress social security
• Affect the number of ppl working w/ elders
• Create demand for more ppl to work w/ aging population

• People & relationships
• Small scale events
• Individual change (how does this concept influence the individual?)

• Social institutions & systems
• Large scale events
• The way social institutions shape experiences & behaviors

• How individuals define & create
• Micro-level (small scale)
• Relatively few gerontologists use this perspective
• Critique: Gives only 1 view of social life & doesn't discuss power & conflict btw. social groups

• Theory within the interpretive perspective
• How we, as individuals, assign meaning to interactions

• Theory within the interpretive persepective
• How we engage in exchanges

• Theory within the interpretive perspective
• Looks at the event, seeking to understand the essense of an interaction; the defining concept

• Theory within the interpretive perspective
• Taking everyday knowledge/interactions and interpeting them using the words of those who are interacting

• Social order based on cooperation
• Society is made up of many parts
• Society regulates itself (so if a system no longer works, society takes care of it)
• Change in system evokes mechanisms to reestablish order
• Norms & roles shape behavior
• Conformity thru pressure & belief
• Formal & informal sanctions
• Society changes in positive ways

• Theory within functionalist perspective
• Stop working in society

• Theory within functionalist perspective
• The activities one engages in in younger life are likely to be continued in older life

• Theory within functionalist perspective
• As the society modernizes, older persons are left behind (modern ideas are not likely to be adopted by the elderly)

• Theory within functionalist perspective
• Helps us to define what an appropriate role is according to one's age
• If a person's not doing what they're "supposed" to be doing at their age, they're often viewed negatively
• Assumptions: Norms & values infl. indiv. aging; Relationship btw. indiv. & society as a feedback loop (one cannot understand the indiv. or society without understanding both)

A group of ppl defined by shared experience

• Most important theoretical concept for gerontologists
• Looks micro & macro levels of analysis (looks at indiv. & society interactions)
• Recognizes differences within (not across!) age cohorts, roles, & role-change
• Understands aging as a dynamic process that takes place t/o life
• Encourages thought ab. the many forces that affect aging (let's look at our society so it's good for ppl of ALL ages)
• Transitions & trajectories

• Transitions: The point of change
• Trajectories: The path you're on once that transition occurs

• Very few true experiments (bc of ethics)
• Comparison of groups that already exist (ie- smokers v. non-smokers)
• Looking for causation
• Problems: Correlation is not causation; Diff's btw. age groups may not be due to age alone

• Age Effects (physical decline)
• Period Effects (time of measurement- situation at time of study/at time of experience)
• Cohort Effects(related to indiv's age- ppl born around the same time and often share a common experience)

• Part of quantitative & qualitative methods
• Frameworks for thinking ab. & understanding natural or social phenomena
• Defines research questions
• Guides methods for conducting studies

• Part of quantitative & qualitative methods
• A natural science paradigm (if I do x, then y will happen)
• Positivist methods include: mathematical measurement, statistical methods, & cause and effect
• Seeks to control natural events

• Based on positivist paradigm
• Surveys, questionnaires
• Strengths: gather lots of info on many issues, analyze large samples, generalize to populations
• Limitations: Doesn't matter "why," Rules out many questions as unscientific, Structured questions with limited answer choices (leaves out subjective experience & perceptions of participants)

• Interviews
• Life histories
• Case studies
• Documents & artifacts (study ppl's stuff)
• Field observation
• Participant observation
• Limitations: We can't generalize across groups; Time consuming

• Three Main Ethical Issues: informed consent, guarding subjects from harm or injury, protecting the individual's privacy
• Vulnerable groups require extra protection

• Not a new concept BUT now growing faster
• Steady growth of 130 years
• Growth is a steady swell, not a tidal wave

The study of human populations

• Absolute # of older ppl in a population
• Median age (half ppl older, half ppl younger)
• Increased proportion of older ppl (used more often by gerontologists; Relationship btw. older ppl & the rest of society- shows how much infl. the older group will have on society)

• Less of an impact than in the past
• Most immigrants are of a younger age, and will have more impact when they're older

• Main cause of population aging in the 20th century
• Now there's a decline in fertility and death rates

• Increase in births before 1920, and immigration
• Post WWII baby boom
• First (oldest) boomers reach 65 in 2011

• Birth control
• Years in school
• Increased # of women working outside the home
• Smaller proportion of childbearing age women in population today

• 65-74: Young-Old
• 75-84: Old
• 85+: Oldest-Old
• The oldest age group will be one of the fastest-growing groups into the next century

• Smaller social networks
• Social networks declined over time
• 1/2 men married
• 11% women married
• 1/3 had no living children
• Use most nursing home services
• Multiple chronic conditions
• High disability rates

• Younger ppl move out
• Older ppl stay put
• Higher concentrations due to natural accumulation

• Younger ppl move out
• Older ppl move in
• Ex: Retirement to rural areas
• Arkansas, Missouri

• All ages move there
• Older ppl move there at the fastest pace
• Also attract young ppl
• Keeps proportion of older population low
• Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, California, Texa

Want to move somewhere to enjoy a new lifestyle or return to their roots (where they grew up, etc.)

• Assistance- moves back to be near family
• Often triggered by a health crisis (need help w/ moderate disability)

• From the community to institutional setting
• Need help w/ major disability

• Population Aged 0-14 and 65 and older
• Population Aged 15-64

• A crude measure comparing the number of working-age ppl to non-working age ppl
• Very critiqued