Aging and Nonverbal Communication
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Concepts from previous chapters are presented here and related to the aging process. There is a considerable body of research related to the aging process and how it is viewed , including cross-cultural, psychological, social and biological aspects. Only selected aspects can be presented in this chapter.
All living things appear on the stage of life, live and die. The human aging process is not just about chronology, or how old one is; rather, it is about how one lives life, successfully or unsuccessfully. In sum, biology is not destiny. Time is not destiny. Humans enact their lives, making sense of them, creating lines of action as they take up the challenges of working, playing, raising families and coming to terms with older age. People age differently one from the other, by individuality, by gender, by social class and education, and by the ways they construe life. The sense of mortality increases as one ages but how people interpret their impending mortality is a key to their successful aging. Human identity can be transformed over time. Like gender and ethnicity, aging is a master theme that wends its way into the fabric of everyday life.
The nonverbal behaviors of the aged are often stereotyped in the United States, resulting in the negative term ageism. The assumptions behind ageism include the belief that as people age they are no longer useful to society, that their lives are a burden to the economy, deficits rather than assets, and that they cannot compete in a youth-oriented society. Contrarily, a positive symbolic interactionist approach suggests that people can live creatively and dynamically; they can age successfully.
Who are the aged? The frame below reveals some of the characteristics of the aged.
Framing the Aged
There will be 7 million advanced-age persons (above 80 years) in the United States by 2020; there were an estimated 3.5 million in 1994. Life expectancy for women in the United States in 1992 was 79.1 years; for men in that year it was 72.3 years. Eight states including California, Arizona, Georgia, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Alaska and Utah will double their elderly population by 2020. The most rapidly growing age group, increasing 274 percent from 1960-1994, is 85 years old and older (Gunby, 1996).
Globally, mean life expectancy is 65 years according to the World Health Organization. Sierra Leone, in Africa, has the lowest mean, at 40 years for men and women combined. Japan has the highest combined average life expectancy at 79.7 years.
Clearly, the role of the aged in the future of the United States will be even more important in the future than it is today, which has been a key reason for the initiation of studies in the United States and elsewhere.
Cognitive development theory has been mentioned because cognition is vitally important in the aging process. Researchers, interested in cogntive development focus on observed cognitive changes as people age; for example, speed of reaction, cognitive processing ability, and other neuronal or mental processes, such as cognitive arousal, change over time. Older people often apparently need more time to process information; they are sometimes overwhelmed by tasks that they once performed with ease. Cognitive changes result in changes in behavioral patterns.
Other approaches to the aging process are important as well:
Continuity theory suggests that people vary in their personality orientations which, in turn, suggests that they vary in their ability to cope with the aging process.
Subcultural theory notes that people with healthy self-concepts are able to adapt creatively to novel situations, including the aging process.
The study of cohort groups focuses on the nature of subgroups of aging people. Older people form their own culture in society; they share views and have common interests. They can promote their own welfare better because of mutual support.
Environmental theory focuses on environmental parameters that influence aging behavior. Environmental demands are put upon the aged; how they respond to the demands is a key to their quality of life. By responding appropriately, they can eliminate dependency in older age (Caserta, 1995).
Social conflict theory focuses on how societies produce inequities through institutional routine. The elderly are the subjects of unequal treatment from this view.
Biological study often focuses on body processes such as cell growth and decay. Some biologists believe that cell deterioration is inevitable, a direct cause of death in humans. From this view, the basic effort to increase human longevity is misplaced and the emphasis should be upon living a healthy middle life (Clark, 1999). Contrast this biological view with recent findings that cell division can be promoted by genetic alteration suggesting that human longevity may be increased to 120 years (Shanti, 1999).
Regardless of the biological approach, studies show that older Americans can increase their verbal and spatial learning when both sides of the brain are used, when the materials being used are presented properly. In other words, there appears to be evidence that older people may be able to engage broader regions of the brain as a task gets more difficult, in a kind of neural teamwork (Helmuth, April 17, 1999). Obviously, theories about the aging process vary considerably.
Selected aspects of the above theories are compatible with an SI orientation, which places stress on the symbolic, creative, action component of everyday life. Humans can continue to grow; they can learn new behaviors and enact creative strategies to enhance their lives. Through these processes they can live proactively, successfully adapting to the exigencies of life. Even when problems that are outside their control occur, the elderly can enact effective coping strategies.
Many people appear to dread getting older. They often discuss it in negative terms: income reduction, withdrawal and inactivity, loss of status, loss of physical and emotional stamina and loss of mental acuity. This stereotype is somewhat pervasive in a America, a youth-oriented society. There are several myths that are associated with this stereotype.
The Universality Myth. This myth suggests that the aging process occurs in the same way in all cultures. However, cultures vary considerably in the ways that they perceive the aged. The aged are honored in many cultures; they are considered liabilities in others. Different conditions produce different aging patterns.
The Chronology Myth. The emphasis and importance of time is particularly salient in Western, technologically developed countries. The emphasis upon chronology sets false parameters on the aging process. Two people, each the same age, may differ substantially in the ways that they age during the same time period.
The Uniform Aging Myth. Not uniform, the aging process is influenced by gender, ethnicity, educational and occupational background and related factors. For example, statistically females outlive males in the United States. As mentioned, aging patterns vary throughout the world.
The Terminal Drop Myth. Biology is not destiny. People can enact activities and processes that enrich and prolong their lives. Modern genetic, behavioral and social research reveal the hidden potentialities of successful aging. Terminal drop, the idea that people inevitably hit a peak of activity and then suddenly stop or drop, is no longer an acceptable assumption.
The Genetic Miracles Myth. The solving of the genetic riddle, the Book of Life, holds the promise of unlocking the secrets of disease, of aging and the prolongation of life. These possibilities are not yet realized and they involve very important ethical and social issues. Cloning, for example, is considered illegal in the United States. Some people believe that scientists are tampering with nature. Others actively promote modern research in pharmaceutics, technology and genetics.
The Methusaleh Myth. Related to the myth above, The Methusaleh myth is based on the Old Testament character who lived to be more than 900 years old. This myth suggests that people may eventually be able to live forever when the key to the aging process is found. Despite the miracles of science, it is unlikely that scientists can prolong life indefinitely, at least under the present state of knowledge (Packard, 1995).
Recently, two gerontological specialists put up a sizable sum of money to be awarded to the first person in the United States who lives to be 150 years old. They bet that it would not happen in their lifetime (Rather, Feb 27, 2001).
Framing Other Popular Myths
Old means sick: This theory loses favor as more and more Americans older than age 80 report fewer disabilities.
Advanced age means dependency: The percent of people living in nursing homes is dropping.
Poverty is inevitable: Centenarians display a full-range of economic circumstances, including wealth; 3/4 of centenarians do not live in poverty. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census in 1993, 12% of all elderly live in poverty, compared to 14% of the whole population. This varies from 10 % for Whites to 34% for Blacks.
Mental acuity declines with age: Older people can improve cognitive abilities with training and conditions that focus on enhancements.
Death is genetically programmed: The environment and the lifestyles of the aging play critical roles in the aging process (Belsie, June 28, 1999).
American society is oriented toward youthfulness. For many, it is the restoration of youthfulness that is important to older people. Females may want to appear youthful, to have a youthful body; they want to engage in youthful activities and network with vigor, just as do members of the younger crowd. Males may want to work out in the gym, to maintain vigor in their sexual lives and to be active.
This emphasis upon youthfulness, while sometimes healthy, earmarks the fact that, in America, the older person is often negatively stereotyped. Scholars refer to this negative stereotyping as "ageism"', in contrast to "aging". The ageism approach focuses on deficits.
A deficit model of aging focuses on how people tend to lose something as they age. For example, the aged person, past his prime, becomes dependent upon others, loses the opportunity to play important roles in society and experiences a drop off in cognitive and physical abilities, including hearing and vision loss. People become disengaged, deprived and decultured forming a negative subculture.
From this perspective, people face a terminal drop, their abilities declining. Humans become old, tired and nonsexual; they become difficult, grouchy, withdrawing, self-pitying, isolated, inactive, lonely, unhappy, unproductive, depressive, ineffective, insecure, rigid, and conservative. Add to this list a loss of sensate ability, physical immobility and social isolation and one has the essence of the deficit model of aging. Even the body gets shorter with age and the skin begins to sag (Schwarz, Park, Knauper, & Sudman, 1999). Aged people become disengaged, past their prime.
Scholars report a number of other negative findings associated with the aging process. Add to the list above the loss of speech recognition and the fact that the voice changes, resulting in a higher, sometimes squeaky pitch. People slow down their pace of speaking significantly as they age (Pittam, 1994).
It has been suggested that older citizens in American society tend to be communication starved. True, they usually own or are provided a television set, but their contacts with others, their essential social networks, seem to diminish and they become more lonely. If there is communication deprivation, as suggested here, it affects other processes, such as life satisfaction, self-esteem, and even the will to live. (Carmichael, 1985). To relate to older folk, many people resort to a kind of babytalk to make themselves understood (Pittam, 1994). A form of elderspeak uses exaggeration of pitch and intonation, simple grammar and a slowed rate of delivery.
Thus, until the present decade, the aged and aging in America presented a problem. The problem was to find ways to deal with someone who, ostensibly, has lived his or her life, who will no longer contribute to mainstream American society when the balance of the members in society are youthful. Ageism portended ill for the aged.
It is now known that a deficit model of the aging process leaves out the possibilities of successful aging(1).
Framing An Additive Model of Aging
Continuing research shows that the aging process is plastic, that it can be slowed down, even extended, given education and training (Baltes and Willis, 1982). Modern research and technological and medical advancement indicate that human performance can even be enhanced in older age under specific conditions, and that sensory and perceptual processes, memory and spatial reasoning, problem-solving and physical performance are not fixed, rigid endpoints. The aged person in American society need not suffer total loss or deficit; indeed, older age can be a time of incremental gains and novel development.
This new awakening has inspired new research and new research has inspired the new awakening. Modern research about the aging process is diverse and complex. Recent biological and genetic researchers are unlocking the secrets to the aging process. New medicines and health products are improving mental and biological abilities of older people. Research Centers at major universities are focusing on the attitudinal, emotional, and social behaviors of the aged person showing that successful aging is at least partially the result of how one perceives his or her own aging. Cognitive slowdown, so much a problem associated with aging under the deficit model, is offset by research that shows that older people can learn new materials just as well as the younger person if the time constrictions are removed.
It is now understood that the quality of life in the earlier years is somewhat predictive of the quality of life in later years. Positive, proactive living in the early years of life tends to promote positive proactivity in later life, an important aspect of successful aging. Indeed, not only can one learn to live a proactive life in older age, but there may actually be unqualified gains in older life (Schwarz, Park, Knauper & Sudman,1999). For example, older people may be described as level-headed, smart, experienced, wise, logical, adaptive, industrious, and reasonable. Chronobiologically, they may even have peaks of cognitive ability at certain times of the day. Further, instead of disengaging in older age, the elderly often find ways to engage productively, taking up new occupations, devoting time to social causes, entering physically challenging competitions, and even taking college courses specially designed for them. The additive, incremental model of aging suggests that successful aging is a result of humans engaging in life on a continuing, often novel basis.
As far as is known, no living organisms live indefinitely. People, of course, aspire to live forever, as shown by their religious beliefs in an afterlife. In this world, the stages of birth, of life, aging and death appear to be universal in the plant and animal kingdoms. Living things adapt to their environment, as humans do. Indeed, the ability to adapt is the key to survival (Wilson, 1992).
Unlike other creatures humans can take a creative part in their own evolution. Many lower order animals, such as elephants and turtles outlive humans on average; however, as humans create and adapt to new technologies, as they learn to reshape living environments for the aged, as they create new and better medicines and food products, humans tend to increase their life span. Under the right conditions, the offspring of humans get taller and healthier, although obesity can be a serious problem in countries like the United States where food is plentiful.
The symbolizing ability of humans distinguishes them from lower order animals and makes it possible for them to take part in their own evolution. The ability to symbolize enables humans to create and recreate themselves, to perceive possibilities in life that lower order animals can not do.
The National Center for Health Statistics monitors the growth of the aging population in the United States. The World Health Organization and others monitor the world aging populations. As mentioned, Sierra Leone in Africa, has the lowest mean age limit at 40 years, men and women combined; Japan has the highest at 79.7, again combining males and females. The United States is third in the percent of elderly in the world, aged 65 or older. The Alliance for Aging Research, the American Geriatrics Society and the American Federation of Aging Research monitor the growth of the aging population as well. The White House holds periodic conferences about the aged in American life. Environmental conditions, cultural thoughtways, deadly diseases and a variety of factors influence the aging process.
The ways that people age are socially patterned. Every culture approaches the meaning of aging in its own way (Cohen,1994). In Japan The National Law for Welfare of the Elders, 1963, states the following: "The Elders shall be loved and respected as those who have for many years contributed toward the developent of society, and a wholesome and peaceful life shall be guaranteed to them. In accordance with their desire and ability, the elders shall be given opportunities to engage in suitable work or to participate in social activities" (Carmichael, 1985). In sharp contrast, traditionally the very aged in early Eskimo society knew when it was time to leave the community to die. They chose their place to die. This behavior, no doubt, was influenced by the community's need to feed its members; the aged had to be cared for and to avoid being a liability, they enacted this death behavior. In sharp contrast, in the United States, every attempt is made to keep a human alive, even by artificial means. often by placing the person in a public or private nursing home.
In the Navajo tradition, the older wiser person is the carrier of culture, the storyteller, continuing tribal customs and beliefs by oral means (Kluckhohn, 1944). In the Chinese tradition, people who die remain as spirits, as ancestors to be consulted (Coye & Livingston, 1975). As mentioned, in India, in certain social circumstances, it was traditional for a woman to die with her husband. This practice called suttee is now outlawed. People in all cultures make sense of the aging process. They come to terms with death. They symbolize life; they symbolize death. Prevailing master themes that characterize cultures throughout the world, couch the death scene in particular ways.
The aging process has been called a woman's problem by some scholars, which means essentially, that women face problems that males may not. Until recently, it was uncommon for a woman to have an independent income or experience in the workplace; yet, it was likely that she would outlive her husband. She must learn to network socially in new ways when her husband dies, not being free to move about in society as men may be. Women face a variety of medical problems such as ovarian and breast cancer, problems that men do not face.
Framing Gender Patterns
Males in the United States, are likely to live into their seventies, on average to 75.7 years; females are likely to live into their eighties, on average to about 82.7 years. By comparison, the statistics from 1900 showed that males could expect to live to about 48.3 years, on average, and females could expect to live to about 50.5 years on average. Thus, aging patterns have varied considerably over a century, from farm to urban life.
Interestingly, if a white male is 50 years old today, he may expect to live another 27 years; a white female may expect to live another 31.7 years. If one lives to be 85 in the United States, as a white male or female, he or she may be expected to live to above 90 years of age. In short, if people make it to age 85, they will live, most likely, beyond the averages.(Bova, 1998) The 85 plus group is the fastest growing group in the United States. Each year, the size of the centenarian group gets larger and larger.
Statistically, people of color do not live as long as do white people, although life expectancy varies considerably between the Blacks, the Navajo, the Chinese and the Cubans. Because they are more likely to have come from families with low income, they are not as likely to have access to education, to good health care or to have favorable expectations that promote positive aging. For example, alcohol, one of the white man's curses, has been a continuing serious problem for members of the Navajo nation, as is sugar diabetes.
Some Blacks, raised in urban ghettos, see little reason to get a formal education; the white achievement ethos does seem to work for them (MacLeod, 1987). When people have been historically locked into poverty or into victomology, it may be difficult for them to construct positive ways of growth in an empowered white society. Advances in medical technology and access to health care is not distributed uniformly in society, the poor having less control.
Television, too, is a factor in the perpetuation of myths and images. As with other minorities, the aged are often presented in negative, stereotypical ways on television. Often they are seen taking medicines or dealing with problems such as arthritis. Only occasionally do ads portray the aged as lively adults. Social class factors, or standpoint in life, is a powerful influence on the aging process and the media, essentially for commercial reasons, often provides a disservice to the elderly.
Stage theories (2), discussed in chapter three, have at least one thing in common: they emphasize that life unfolds in fairly predictable ways and that human behaviors vary accordingly. It has been suggested that humans actively engage in social interaction when young but disengage from work and social activities when old. (Nussbaum, 1989). This social phenomenon, to the extent that it exists, indicates that there is a kind of teleogenic process that gradually unfolds as people age. Although it will change as aged cohort groups increase in size and become even older, the retirement age is fixed at age 65, leaving the work world to younger people.
A variety of models have been developed which indicate how people change as they age. These models may have five, six or eight stages and they may focus broadly on learning, moral development or social development. Researchers use cross-sectional, longitudinal and sequential methods to study aging patterns and they emphasize that stages are not inflexible; rather, they are blends, one enmeshed in the other. Neither do all individuals 'conform' to these stages; that is, people make choices about who they are and what they want to do.
Framing Life Span Changes
Toddlerhood is a time when curiosity peaks and exploration of the social world starts, even before the child has learned to walk. Nursery school fosters social competence, a time when the child learns skilled and appropriate social behaviors. In pre-adolescence, peer groups, the sharing of social activities, games and networking become important to the child.
In adolescence, the child begins to gain confidence and an enduring sense of personal identity; intimate relationships, within and between genders, become important. In young adulthood, parents begin families, raising their children, promoting the next generation. In middle age, engagement in social, political and educational activities become important; people in adulthood are engaged in productive labor. When they enter the gerontological age, males and females may become engaged in new ways (Maas,1984).
Perhaps the stage theory that has generated the most research is that of Erik Erikson (1980) who developed eight stages of growth cast in chronological terms. Early infancy was from birth to two years; later infancy was from age two to four years; early childhood was from four to six years; middle and late childhood was from six years to early teens; adolescence was from early teens to the early twenties; young adulthood was from the early twenties to the late thirties; middle adulthood was from the late thirties to the late fifties; and late adulthood was from the late fifties to death.
An important aspect of Erikson's work was that he placed emphasis upon the need for an individual to solve emotional conflicts at each stage before she can move on to the next stage. For example, an infant must develop trust before he can move successfully to the next stage. Adults must create mutual bonds in order to live successfully in the gerontological age. It is a time when people face poignantly the possibility that they will die. Thus, each chronological development contained the seeds of further growth and development.
Older age is a time when people make sense of their life experiences, sometimes looking back as much as they look forward. A recent conceptualization of this sensemaking process is discussed as a tie-sign. The advantage of this conceptualization is that chronology is less important in the aging process. Tie-signs are symbolically important to people. For example, a person may forge ties by playing in an orchestra or by joining a social club; or a person may create ties in sports or religious activities. The tie-signs frame the personal experience of that person. Ties are created by individuals throughout their lives. People create tie-signs relative to their place of work, the family and friends, their hobbies and travels and their own personal development. A tie-sign is a piece of the symbolic self, a part of the symbolic face. By using tie-signs, the aged person continues to make sense of the world, to tie her or his activities to others who are also adjusting to older life social relationships. This version of adult growth emphasizes the fact that aging people re-evaluate and re-appraise their lives in terms of where they have been and where they are headed. Life ties may be nourished or they may be let go in favor of new ones (Anderson & Hayes, 1996).
It is interesting that the head of the newborn is the biggest part of the body but that, in older age, the head becomes proportionally smaller in relation to the body. Snapshots or films taken over the life course, from beginning to end, would show significant changes in the physical body of the individual. Obviously, the outer features of the human body change considerably over time as do the hidden, inner organs. Changes occur so slowly that people often fail to note them.
The somatic self, however, is not based solely on the biological body; humans symbolize their bodies.They may love them or they may hate them. Social expectations, comparisons with others, portrayals in the media, parental and peer attitudes and other socially relevant factors influence people as they create and recreate their body identities.
It is true that changes in the acuity of the senses, in physical strength, in quickness of thought and in athletic ability may slow people down as they age, but these are not inflexible processes.There is an interaction of bodily or somatic changes and how people deal with those changes that influences the process. People who are born with slight, weakly appearing bodies can create powerful body frames through exercise and body building programs. Humans can literally change their bodies and how they conceive of them.
Clearly, the aged can present themselves in new ways; they can arrange to have their yellowed fingernails treated; they can change the color of their hair; they can go on diets and lose weight; or, they can get hearing aids. Natural skills need not decline in older age. People may lose speed in talking, for example, but they do not have to lose procedural knowledge. If one can cope, one can overcome deficiencies(Maas,1984) People can re-symbolize the meaning of life as they age (Tamir, 1979).
Recent research emphasizes the fact that older people need not disengage; they can continue to enjoy better health, higher morale, fewer insecurities, less loneliness and more companionship than thought possible earlier. They can bridge the past and the future by creating healthy relationships with their grandchildren. They can become historians, mentors, and role models and they can have pleasure without responsibility. They can adopt preferred styles of living, given their freedom, and they can symbolize their bodies in new ways. By listening to the body (Masters & Johnson, 1978), they can enact new, life enhancing behaviors.
Social scientists try to unmask social processes that influence human behavior. What is under the scientist's scrutiny only later becomes common knowledge, picked up by the media and the general public. This unmasking function, when applied to the study of aging and gerontology, is responsible for revealing the dynamics of successful aging. The additive, incremental model of aging suggests strongly that any individual can engage in adaptive behaviors that can influence the quality of life, even extend it. Successful aging is the result (Laslett, 1989). In short, personal choices heavily influence how life is lived in the gerontological or third age.
Human identity is influenced by master themes in social life, aging being one of them. One can reinforce a positive identity, creating new and positive self presentations, or conversely, one can choose to disengage. There are, of course, lethal diseases and instances of uncontrolled events that affect individuals. However, even then the individual usually has a choice about how he or she will deal with the life-threatening problem. In short, the life of the elderly can be a creative time for growth. (Baltes & Willis, 1982; Baltes & Baltes, 1990: Charness, 1985). Although young people seem to have biology in their favor, they lack the experience and knowledge base that older people have. The decline in the functioning of the "hardware" need not imply a decline in the functioning of the "software". One can make improvements throughout older age.
It is clear to social scientists that the intangibles of aging are extremely complex and important. All people will age, but they will age differentially depending on gender, on ethnicity, on educational experiences and on early patterns of behavior in life. However, the key to successful aging lies in how a person thinks or symbolizes experiences.
All humans need a sense of place, of belonging. Older people need a positive sense of place, surroundings that are familiar but not staid; they need a stimulating milieau, as has been shown in the sociometric study of personal space (Sommers, 1969), including space in nursing homes where, in the past, little attention was paid to adult needs. Sommers showed that by merely re-arranging the furniture into favorable patterns in a nursing home, communication among clients increased. In closed situations, where social inteaction is denied, humans do not and cannot grow; they cannot be stimulated. This close containment, of course, is the essence of being imprisoned as punishment. Older citizens have a need for healthy physical and cognitive space (Pastalan & Carson, 1970). Like everyone else, older folk need to be able to lay claim to personal space, marking personal space with familiar objects, books, pictures or other things.
Framing Ergonomics: The Friendly Home
According to the American Association of Retired Persons, 84 percent of adults say they would like to stay in their own homes when they reach older age. Ergonomists, who study behavioral patterns in relation to technologies, suggest that the following physical improvements can greatly improve the life of older people who may not be able to move about as easily as they once did.
Add light to improve visual ability; widen door frames for wheelchairs if necessary; use no-slip flooring; tilt lighting switches; use lever faucets and door handles; install automatic turn-off timers; install create adjustable countertops; use grab bars in showers and hand-held showerheads; install extra phones in the bedrooms and bathrooms; and, put double bannisters on the stairs and magnetic induction for the stove. As people age and continue their independence, they can form-fit their home, to help them along (Schwartz, Dec 28, 1999).
Social networking, so important to vital mental health, is a way for an older person to adjust and control her life-space boundaries and their sense of place. When they are physically incapacitated, the home can be modified to maintain a healthy sense of place.
A good share of networking in older age is, of course, with family members. Interestingly, as parents the mother or father sent their children out of the nest, to help them grow up; but, as older people, they may want them to return in new ways. Older people need familial contact with their offspring, which in a mobile society, can be difficult to maintain. In a society with split families, with multiple marriages, elder relationships can be complicated, even difficult. Unlike the past, when families remained knit together, with perhaps several generations of people living under the same roof, modern society is fractured and the older person may have to contend with multiple sets of grandchildren and stepgrandchildren, not to mention in-laws and other relationships.
Nevertheless, positive contacts can help older people fight the disengagement problem, continuing their contacts with familiar, caring people. There is evidence that females, more than males, and daughters more than sons, extend the care to the elderly, following the nurturant pattern among females (Packard, 1995). Part of successful aging is due to enacting continued, positive family contacts and to the creation of new ties outside the home, with new people and new activities. Today, of course, the elderly have found a new friend in the internet. Although the elderly do not buy or use the internet to the same extent that younger people do, there is evidence that they are increasingly using it. To them, perhaps, the internet is what the train used to be; a convenient way to get to their relatives homes.
Modern science and new medical technolgies are creating a new milieau of possibility. In the Western world, each new day seems to bring new information. Genetic understanding and new technologies lead to new possibilities. Recently, it was reported that a sightless man was fitted with a camera wired to his brain. This 62 year old man cannot see images but he does see specks of light. Humble and awkard as the technology is, it is a remarkable prosthesis (CNN, Jan 16, 2000).
Interestingly, there is a journal and a society devoted to the creation of artificial internal organs called the ASAIO Journal, The American Society of Artificial Internal Organs. The use of artificial hearts, a major breakthrough in medical research, was merely the beginning of the use of medical replacement parts. Diagnosis of diseases is now possible over long distances through computer interaction. Even aboard cruiseships, the stricken adult may be in touch with land-based doctors via remote scanning. On land, their doctors may use scanning tools such as the MRI, PET and CAT, which can detect diseases and problems before they gain a foothold.
The Human Genome Project, an international developed scientific project whose main effort is to map and sequence the 3 billion or so letters and locate and identify the roughly 30,000 or so genes that make up a person's genetic code, has been successful. This remarkable basic research will permit the more effective treatment of diseases and possibly remove the causes of senescence. If the aging process is better understood, it is suggested that humans may expect to live to 120, 150 or 200 years. (Cetron, April 17, 2000). Some scholars believe that humans will be able to choose how long they will live(Bova, 1998). Whether or not this is wishful thinking remains to be seen. Clearly, new pharmaceutics, new technologies and new genetic breakthroughs will enhance the lives of the elderly.
As described in the The Old Testament legend says that death came about because Adam and Eve did not obey God. This disobedience led to mortality and death. This death theme pervades American society, at least among the religious. Death is expected; perpetual life is not. Although the oldest modern person on record was aged 122 years at death, this French woman was outlived by Methusaleh and Noah in the Old Testament, depending on how the years were reckoned. Methualeh was said to have lived to 969 years and Noah to about 900 years. However, if one reckoned the years as months, neither Methusaleh nor Noah would have outlived the average years of their peers.
It is the symbolism of living the good life that is important in the stories of Noah and Methusaleh. It is popular now to believe that a combination of genetics, moderation, exercise, and positive attitudes, along with natural selection and the better treatment of disease, may produce modern Methusalehs (Warshofsky, 1999).
Framing Contemporary Research
However popular the Methusaleh factor may be, research about aging is often tentative and highly theoretical. For example, to explain the aging phenomenon, researchers have pet theories about what is involved. Some research focuses on free radicals which are built around oxygen atoms, causing damage to the body, wearing it out, damaging the mitochondria within cells. The presence of glucose is also thought to be a cause of aging. People with uncontrolled diabetes, for example, appear to age faster than do others. Thus, some researchers believe that oxygen and glucose, each necessary to a healthy body, may cause problems if they are out of control in the body system.
Other research suggests that testosterone and estrogen may affect the aging process as well. Research suggests that castrated males, who have lost their testosterone, may outlive uncastrated males. Castrated guinea pigs fight disease better than do non-castrated ones. Research focuses on melanin and telomeres as possible causes of aging too. Perhaps there are as many as fifty theories tied into modern research on the aging process, each, perhaps, focusing on only part of the causes of aging. Cloning, the regeneration of tissue, transplants, such as fetal tissue transplants, molecular engineering, the use of nanomachines to help build cells, and varieties of other medical technologies and advances will surely impact on the aging process (Bova, 1998).
Modern technology lends itself to a gee-whiz factor. For example, doctors who specialize in electro-technical prosthesis development indicate that smart clothes will be available in the near future. For example, electronic devices can be attached to the body but hidden in clothing enabling people to walk normally, restoring the impulses in their leg nerves. Seemingly, each day brings forth a new technology designed to enhance the performance of the elderly. Newly styled chairs, new tools and hew household designs have been created to enable physically handicapped people to move about in comfort. Institutions are now aware that healthy environments promote healthy living. (Dychtwald & Floer, 1989).
Institutions of higher learning now include centers for the study of aging and conferences and workshops for the elderly. For example, elder citizens may go to conferences specifically designed for the elderly, on or near campuses, as in Arizona, Dartmouth College, or Iowa State, rather than merely play golf or shuffleboard (Marklein, May 17, 2000). The White House continues to hold conferences on the aging, providing incentives to further research.
All people in life, regardless of their age, their wealth, their gender or ethnicity, experience both gains and losses. Change occurs throughout life in both directions(Baltes & Baltes, 1990). What is new in the study of the aging process is the scientific perception that older people can experience gains as much as they experience losses. There can be an accumulation of life knowledge, openmindedness, experience, level-headedness, industriousness and proactivity in the life of the aged. Whereas the word retirement, when associated with aging, means to draw back, to take a well-earned vacation and to create leisure time and disengage, there is an emerging concept about retirement that focuses on the idea of engagement, with a different focus (Bennis, Oct 1995). One can learn to be self-efficacious (Bandura, 1982). Old age is now perceived as a time of continued and positive growth, not marked by decline and deterioration. Mutual growth and family enhancements can occur, not marked by total dependence (Moteko & Greenberg, 1995). Positive attachments can be created anew.
It is this rapid growth in the population of the aged in the U.S. that has led to the use of the descriptive term, third age. The third age is personal, not public and it has little to do with calendar age, social age, or even biological age. Rather, it is a time for becoming aware, for future planning. The aged are not in limbo. As Erik Erikson noted, people are what survives them. He meant that people live out symbolic mortality by leaving behind their children, memories and so on. The symbolic worlds of the elderly are potentially rich and creative. Even when people leave this world, they are remembered for the ways they lived.
People can choose generativity over stagnation. The public mind is slowly becoming attuned to the rich possibilities of the third age. Today, there is increasing emphasis upon how people take care of the elderly, when and if they cannot take care of themselves (McAdams & de St. Aubin, 1998). Colleges and universities provide programs for the older citizen (Canfield, 1975; Marklein, May 17, 2000).
As people live longer and longer chronologically in the United States and in technologically developed countries, it is clear that new choices are presented to the general public and to individuals about how they will deal with the aged. No longer is 65, the traditional year of retirement, the marker of older age. People, of course, may choose to work until they are seventy or later; they may choose to work another interesting job or take up an interesting avocation. Although play is the work of the child, work can be the play of older folks who do not need a job. Individual competence does not have to disappear with aging, as was thought to be the case in in prior times. Where there is a supportive milieu, the aged can continue to be competent.
It is not known entirely why some people live longer than others, although it is the subject of much study. It is likely--at least from a common sense view-- that a person who has spent his life in a coal mine will not fare as well as a person who spent his life on a university campus. Researchers know that there are important relationships between gender, ethnicity, occupation, education and aging, but few specific behaviors are predictive of successful aging. Work satisfaction, happiness, physical functioning and nonsmoking seemed to be the keys in a recent Duke University study. The subjects in this study had lived on farms, where they emphasized orderliness, stability and continuity, strong family ties, abstention from alcohol and smoking, religiosity, attending church, and mental freedom and curiosity. The older-aged subjects in this study exhibited many of these characteristics during their earlier lives and continued them in their later lives.
Perhaps genes (3) play a significant role in aging when they are associated with other variables, such as the list above. There is a social, psychological and physical interaction in the aging process(Segerberg, 1982). Perhaps stress, or the perception of stress, plays a role as well. The psychophysical way to body awareness has been preached, suggesting that people, young and old, must listen to the body, and begin to use the body in new and different invigorating ways (Masters & Houston, 1978). The authors believe that the physical symptoms of aging may be symptoms of misuse of the body.
Another popular writer suggests that there is an alternative to growing old; one can defeat entropy of the body by developing new awarenesses. He believes that the effects of aging are preventable (Chopra, 1993). Medical doctors and philosophers often include healing, growth-oriented messages in their books. Of course, there are dozens of self-help books on the market, variously worthy.
Clearly, the elderly have choicies in how they will perceive and present themselves to others. They can choose to be detached, passive, supportive, authoritative or influential. They can choose to be mentors and role models for grandchildren; they can take up a new career; they can go to college; they can join social clubs; their possibilities are limited by the symbolism they have created for their status in life.
The aging process is complicated; clearly there is an interaction between biology, medical help, technological availability, previous life style and various social factors. But, if the research that focuses on positive aging is accurate, it would seem that the way in which older people interpret and make sense of aging is critical to their continued growth.
There are a variety of myths associated with aging in American society. This chapter has focused on the differences between a negative model of aging and a positive model of aging, suggesting that ageism is a stereotypical term and that the aging process can be more accurately perceived and understood.
As humans age, they face new life cirumstances. According to stage theorists, self identity is continually construed and new perceptions of self emerge as people age chronologically. But biology is not destination; gender, ethnicity and social class and a variety of other factors influence the aging process. Recent research in biology and genetics, in the social sciences and in medical technology are contributing to an additive model of the aging process. The concept of successful aging is becoming dominant. In the third age, it may be possible for humans to make choices about how long they will live. The construction of a positive, proactive identity is a key part of a successful aging process.
Questions for Thought and Discussion
Dychtwald, K. (1990). Age Wave: How the Most Important Trend of Our Time Will Change Your Future. New York: Bantam Books.
Chopra, D. (1993). Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old. New York: Harmony Books.
Erikson, E. (1980). Identity and the Life Cycle. New York: Norton.
Packard, S. (1995). Living on The Front Line: A Social-Anthropological Study of Old Age and Aging. Brookfield, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing.
Sheehy, G. (1998). Understanding Men's Passages: Discovering the Map of Men's Lives. New York: Random House.
Sokolovsky, J. (Ed.) (1990). The Cultural Context of Aging: World-Wide Perspectives. New York: Bergin and Garvey.
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