khim horton, phd, rn, rcnt, pgcea senior lecturer and lead ...€¦ · great dog called bosco who...

When does old age begin?

Tuesday, 26 August 2014 1

Khim Horton, PhD, RN, RCNT, PGCEA

Senior Lecturer and Lead Older Adult,

School of Health Sciences,

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Grant Agreement number: 230/15/12



• The context

My plan

• Aims:

o To understand the social construction of

ageing and how this might influence the

way we perceive old age;

o To examine our understanding of old age

and how it might influence our healthcare

practice.



1993

The context

Tinker, (1993)


o Examined a number of characteristics of older

people to see whether there is one age at which

major differences can be seen- to see if there are

markers for change.

o The characteristics include:

Gender

Marital status

Living arrangements

Health

Work and pensions



Social construction

• One of the key concepts of sociology.

• Refers to the way we create meaning through

social interaction with others. Labels do not

occur naturally but are categories that we

create.

• When we suggest that age is socially

constructed, we mean that a person’s

chronological age is affected by societal norms

that are attached to age groups.



Social construction • One of the key concepts of sociology.

• Refers to the way we create meaning through social

interaction with others. Labels do not occur naturally

but are categories that we create.

• When we suggest that age is socially constructed, we

mean that a person’s chronological age is affected by

societal norms that are attached to age groups.

• Each group is expected to behave a certain way and to have a

certain role.

• Certain behaviours that people typically associate with certain age

groups as being "appropriate" or "acceptable"



Social norms

79 year old sky diving




How do people know

how old they are?

When does ‘youth’ end

and ‘old age’ begin? Work in pairs

and discuss


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Social regulation of age in Britain

o People in the West know

their age because society

regulates public life

according to chronological

age.

o Age is not only ritualised but

also bureaucratised.

o Legal rights and duties

based on age, e.g. register

of births and certificate age.

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Thompson et al. (1990)

• It is a new interpretation

of the history of ageing

in Britain based on

qualitative evidence.

• 55 randomly selected

life story interviews

(informants born 1899-

1928, then aged 60-

87).

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Thompson et al. (1990)

• Unless they are physically ill

or emotionally depressed,

they do not feel old, in their

real selves, that they are old.

• They all fear going into an

old people’s home and only

a tiny minority can even think

of joining an old people’s

club.

• ….‘my life’s just beginning’.

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Employing strategies…

Work: Primary motive – social

relationships and sense of purpose

brought by work rather than for the

money earned.

Leisure: an opportunity whose

growth mirrors the decline of paid

work.

Grandparenting: younger

grandparents give more practical

help; older ones are more likely to

need it.

Intimate adult relationships:



• text

Sub title

Abrams, et al. (2011)

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• The Insights on Ageing survey gives

a glimpse into what life is like for

older people across the globe today.

• It reveals what they think about

ageing and what they would like to

see their governments do to make

life in older age better.

• 1,265 people over 60 responded to

the survey in 32 countries across

Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe,

Western Europe and the Caribbean.

Ageism in Europe



• 48 per cent of respondents over 60 think the

world is becoming a better place for older

people.

• 29 per cent think that the world is getting worse

for older people while 15 per cent think it is

staying the same.

• 72 per cent of older people in rural areas feel

valued, compared with only 56 per cent in urban

areas.

Ageism in Europe: Perceptions of ageing

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For the UK, the average response was that you stop being young at 35, and start being old at 58. Youngest respondents (15-24-year old): Youth ends at 28 and old age starts from 55!

Oldest age group (80 and older): Youth ends at 42 and old age starts at 67.

‘What counts as young and old is largely down to the age of the beholder.’

When does youth end and old age begin?

21


• text

Sub title o Men: regarded end of youth and start of old age to

begin two years earlier than women did.

o Perceived to end earliest in Nordic countries such

as Norway but as much as 10 years later in

countries such as Belgium and Slovenia.

o In Cyprus (end of youth = over 52;

start of old age= 67).

o Treated with prejudice: UK youngest age group

more likely to report this;

o Age prejudice- most widely in Finland (47%);

least in Cyprus and Portugal (19 %). 21

22


Defining our identities • Individuals define their identities along two

dimensions (Howard, 2000):

• Social identity: refers to how people see and define themselves in relation to their membership in a social group or category.

• Personal identity: refers to the idiosyncratic (peculiarities) and unique attributes that distinguish the person from others (Goffman, 1963, 1968).

23


Symbolic interactionist perspective-> Identities

are constructed within a system of social

interactions where meanings are contextually

based and culturally bound

(Gilleard and Higgs, 2000).

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When does old age begin? Defining our identity

My home town is Feldkirchen.

I play American football in the team

called Jyväskylä Jaguars.

At the moment I am working as a health

care assistant in different hospitals.

I have 2 sisters and a great dog called Bosco who is named after a

famous Irish entertainer.

I am 34 years old and I am married to a wonderful

man.

We are studying

Social Work in the

Master.

I work in the front office of

the capital hospital in

Villach.

I am the fourth generation of a

family of nurses.

Family is important to

me.

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When does old age begin? Defining our identity

I have a dog called Guinness.

I love theatre,

music and museums .

When I don’t work or

study I am doing sports.

Pets: Dog, guinea pigs,

turtle..

I work part time in a

nursing home and hospital.

Previous working experience includes working with elderly, patients with mental disorders and people

with physical disabilities.

I am married

and I have 3 children.

When I’m not studying, I work as a coach at the UCD

multi-sports camps for children.



• text

Social regulation of age

What other behaviours are

age-related in your

country?

Let’s have

some

examples

from

you.

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http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=alcohol age limit&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=_2wgckeFP6OmOM&tbnid=T80nCORDZm_r6M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.signsbypost.com/AGE-RESTRICTION-SIGNS&ei=46z_UYLEO8Kn0AWG9YHACw&bvm=bv.50165853,d.d2k&psig=AFQjCNHxkKPi_I3-7WJ03RonezRQOp0jMg&ust=1375796704874052

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• text

Sub title

Definitely old

Definitely not old

‘Not old not young’

Can you share

with me your

thoughts about

being an older

person?’

29


Rozario & Derienzis (2009):

I’m an old timer. I’m married almost 55 years

. .. I have no children. I have a lot of nieces

and nephews, but I don’t get to see them

that often. So, it’s just me and him…

‘I have no idea. I don’t feel old. I don’t think

I’m old. And I don’t think I look old. I think

I’m gorgeous…’’

(a 73 year old woman with Arthritis, diabetes,

asthma and back pain.)


When does old age begin? Rozario & Derienzis (2009):

‘Well, I always try to be young, you know’. ‘Oh no,

I consider myself as good as the next person,

only with a little handicap. I can be as active as,

as they are, but as far as consider myself old, no.

Because I’m able to go wherever I want to go.

Takes a little longer. I don’t miss anything in life’.

31


Introducing a 90 year old…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pX9h5PVNGaY





The mask of ageing (Featherstone and Hepworth, 1989)

• Age is seen as a mask that hides the true feeling of the person ‘underneath’.

• An issue of the gap between the physical presentation of ageing on the external body and the subjective experience of ageing that lies beneath.

• Refers to the feeling of there being a youthful inner self masked by an external ageing body.



• text

Social cues to old age (Karp, 2000)

• People tend to become conscious of growing old.

• The signals of old age are not always welcome and not necessarily internalised; they felt like strangers to themselves.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=distorted mirror image&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=w0k6z0Lnga87zM&tbnid=vvjwX4VVrKNmUM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/d/distorted.asp&ei=6R8TUtLYEsP30gWoi4HoCw&bvm=bv.50952593,d.d2k&psig=AFQjCNHRadO_3pNEPS8vSDWAujWGs-9EBw&ust=1377071257542583



Social cues to old age (Karp, 2000)



What will you do to help

change the way you age?



What things would

you like to do before

you’re old?

• A social construction perspective provides us an

understanding of how people know how old they

are.

• There are social cues and these serve to remind

us of how we perceive ourselves and others and

they of us.

• These have implications for how we approach the

way we care for older people.

• Feeling yourself and feeling old remain essentially

different at any age.

37

When does old age begin? Conclusions

38

When does old age begin? Useful references

Featherstone, M. and Hepworth, M. (1989). Ageing and old age: Reflections

on the postmodern lifecourse. In B. Bytheway, T. Kiel, P. Allat and A.

Bryman (Eds.), Becoming and being old, pp. 143–57. London: Sage

Publications.

Karp, D. A. (2000) ‘A decade of reminders: changing age consciousness

between fifty and sixty years old’ in J.F. Grubium and J A Holstein, Ageing

and Everyday Life. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 65-86.

Rozario, P.A. & Derenzis, D. (2009) ‘So forget how old I am!’ Examining age

identities in the face of chronic conditions. Sociology of Health and Illness,

31 (4), 540-553.

Thompson, P. (1992) ‘I don’t feel old’: subjective ageing and the search for

meaning in later life. Ageing and Society, 19, 23-47.

Tinker, A. (1993) When does old age start? International J of Geriatric

Psychiatry, 8, 711-716.

Vincent, J. (2003) Old Age. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

39


Food for thought for your field visit…

To what extent is the approach to care of older

people in that setting based on social construction

of ageing?

What social cues to ageing, if any are visible?

Were services age-specific?

Were services gender-specific?

What similarities and differences are there to your

country’s health care provision for older people?

Were there surprises? Why?

What would you do differently and why?

40

Any questions?

Thank you for listening.

khim horton, phd, rn, rcnt, pgcea senior lecturer and lead ...€¦ · great dog called bosco who...

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