Empowerment Model Of Ageism

The process of aging in not an unfamiliar topic to society and is an inevitable phase of life. Since 2011, the number of older individuals are increasing annually particularly those from the baby boomer generation. The life expectancy has been increasing with people living longer thanks to modern medicine. These occurrences are proof that civilization is growing exponentially, however the process of aging also means that the older individuals are facing dilemmas such as decreased physical functions, financial instability from retirement, and abuse. Even older adults who are independent may face some limitations.

Lastly, Butler writes that this disregard for older people or being old, affects the medical treatment of older people. Medical professionals will not treat certain problems an older person may face, or attribute a medical problem to the process of ageing. In “Elder Liberation Draft Policy Statement” by Marge Larabee, she writes about the need to change society's views on older people, and dismantle the myth that the feelings and competence of older people are not similar to those of any age. Larabee attests the discrimination of older people to the “rapidly evolving technologies [which] have lessened the value of the knowledge and experience of older adults” (572).

Defining the issue Ageism is a form of discrimination and prejudice against an age group, and is actually felt by seniors (Ageism, 2009). Ageism includes false stereotypes which is applied to the seniors, also changes ones way of how they treat elders. As an individual society has taught us want to categorize people into groups, which often leads to use making incorrect and negative stereotypes on one another. A professor had asked her students if they were excited about getting older, and they all answered “no way!” Their explanation was a list of stereotypes such as, sick, unhappy, sexually inactive, as well as being alone.

Society needs to go back in history and make significant changes. Before the industrial revolution and development of printing press, older adults played an important role in communities. They were seen by society as teachers filled with wisdom. This continues to be true in many cultures were older adults are held in high regards. (Todd Nelson Pg 208).

The social environment is no more immune to the passage of time than is the human body” (Teas and Benignton, 1982, pg. 12). Teas and Benignton discuss the industrial and political world developed the idea that the old are less valuable employees then the youth (1982, pg.17). The late adulthood stage needs to express the importance of self-sufficiency, individualism, and even privacy in the psychosocial development. During this time in one’s life they are possibly experiencing great loss of individualism. Kaufman discusses the observation of family members of the elderly who feel they must be the decision

Explore the Existence of Ageism in Society Ageism is a type of discrimination influenced by the individuals’ age. Older patients are discriminated or not treated as other individuals do to other peoples biases towards old age. Ageism Ageism is part of our society where elder people are discriminated because of their age.

I believe that the solutions are effective because a lot of people are not able to afford care services for their parents or grandparents although they wish to take care of seniors. Also, some people do not understand the importance of giving attention and listening to elderly’s views. This book parallels with the course objectives of our HSM 220, “Aging in America” class. We learned that aging population is growing rapidly, and there is a need to promote well-being for age-wise citizens in our society. The Age of Dignity book helps us understand the aging process and encourages us to appreciate the multi-disciplinary approach to health of the elderly.

Ageism is a serious problem in today’s society. Ageist stereotyping happens today just as it did in the stories I read. We need stereotypes to a point, but it goes too far when the stereotype is wrong. Especially, ageism because people group others into vast age categories that are often wrong. The stereotype may be wrong for more than half of the people in the age group that’s why ageism is unjust. This stereotype is very unfair because of the fact that it can cost older people their jobs because of the age stereotype that they are to old and slow to do anything.

We think people should not be doing certain tasks because of their age. We could change this problem by allowing individuals to do what they want, and if they are not capable we should guide them into another activity. this issue should be discussed, because we judge people by their age and evaluate what they are capable of doing. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, both Elie and his dad are discriminated.

A study by the Center for Disease Control shows that 50% of all disease is life-style related which means that the choices made early in life have a huge impact on how you will age. In fact, one-third of the deaths in the United States are preventable. The key to healthy aging is prevention and it starts now, no matter how old a person is. Simply eating a healthy diet, exercise, and not smoking prevents a surprising amount of physical and mental disabilities and diseases. “Social interaction helps ward off depression and stress, which can contribute to memory loss.”

According to the National Alliance of Social Workers (NASW), social justice is one of the primary ethics which social workers must uphold. Empowerment is a social work theory rooted in social justice, with a main goal of reducing social inequalities through community building and redistribution of access to power. The basic premise of empowerment is "to change the environment, change yourself" (Van Wormer & Besthorn, pg. 212). However, in order to change one 's environment or self, there must be options available and opportunities for individuals to have control over their own decisions. Empowerment theory also aims to build community through citizen participation, collaboration and engagement among community members. This theory also seeks

Chapter 13 was all about the elderly and their place in society. Gerontology is the study of elderly people and the hardships people are faced with once they start aging. More specifically Social gerontology is a subclass of Gerontology that specializes in in what changes a person makes in society once they start aging into the later years. Industrialization is believed to be one of the causes of elderly people losing superiority and power in society. What once was wisdom and knowledge that defined an elderly person is now something like old fashioned.

Solomons (2016) defined self-respect as an individual’s acceptance of self which forms the keystone on how he treats himself and allow others to treat him. With this, it seems that elderlies tend to have difficulty accepting the changes happening in later life. These changes can be reflected in their responses and predominantly focused in their susceptibility of having negative perception of their capabilities or qualities. It seems that they regard aging as a discontinuation process which denotes that they seem to describe their stage in life marked by diminish strength, health, ability and productivity. Some of their responses are: “Mahina na po ako, matanda na., Hindi ko na nagagawa ang dati kong ginagawa noon., Nabawasan na ang lakas ko., Nahihirapan na ako., and Hindi na ako aasenso hanggang dito na lang ako.”, which can be supported by the claim of Esteban (2015) who determined the idioms that Filipino elderlies use to describe and make sense of their experience of

Positive frames of elderly people are related to successful, creative and productive aging (Bailey, 2010). According to Bailey (2010), the most persistent stereotypes of aging people are declining health and deteriorating appearance. The first things that I learned about this population are that these stereotypes are far from true. The elderly people that I engaged with are beautiful people from different backgrounds. Some of them may have been challenged physically but with the appropriate motivational approaches, were raring to go in order to improve their well-being.

The elderly are a largely growing population but they are treated as a minority group. They are placed in assisted living care for numerous reasons such as convenience, health issues, and distress of the informal caregiver. Although assisted living may seem like the best situation for our aging society the movie suggests that this may not be the case. There are many special instances that the elderly have to deal with, such as elder abuse and fraud, as depicted in the movie. Further investigation must be applied in order to limit the number of events like those of Joan Boice, Merle, and George