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The Aged In The Society

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User Generated

Subject

Social Science

School

Torrens University

Course

WEL 204A

Type

Homework

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qbhtc758

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INTRODUCTION

An individual getting old is a normal life process. Aging is faced by a lot of challenges

which make the life of the elder very uncomfortable leading to various stresses in their life.

Senescence is an aging process that includes emotional, spiritual, intellectual, biological and

social changes. It has been noted that many older adults tend to lose their independence, for they

require more care as they grow old while others remain self-sufficient though they face

challenges such as lack of money due to lack of jobs.

Before writing this report, I interviewed James Bond, a 67 years old male. He lost his

wife 8 years ago, and retired from his job one year after her demise. He is now living as a

bachelor in the state of California under the care of his daughter, Mary, who is a casual worker in

an oil mining company based in Florida, thus she only comes to check on his father during the

off days. James before retirement, he worked in the same company, earning little income, hence

he was not able to save much for his later life after his retirement.

In this report I shall discuss several challenges that are faced by the elderly basing my

argument on different perspectives. We shall evaluate the discourse on aging, ageism and the

impacts it has on growing older.

Discourses that impact upon older people

In my report, I researched on how the old describe their aging process in California city.

Looking at the social discourses affecting the elderly, we can conclude that every old individual

experience ageism in their lifetime. However, they tend to welcome it in different perceptions,

which are either negative or positive. Technology in the 21

century has assisted in increasing

the expectancy of life to some of the individuals, who might be faced by some of the healthy

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challenges Fleming, A.2018). This has led to the rise in population of the elderly. Fear of

growing old is by far much being experienced, due to the fear of being treated differently.

Discourse, is a way in which statements help in creating a common language for

discussing a specific topic of knowledge within a particular timeframe (. The language affects

the discussion of a topic s it is the production of knowledge. Using the Foucauldian discourse

analysis, I majored on power relationship revealed through knowledge and language between the

elderly and their connection on the medical institutions and the society at large. The approach

enables one to summarize the meaning, forming knowledge of what is being said.

Ageism is the negative attitude directed to a person when they are growing old (Levy

2018). This act of ageism occurs without the knowledge of an individual who is doing it to the

elderly. In most occurrences the young tend to have a negative attitude towards the aged, though

in some occurrences the aged also seem to show negativity towards the young people. The older

adults ought to be grouchy, forgetful, incompetent, fragile, and they seem to depend mostly from

the society. Ageism is mostly conducted in various institutions like the healthcare facilities,

shopping centers and other institutions. The language used to speak to the old tends to show the

negativity of an individual offering service to the aged. The use of a patronizing speech,

language of low quality and talking excessively slow, are some of the indicators of the negativity

in a person when addressing an aged person.

However, this kind of language might be intentional while in others it might be

unintentional, though in most cases, it seems to be a kind of insult. When a young individual is

addressing an elderly person, they tend to use a belittling language which involves the use of

simple sentences, speaking loudly in a very slow pace. When referring to an aged person as

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INTRODUCTION An individual getting old is a normal life process. Aging is faced by a lot of challenges which make the life of the elder very uncomfortable leading to various stresses in their life. Senescence is an aging process that includes emotional, spiritual, intellectual, biological and social changes. It has been noted that many older adults tend to lose their independence, for they require more care as they grow old while others remain self-sufficient though they face challenges such as lack of money due to lack of jobs. Before writing this report, I interviewed James Bond, a 67 years old male. He lost his wife 8 years ago, and retired from his job one year after her demise. He is now living as a bachelor in the state of California under the care of his daughter, Mary, who is a casual worker in an oil mining company based in Florida, thus she only comes to check on his father during the off days. James before retirement, he worked in the same company, earning little income, hence he was not able to save much for his later life after his retirement. In this report I shall discuss several challenges that are faced by the elderly basing my argument on different perspectives. We shall evaluate the discourse on aging, ageism and the impacts it has on growing older. Discourses that impact upon older people In my report, I researched on how the old describe their aging process in California city. Looking at the social discourses affecting the elderly, we can conclude that ev ...
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Tags: data collection medical institutions health challenges normal life process fulfilling lives