Evolution of Roles and Societal Perspectives on Aging

Aging is an inevitable process, but responses to the aging process vary from generation to generation, culture to culture, and person to person. Factors like gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic class have an impact on attitudes toward aging. Beliefs and attitudes toward aging and towards older people also vary. The status of elder adults in the family, community, and society also varies. It is important to understand the evolution of age-based social roles and attitudes towards aging because all people encounter seniors, care for seniors, and most likely become old too. Because the Baby Boomer generation is reaching senior age status, issues related to gerontology are becoming especially salient for the health care professional.

Unfortunately, there are several disturbing trends in how old people and aging are viewed. The status of elders is generally low, leading to problems in senior physical and mental health. Treatment of seniors varies widely, with some families more than willing to care for senior family members in their own homes. Other families deny time, resources, or care to their elder relatives. Impediments and barriers to providing care for senior family members include geographic distance and finances. Because it is more common in this generation for young people to move to go to school or find work, children end up living long distances from their parents and sometimes live in other countries. The changing nature of the global market economy means that as parents age, they find themselves isolated from both friends and family members who have left the region or country. When children have established themselves with jobs and family in another state or country, it is difficult to provide adequate care for aging relatives. This presents special problems for the health care sector, which is overburdened with issues affecting seniors including assisted living. Whether assisted living facilities or nursing homes can provide better care than seniors living independently and then accessing outpatient ambulatory care services is another issue that needs to be debated regularly among health care workers and stakeholders.

Social norms also play a role in determining whether a son or daughter hosts a senior parent or grandparent in their home. Traditional cultures value extended family living situations, but that is also becoming outmoded as European social models are becoming standardized. Upward social mobility in a Western society also means that people from traditional cultures are abandoning old fashioned family values and lifestyles, instead trending toward living in small apartments in urban centers rather than in dwellings large enough to accommodate an aging parent. Families contend with difficult choices related to how to care for elders. Those choices are constrained by cultural values and social norms, finances, and attitudes toward the role of elders in the family.

One of the most important factors in the aging process is maintaining social ties. The ways seniors have access to social networks has a bearing on health outcomes. Therefore it is important to understand patterns of behavior and belief in the community. If older people are not given a legitimate role in the family, then their role in society also becomes ambiguous. Unable to work past official retirement age, some seniors might lack the necessary mental stimulation and physical activity level to keep them healthy. Yet ageism and prejudices against seniors has prevented many seniors from continuing to work, or from joining social activities. Some seniors have found that living in supportive social environments and communities is helpful. Older people who want to work often find that they are discriminated against, even if they are in good health.

Moreover, attitudes towards aging are influenced by cultural concepts about beauty. This is especially true for women, who generally tend to struggle more than men with their physical appearance as they age. Older generations of seniors, such as those born before World War Two, did not expect to age as gracefully as seniors do today. Now, both men and women, but especially women, use plastic surgery and treatments to preserve the visual appearance of youth. Dying hair is only one cosmetic method of avoiding the appearance of being old. More extreme measures like plastic surgery have become more common, and in some communities are almost normative. Of course, socio-economic class status impacts one's ability to afford cosmetic surgery, which is why attitudes toward aging and beauty will vary according to demographics.