Why is it so important to study gerontology? To answer this question, we must first decipher what gerontology is. According to the text gerontology is the study of the biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging, (Hooyman et al 2). There are a variety of job fields that partake in researching, teaching, and/or practicing gerontology. Some of these job titles include medicine, dentistry, social work, economics, biology, urban planning, policy studies, and many others. For the next several decades, there will continue to be a rapid growth of people reaching the older ages. Although it may seem like an insignificant thing, the study of human aging greatly affects our society. Patricia L. Sawyer, Ph.D., UAB associate professor and
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Our text book, An Introduction to Social Gerontology, gave two examples of the meaning of ‘old.” The first stated, “Older is defined by the U.S. Census bureau (age 65 and older) . . . (because) it was the mandatory age of retirement, the age when a worker could receive full retirement benefits, and what our society typically considered as “turning” old.” The second definition, found again in out text, was, “. . . the age 60 is also frequently used to chronologically define “old”; for example, it is the age when a person can receive social services funded by the federal Administration on Aging, (Hooyman et al. 5). Personally, I define ‘old’ as someone who is no longer able to function and live without assistance. Someone who leans on the ability of others to help them through each and every day. One who is no longer young enough to care for themselves. When I reach this point in life, I will truly feel …show more content…
Gerontologists have created two groups in which the old people fall under. The first group is the old-old age group. This group consists of those who are 75 to 84 years of age. The second group is the oldest-old age group. People who are age 85 and older fall into this group. The oldest-old group is the most rapidly growing group out of the two. When human aging is intensely studied, it can provide us with very useful information. In chapter one of Aging Matters, many interesting statistics were listed. “The 65-74 age group (about 21 million) is approximately 10 times larger than in 1900, the 75-84 group (over 13 million) is 17 times larger, and the group age 85 and older (5.5 million) is times larger!” (Hooyman et al. 20). The advancements in medicine have allowed for ‘old’ people to become even older. It was predicted that the oldest-old will reach near 19 million by 2050. That is nearly five percent of the U.S. population, (Hooyman et al. 20). So why would it be important to learn about the oldest-old age group? Caring for the old is a job not only done by social institutions, but by individuals as well. Having this many people nearing the oldest-old age poses consequences for many areas in the work-force: social services, long-term services, retirement policies, political power, education services, housing, and communities. In fact most of our healthcare dollars are spent tending to the oldest-old. Plans must be
Our text book, An Introduction to Social Gerontology, gave two examples of the meaning of ‘old.” The first stated, “Older is defined by the U.S. Census bureau (age 65 and older) . . . (because) it was the mandatory age of retirement, the age when a worker could receive full retirement benefits, and what our society typically considered as “turning” old.” The second definition, found again in out text, was, “. . . the age 60 is also frequently used to chronologically define “old”; for example, it is the age when a person can receive social services funded by the federal Administration on Aging, (Hooyman et al. 5). Personally, I define ‘old’ as someone who is no longer able to function and live without assistance. Someone who leans on the ability of others to help them through each and every day. One who is no longer young enough to care for themselves. When I reach this point in life, I will truly feel …show more content…
Gerontologists have created two groups in which the old people fall under. The first group is the old-old age group. This group consists of those who are 75 to 84 years of age. The second group is the oldest-old age group. People who are age 85 and older fall into this group. The oldest-old group is the most rapidly growing group out of the two. When human aging is intensely studied, it can provide us with very useful information. In chapter one of Aging Matters, many interesting statistics were listed. “The 65-74 age group (about 21 million) is approximately 10 times larger than in 1900, the 75-84 group (over 13 million) is 17 times larger, and the group age 85 and older (5.5 million) is times larger!” (Hooyman et al. 20). The advancements in medicine have allowed for ‘old’ people to become even older. It was predicted that the oldest-old will reach near 19 million by 2050. That is nearly five percent of the U.S. population, (Hooyman et al. 20). So why would it be important to learn about the oldest-old age group? Caring for the old is a job not only done by social institutions, but by individuals as well. Having this many people nearing the oldest-old age poses consequences for many areas in the work-force: social services, long-term services, retirement policies, political power, education services, housing, and communities. In fact most of our healthcare dollars are spent tending to the oldest-old. Plans must be