HLTHAGE 1BB3

When does society decides we start aging?

65

What are myths?

untrue facts

what are Common age-related myths?

* Mental cognitions fade with age
* All old people end up in nursing homes
* All old people are bad drivers
* All old people are conservative

what are common stereotypes?

* Elder women 
* portrayed as evil, witchlike
* Huggable grandmother
* Elder men
* Creepy
* Grumpy
* Soft hearted grandfather
* "Father knows best"

ageism

rejudice against older people

* Phrase coined by Robert butler in 1969

What is policy?

A framework, guiding principles or procedure or protocol guiding actions

* Ex. Government, work places, institutions or organizations

what is social policy

* concerned with the ways societies across the world meet human needs for security, education, work, health and wellbeing


* The institutional - broad
* Health and wellbeing

population aging definition

process where a population is increasingly over 65

United Nations definition

A population is considered "aged" when more than 7% of it is over 65 years of age

in what year did persons over 65 outnumber children under 5?

2018

what’s the prediction for 2050?

the number of persons aged 65 years or over globally will also surpass the number of

adolescents and youth aged 15 to 24 years

life expectancies:

* Overall: 82
* Men: 80
* Women: 84
* Maximum life span: 120

what was significant about July 1, 2015

for the first time, there were more persons aged 65 years and older in Canada than children aged 0 to 14 years

Demographic transition theory

Prior to industrialization

high birth rates and high death (mortality) rates

* Lots of infant mortality

Demographic transition theory

industrialization

high birth rates and a decrease in death rates

* Advances in medicine, technology, sanitation, living conditions

Demographic transition theory

post industrialization

decrease in birth rate and low death rates

what are the causes of population aging

* Decreasing fertility
* Increase in life expectancy
* Immigration

baby boom cohort:

* Decrease in age at marriage
* Economic upswing (post WWII)
* Shorter intervals between births 

 

baby bust cohort

* Birth rate dropped why? 
* Better birth control (the pill)
* Increasing age at marriage
* Changing role of women- delaying childbirth
* Economic difficulties

immigration

smallest role in population aging

Old age dependency ratio

ratio of those over to those of labour force age

Total dependency ratio

ratio of all non-workers (including children

*What is theory?*

* A formal explanation for an aspect of the social world
* Explanation of events or comparable ideas to test 

What are some of reasons that researchers use theory?

* Try to make sense of world around them
* Test hypothesis
* Explanations to prove or disprove a theory
* Predications
* Inform public policies

Macro-level theory

* Big societal issues
* International data
* Societal data

Meso-level theory

* larger groups
* organizations

Micro-level theory

small groups

functionalist body analogy?

* Homeostasis 
* Views society as a system of interrelated parts that work together for the good of the whole

basic assumptions of functionalist theory?

* Society is based on consensus
* Based on negotiation
* Hierarchy - status - rich, poor

age cohorts

individuals born in the same year or within a range of years

age grading

 the process in which age determines social location, roles, norms, and interpersonal relationships

the interpretive paradigm assumptions:

believes that reality is multi-layered and complex and a single phenomenon can have multiple interpretations

narrative gerontology

* emphasis on older adults telling their stories
* Qualitative
* Oriented in positivistic paradigm
* Scientific method - broad trends

* Disengagement theory (Cumming and Henry 1961)

* Functionalist viewpoint
* Older people should retire from their roles to allow for younger people to be able to go into the workforce and take over
* Movement of elders out of workplace - retirement home
* Very popular in 1960s
* Functionalism was in vouge - promoted viewpoint 
* Human rights and freedoms = no mandatory retirement
* Outdated now
* Perspective / promoted!!!

Activity theory (Neugarten, HavingHurst, and Tobin 1968)

* Older people wont  be happy and self-satisfied if they disengage
* Take on new roles and statuses
* Participating in new activitiy
* they don’t disengage

Continuity theory (Atchley 1981)

* Cant just have any old activity it wont make it fulfilling
* Has to be meaningful
* Do not do something you hate - something you enjoy
* Continuing things they felt fulfilling in their midlife

the conflict paradigm

society is not based on consensus but on conflict between groups

* Tensions and struggles and inequality 

Critical gerontology

* Activists prove lives of older people
* Political and economic perspective
* Cast an eye on Gerontology itself
* Idea that as gerontologists create expectations for older people so is it really benefitting the elders?
* Reflexivity 


* The role of critical gerontology is to "cast a critical eye on society and the field of gerontology itself" (Ray 2008)

Intersectionality theory

* A critical approach to marginalization and discrimination
* Based on critical theory 
* Disadvantages - layers of intersection
* Not just colour…
* Where are each person socially located
* Women of colour - greater discrimination
* Takes things to new level diving deeper in the specifics
* Open eyes to disadvantages 

Age effects

Maturational and physiological changes

Cohort effects

Related to the times of persons birth

Period or environmental effects 

Due to time of measurement (social historical, environmental)

Cross- sectional

* Studies many age groups at

one point in time

Pros

* Quick to do
* Relatively low cost
* Draws attention to patterns of

behavior that vary by age

group

Cons

* Does not tell us anything

about changes due to aging

Longitudinal

* Studies a single group of

people at 2 or more points

in time

Pros

* A truer picture of change over time

Cons

* Can take years to complete
* Expensive to set up/maintain
* Attrition can bias the

results

* Affected by

environmental/period

changes

Time lag

* Studies different groups

of people of the same

age at different points in

time

Pros

* A truer picture of change over time-

captures difference between cohorts

Cons

* Expensive, Time consuming
* Attrition can bias the results
* Does not tell us about changes due to environmental/period effects

Sequential 

* A series of cross-sectional studies during a longer

longitudinal study

* Time line = different groups of people

Pros

* Can compare impact of period effects on each cohort
* Accounts for maturational change, cohort differences, and environment effects thereby reducing the confusion of age change with age differences

Cons

* Expensive, Time-consuming
* Attrition can bias the results
* Obtaining a representative

sample is difficult.

Research methodologies

* Quantitative: measurable - numbers 
* Qualitative: micro, small, experiences, text/ narratives, films, photos, 

Ethical issues in research

1. The need for informed consent
2. The need to guard subjects against harm or injury
3. The need to protect individuals privacy

musculoskeletal system

* Less bone cells
* More prevalent in women
* Bone density decrease

sensory changes

* Loss of sight and hearing
* Men who worked in industry have hearing loss
* Less safety equipment = hearing
* Muscles in your eyes become weaker
* Glare sensitivity
* Prereferral vision loss 
* Catarax
* Macular degeneration
* Disease - loss of central vison 
* Runs in families
* Leads to blindness
* People are not completely blind
* Loss of touch - hot and cold
* Temperature changes internally change - cold
* Loss of sense of touch

Life satisfaction

* Younger age groups and older have greater satisfaction of life
* Middle age has less satisfaction of life
* Building family
* Having money
* Work

Lifestyle change

Studies promote this to see less things of heart deise 

* Smoking in later life
* Exercise
* Diet
* Stress reduction

Activities

personal

 

Instrumental

\

 

extraneous

\

Functional capacity

* Preforming the activities of daily living ADLS
* Performing instrumental actives of daily living 

Frailty

* Contested term
* Not clearly defined
* Medically: refers to physical changes
* Decrease in muscle strength
* Loss of weight
* Greater unsteadiness
* Loss of mobility
* Greater chance to fall - fractures

The compression of mobility theory

* James Fries (1980)
* You live a long life free from disability than die late in life in sleep
* Better health care - longer healthier lives
* Only Short period illness
* The theory has been contested - not all evidence supports it
* Too optimistic 

Successful aging

* Model of successful again row and Kahn 1995
* The maintenance of physical and cognitive function, and engagement with lifeEarly Critiques

Early Critiques

* Prescriptive
* Assumes individuals have control over health & life circumstances
* Blames those who are unsuccessful
* Ignores the subjective view of the individual

Later critiques

* Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) (Baltes & Baltes, 1990).
* Ignores Spirituality

Neuro plasticit

as we age our neurons take on different collaterals that find new pathways that we actually can continue to benefit from it, continue to adapt

Two types of memory

* Episodic memory: apply around specific time
* Ex. Birthday party, graduation, (episode)
* Greater decline with age
* Non-episodic memory: general knowledge of the world
* Ex, facts, language, school

What happens to out memory as we age?

* Latency: length of time it take someone to react or respond
* Encoding: process where a person puts new info together with info they’ve already stored

Intelligence

* The ability to negotiate environmental demands successfully

CRISTALALIZE

* Starts early in life
* Began to use this ability from teen years on
* Verbal tests
* Decrease with age

What does it mean to be wise?

* Ability to deal with problems in out lives
* How we conduct out lives
* Stereotype that elders are more wise

What is dementia?

“Dementia is a term used for a group of symptoms

associated with non-treatable, irreversible,

progressive illnesses that affect the brain.”

Alzheimer's disease

* A disease that attacks the structures of the brain
* Abnormal proteins form which intfere with neurons in the brain
* DR Alois Alzheimer
* Degenerative disease
* Incurable
* Nothing to slow down process

Main types of living arrangements 

* Independent living
* Supportive housing/ assisted living/ retirement home
* Long term care/ nursing home

Central issues surrounding housing

* Affordability, availability, accessibility
* Housing is a fundamental human need

An age-friendly community

 

OAS (old age security)

* Largest and most costly federal program for people 65 and over
* How is the old age security benefit financed?
* Taxes
* Who qualifies for OAS benefits?
* Everyone qualifies, no matter past work
* If Canadian citizen 
* If country u live in u could qualify for pension if your country has an agreement
* Are OAS benefits taxable?
* Are OAS payments indexed to the cost of living?
* Go up a slight amount
* CURRENT MAXIMUM MONTHLY BENEFIT $687.56
* Currently anyone with a retirement income of more than $81 761 in 2022 has to repay part or all of the OAS pension
* Anyone with an income of more $141 917 than is not eligible for the OAS benefit
* Deferring old age security benefits
* You can defer OAS to 70
* 5 years before you start collecting it
* Retiring at age 70 instead= 36% increase
* Ex,  Rita will be turning 65 in December if she decides to delay receiving the old age security pension for the maximin deferral period of 60 months, her monthly amount will increase by 36% at age 70 (0.6% x 60 months)
* If Rita's entitlement is $687.56 per month, at age 65 her increased monthly payment at age 70 would be $935.08

Guaranteed income supplement (GIS)

* GIS provides additional money in additional to OAS pension to low income seniors living in Canada
* Who is eligible?
* 60 - lower pension
* Single widow - $1000 month
* If income less than 20 000 a year
* Is the GIS benefit taxable?
* NO, it is not

 

The allowance 

* Guarantees an income to low- income couples one of whose members is receiving GIS and whose other member (the ALW recipient) aged 60-64


* The allowance for the survivor program
* Spouse or loved partner died - need fanatical support
* Provides money for low-income seniors who are between the ages of 60-64 whose spouse or common-law partner has died

Functions of the second level:

* Almost all individuals who work in Canada outside Quebec contribute to the CPP
* In Quebec residents contribute to the Quebec pension Plan (QPP)

Canada pension plan (CPP)

* Contribution rate is based on pensionable earnings
* 9.9% (5.1% paid by the employee, 5.1% paid by the employer)
* Self employed pay 10.2%
* Pay your own pension
* Pay double - full 10%
* Make contributions only on your annual earnings between a minimum and a maximum amount

CPP benefits

* A contributor can begin receiving retirement pension as early as age 60 and as late as age 70 (rates reduced or increased)

CPP contributions

* Vesting: Invested
* Portability: go to any province, CPP benefits

1. Private pension plans

* Workplace RPP's
* An employer-sponsored plan registered with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and most commonly also with one of the pension regulatory authorities
* Defined benefit
* provides a specific and predictable benefit (or amount of income) at retirement
* you vs your employers contribute
* Updates on how much
* Defined contribution
* Investment into stock market
* Employer chooses what they want to invest

2. Registered retirement savings plans & tax advantages - TFSA

FSAs offer no up-front tax break, but you don't pay tax on any withdrawals, including growth.

Reasons for RRSPs

* Awareness of the need to save for retirement advertising
* Dual- earner families (women in labor force)
* Nationally, in 2020, the median RRSP contribution was $2 960 for women, while the median RRSP contribution was $4 280 for men

 

Financial issues in later life

* Certain groups of older people more likely to live in poverty
* Older women who live on own
* Older men invested more through lives
* Indigenous 
* New immigrants

 What is an institution?

Medicine, hospital is the organization within institution of medicine 

actors leading to retirement

social, and personal conditions

social forces

* Changes in physical mental health
* Discrimination in work force - push you into retirement
* Up too 2006 mandatory retirement rules 
* Certain industries have certain mandatory 
* Entertainment? 
* Prevalent in hiring \]age discriminations

Personal conditions/factors

* Health
* Workforce shut out???
* Looking forward too

Compared to unmarried women are married women more likely to retire early?

more like;y

* Does mandatory retirement exist in Canada?

* No, some jobs maybe
* Continue to use early retirement to hire younger people

* In what year was federal law concerning mandatory retirement amended? 

2006

what the median age for retirement

64, although The employment rate of individuals 55 or over has grown noticeably in recent years

Canada health act 5 principal;es

public administration

comprehensiveness

unoversity

accessbility

portability

public administration

* How healthcare is delivered is through publicly funded agencies
* You don’t pay for care

Comprehensiveness

* Basic services covered
* Admitted to hospital you don’t have to pay
* Dental, vision = not covered

University

* Basic covers across coverage

Accessibility

* You are able to access sources with out paying
* Don’t have to pay out of pocket for concerns

Portability

* Can carry your services wherever you go
* basic hospitals covered

Who is responsible for health care in Ontario?

* Ministry of health
* Ministry of long term care
* Home and community care support services: formerly local health integration networks

Personhood: key principles

1. Understanding that individuals have unique histories and preferences
2. Eliminating dehumanization
3. Maintaining dignity and autonomy
4. And recognizing the centrality of relationships