The Growth of Social Gerontology Essay

Introduction

Aging happens to mankind regardless of gender, class, culture or race. However, the public perception about the older adults has been very unpleasant form many years and this has implanted fear among individuals approaching old age. Gerontology is a growing field concerned with maintenance and enhancement of the quality of life and well-being of aging persons with the promotion of dignity, autonomy, and independence. The key drivers of social gerontology are the fast increasing population of the elderly particularly those with complex long-term conditions and challenges with regards to policy implementation for elderly care.

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Aging in other countries and across cultures in the United States

Recently, population aging has become a global issue. One of the striking characteristics of this growth is the increasing number of older people. The concept of globalization has brought about interconnectedness in the world accompanied by changes in social and family structures and increased life expectancy. However, industrialized countries like the United States feel the social and economic burden of the growing age-dependency ratio. Additionally, lots of taxpayer money is spent on retirement benefits for the old and shortage of manpower and

Causes of Death in old age

Human beings are mortal. However, with increased medical advances life expectancy has really gone up. Now more than ever people are surviving from previous deadly diseases that caused many lives to be lost such as Malaria and cowpox. There is a significant shift from parasitic and infectious diseases to long-term diseases. Today, a majority of elderly people die from chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and hypertension. However, gender and racial disparities play a major role in the mortality rates.

Enhancing cognitive abilities in old age

As people age their cognitive abilities and memory decline. It is important to understand how these changes occur to facilitate functional independence and effectiveness in the elderly persons. Age-related illnesses accelerate the neuronal dysfunction rate, neuronal loss and decline in cognition (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2008). Growing evidence suggests that healthy lifestyle such as mental stimulation, physical exercise, and less depression may help reduce the rate of cognition decline.

Mental disorders among elder persons

Old is gold. This is a common say meaning older people are full of knowledge and wisdom. Past studies have revealed that the elderly people are less prevalent to mental disruptions compared to the younger generation. However, this trend has been changing in the past few years. While prevalence rates have increased the number are still below that of the younger generation. Past history of mental state, therefore, plays an important role in the predisposition of the elderly into mental disorder.

Reference

Hooyman, N. R., & Kiyak, H. A. (2008). Social gerontology: A multidisciplinary perspective. Pearson Education.