Theories of Ageing and Their Impact on Health and Social Care

D2- Evaluate the influence of two major theories of ageing on health and social care provision.

The disengagement theory believes that growing old isn’t a nice, cheerful experience and that inevitably we end up alone. The theory was formulated by Cumming and Henry in the 1960s who defined how the relationship between older individuals and other members of society onto older individuals decrease in quality.

All over the news and in different programs that are implemented are set in place are geared toward children in poverty. Poverty in children is a huge problem happening all over the country but what about the elderly. We get so focus on helping the children that the elderly can sometimes be looked over and forgotten about. In Texas, 17% of all elderly are living in poverty. Poverty in the elderly is an issue that continues to rise at a fast pace and this may be because of food insecurity that they may face (Communities Foundation of Texas, 2016). Most people feel like getting old is so far in the future for them, or just the idea of aging is too hard to think about but getting old for all of us is imminent. The elderly once took care of us, so it is

Abuse can happen to anyone, but elderly adults residing in nursing homes are more vulnerable and have a higher risk for abuse (Rasansky Law Firm, 2006, para. 1). Elders are among the fastest growing in the population, and because of this many more elderly

Research show that in 2013, over 9.5% of seniors over the age of sixty-five lived in poverty with the percentage increasing as an individual’s age increases (McNeal, 2016). These statistics does not account for the other issues which affects families and caretakers when addressing the well-being of their loved ones and the inadequate access to long term care.

An estimated twenty-one percent of nursing home residents are neglected at least once in the past twelve months and more than twenty-four percent are abused at least once during their entire stay (Schub & Kornusky, 2014). In a study of 718 family members and others responsible for those ages 60 and older receiving long-term care in a nursing home, an assisted living facility or paid homecare, nearly 30 percent reported at least one instance of elder abuse in the past year. Neglect was the most common form and sexual abuse the least (Anetzberger, 2012).

Care homes should provide a quality of service meeting the needs of the residents as in a normal setting. However, the institutionalised nature of the care has many negative impacts on the residents’ as they perceive it is as negative form of care and a service denying independence, autonomy, privacy, power and other principle of human rights. Elderly are abused and neglected in some care homes while large proportions of staff caring for them are untrained and incompetent in caring. Funding for elderly care is major issue, on one extreme elderly are being forced to pay for care and on the other local authorities struggle to manage service within their budget.#

With alleged news of government cuts of funding on Meals on Wheels can garner lots of concern when looking at potential consequences to this. Programs like Meals on Wheels not only provide meal assistance, but they also act as a form of healthy social interaction that can strengthen an elder's social networks. For some seniors, this may be the one of the only sources of social interaction they receive consistently, and depleting these resources will only hurt these already vulnerable populations. Something else to note could be the potential for more heat waves in metropolitan areas like Chicago in the upcoming years. Climate change is occurring and this can result in worse living conditions for those who are poor and live in isolation, as they may not be able to afford proper cooling systems, similarly to many of the victims Klinenberg described. Another thing to consider is how these disparities can be lessened realistically since, as Marmot had talked about in The Status Syndrome, equality of opportunity does not necessarily equate to equality of outcome; having people who start their lives off at a fair point doesn’t guarantee that none of the individuals will end up dying alone in isolation because of the absence of equality of

Aging is a universal phenomenon and humans are no exception. Gerontology deals with the psychological, social and biological aspects of aging process. A recent study shows that people aged 85 years and older are expected to augment from 5.3 million people to 21 million as the world reach 2050. In today’s world Gerontology has an enormous role to play so that the senior citizens could be analyzed and their needs may be addressed with compassion and empathy.

Restricted public funds to meet those costs and a strain on the resources of those who pay for their own care.

Due to better health conditions, the population of the UK is ageing – with 10 million people above the age of 65 years due to rise by approximately 5.5 million by 2020 and a further 19 million by 2050 according to census in 2010 by the UK government.

The built environment has been defined by various scholars as the man-made neighborhood that gives the settings for human activities ranging from large scale civic surroundings to personal places while elderly fall has been simply defined as a person coming to rest on the ground or another lower level with or without losing consciousness. An American opera singer famously remarked that in youth we run into difficulties, in old age difficulties run into us. This wise saying adequately express the rarely talked about fight that comes with the developmental stage of old age, except for childhood, old age is the developmental stage or period when we need the most attention and assistance from mankind. Per WHO records, globally, the elderly forms a minority, yet a fairly-large part of the population. Generally considered as the smallest productive segment of the population thus more or less a burden on the general population, many of their predicaments are often totally ignored. There has also been an equivalent neglect on research that directly affects their lifestyles, needs, challenges and overall well-being.

Older people more likely having the need to support a family and self-subsistence meaning that they must seek employment to fulfil these needs.

Furthermore, the UK is undergoing an enduring demographic shift towards an older population. The Office for National Statistics projects that by 2033 there will be around 20.5 million people over the age of 60 that accounts for nearly 29% of

The elderly, especially those who are weak and/or dependent, require physical, mental and emotional care and support. When this is not provided, they suffer from neglect, a problem that occurs when a person is left uncared for and that is often linked with isolation. Changing lifestyles and values, demanding jobs, distractions such as television, a shift to nuclear family structures and redefined priorities have led to increased neglect of the elderly by families and communities. This is worsened as the elderly are less likely to demand attention than those of other age groups.