TACKLING DEPRIVATION
Deprivation has a huge impact on both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy and is the single most important factor affecting health of different sections of the population aged over 60. it is of course not simply the impact of deprivation on a person's current level of deprivation but the impact of years and decades of pressure.
Obviously this is a major political issue and it is difficult for older people who are not deprived to tackle the basic causes of deprivation but there are contributions that can be made. One is to support the local branch of AgeUK, another to press for the development of an Age Friendly Community sponsored by the Centre for Ageing Better. Another is to become a volunteer in your local community organisation because these local organisations, not run by local government are of vital importance and provide support to people of all ages affected by deprivation
UNDERSTANDING AND CHANGING HOW PEOPLE THINK ABOUT OLDER PEOPLE
Key messages
Beliefs about people who are older are often wrong and under estimate ability and potential
Hostility may be increasing because of concerns about older people’s use of carbon, pension rights and protection during Covid
Attitudes towards older people are too pessimistic
People generalise about older people in ways that would be considered unacceptable if made about other sub groups in society
What do we mean by beliefs and attitudes?
These terms are widely used but they have a definite and different meaning and examples of the different meanings are given below.
For example ; A person may believe that all people over eighty suffer from a disease called sarcopenia and on the basis of this belief have the pessimistic attitude that it is pointless to try to help people over the age of 80 increase their strength in spite of the scientific evidence that even people over 90 can increase their strength
That person will have a pessimistic attitude and will not encourage an older person to be more active, although he may see himself as being caring because he rushes to do something for that old person rather than see them ‘struggle’ even though he goes regularly to a gym where an observer would classify what he was doing in the gym as ‘struggling’
Understanding Ageism
In general younger people believe that have negative beliefs about older people,a belief called ageism.Of particular importance for people whose age is increasing is that there is a set of negative beliefs and a set of pessimistic attitudes.
Examples of negative beliefs which are wrong include
Examples of pessimistic attitudes include
It is also important to remember that people aged 60 or 70 or whatever age differ from one another in many more ways than they resemble one another
These beliefs influence the individual whose age is increasing and they may come to believe and accept them all even if they were positive and optimistic when they were younger. This is what we mean by the social process of growing older it is a process that is influenced by the negative beliefs and pessimistic attitudes of other people. It is the fourth process that affects us as we live longer
Hostility
As the economy gets tougher attitudes may harden and it is not surprising when the difficulties faced by young people in, for example buying a house are considered. Furthermore as the population balance changes with not only an increase in the number of older people , what is called absolute ageing but also a decrease in the number of younger people due to falling birth rates , what is called relative ageing, that there is growing resentment about the financial cost of pensions. Sometimes this is stimulated by debate about retirement age , with some groups fighting to retain a relatively low age. Others wish to continue work past the statutory retirement age and in one famous oxford case the evidence was produced that the postholder was not excluding younger people from the position he was occupying
What can you do?
The most important thing for people as they are growing older is to have a clear understanding of the fact that most of the problems that occur as people grow older are not caused by ageing but by loss of fitness and disease. They also need to understand that on the basis of this understanding many of the beliefs about what happens to people as they get older are not based on scientific evidence. What you need to believe is that
What can you do to help other people?
If you are trying to support an older person or a group of older people it is important think about their beliefs and attitudes and to assume that they share these bnegative beliefsand pessimistic attitudes. Rather than tackle them directly ift may be mre effective to talk about the mistaken beliefs and attitudes which prevail generally and why the beliefs are wrong and theattitudes therefore unjusifiable
LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST
HOW OUR ENVIRONMENT IS USUALLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR GENES
The three previous podcasts have described three of the four factors that influence how we live after the age of sixty – ageing, fitness, and disease. The important factor is how the social and physical environment in which you have grown up and are living.
Too many older people still experience significant social pressures and deprivation and there is now new research showing that people at a high level of deprivation are so focused on day to day living for example heating costs and housing problems but they do not have the resource or energy to, for example, increase their fitness level. Similarly, when a person with significant pressures and deprivation develops a long-term health problem, they have less energy to devote to the contribution that they can make to adapting to that problem and therefore their outcome of even best clinical treatment may be less good.
The second significant social pressure that we have mentioned is ageism. Fortunately, geriatric medicine has ensured that ageism is less of a problem in clinical practice now where people are no longer assumed to be ineligible for tests and treatment on the basis of a chronological age but ageism ??? society. Sometimes it leads to well intention or protection but it is not only a failure to involve the older person in the types of challenging situations, such as helping young people through a voluntary organisation which allows that person to regain a sense of purpose or Ikigai
Points for Reflection after listening and reading; if you are working through these podcasts with a group ask people to turn to their neighbour and discuss these points or allocate them to a Zoom room if you are online
Decide what action you could take to counter ageism
Deprivation has a huge impact on both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy and is the single most important factor affecting health of different sections of the population aged over 60. it is of course not simply the impact of deprivation on a person's current level of deprivation but the impact of years and decades of pressure.
Obviously this is a major political issue and it is difficult for older people who are not deprived to tackle the basic causes of deprivation but there are contributions that can be made. One is to support the local branch of AgeUK, another to press for the development of an Age Friendly Community sponsored by the Centre for Ageing Better. Another is to become a volunteer in your local community organisation because these local organisations, not run by local government are of vital importance and provide support to people of all ages affected by deprivation
UNDERSTANDING AND CHANGING HOW PEOPLE THINK ABOUT OLDER PEOPLE
Key messages
Beliefs about people who are older are often wrong and under estimate ability and potential
Hostility may be increasing because of concerns about older people’s use of carbon, pension rights and protection during Covid
Attitudes towards older people are too pessimistic
People generalise about older people in ways that would be considered unacceptable if made about other sub groups in society
What do we mean by beliefs and attitudes?
These terms are widely used but they have a definite and different meaning and examples of the different meanings are given below.
- A belief is obviously , in the words of the Professor Halligan, an expert in this subject, “What people believe about the nature of their illness” whether or not that belief is scientifically based or just something another person has told them The belief may be true or false or of unknown significance. For example many people believe that everything that happens to people as they grow older is due to ageing. This is wrong but leads to pessimistic attitudes
- An attitude is defined in one of the leading books on disease prevention as “a relatively stable tendency to respond consistently to particular people, objects, or situations”. People who are pessimistic always see the glass as half empty.
For example ; A person may believe that all people over eighty suffer from a disease called sarcopenia and on the basis of this belief have the pessimistic attitude that it is pointless to try to help people over the age of 80 increase their strength in spite of the scientific evidence that even people over 90 can increase their strength
That person will have a pessimistic attitude and will not encourage an older person to be more active, although he may see himself as being caring because he rushes to do something for that old person rather than see them ‘struggle’ even though he goes regularly to a gym where an observer would classify what he was doing in the gym as ‘struggling’
Understanding Ageism
In general younger people believe that have negative beliefs about older people,a belief called ageism.Of particular importance for people whose age is increasing is that there is a set of negative beliefs and a set of pessimistic attitudes.
Examples of negative beliefs which are wrong include
- There’s no point in doing anything for people aged 70
- Ageing is responsible for disability and dependence
- There is no difference between ageing and dementia
- There is no point in arguing with someone who is over 85
- Fitness and training are relevant for only young people
Examples of pessimistic attitudes include
- I will start doing more things for my mother, now that she is ageing that is the kind thing to do
- All we need to do for older people is provide more 'care' namely do more things for them because they cannot do things for themselves and cannot recover their ability to do things for themselves
- I have no expectations that older people could take responsibility for organising services or being involved in the organisation of services; we have to do it for them
It is also important to remember that people aged 60 or 70 or whatever age differ from one another in many more ways than they resemble one another
These beliefs influence the individual whose age is increasing and they may come to believe and accept them all even if they were positive and optimistic when they were younger. This is what we mean by the social process of growing older it is a process that is influenced by the negative beliefs and pessimistic attitudes of other people. It is the fourth process that affects us as we live longer
Hostility
As the economy gets tougher attitudes may harden and it is not surprising when the difficulties faced by young people in, for example buying a house are considered. Furthermore as the population balance changes with not only an increase in the number of older people , what is called absolute ageing but also a decrease in the number of younger people due to falling birth rates , what is called relative ageing, that there is growing resentment about the financial cost of pensions. Sometimes this is stimulated by debate about retirement age , with some groups fighting to retain a relatively low age. Others wish to continue work past the statutory retirement age and in one famous oxford case the evidence was produced that the postholder was not excluding younger people from the position he was occupying
What can you do?
The most important thing for people as they are growing older is to have a clear understanding of the fact that most of the problems that occur as people grow older are not caused by ageing but by loss of fitness and disease. They also need to understand that on the basis of this understanding many of the beliefs about what happens to people as they get older are not based on scientific evidence. What you need to believe is that
- Ageing is not a major cause of problems until the nineties
- For most people what they regard as a change due to ageing from the early twenties is in fact a change primarily due to loss of fitness
- The accurate diagnosis and treatment of disease is essential but equally important, if not more important, is to maintain and indeed increase activity after the onset of a long term or chronic condition. Activity needs to be maintained to maintain the level of fitness of an individual with a long term condition, or more than one long term condition, but because most people who reach their forties, fifties, sixties and beyond have already lost a lot of fitness the aim should always be to increase fitness, even after diagnosis of one or more than one long term conditions.
- Negative beliefs are one of the major causes of problems that people have as they grow older.
- Positive ageing is of vital importance in maintaining intellectual ability as well as physical activity
- Physical, social and mental activity are all of vital importance in maintaining and increasing both ability and reserve nad reducing the risk of dementia and frailty and dependence on other people
What can you do to help other people?
If you are trying to support an older person or a group of older people it is important think about their beliefs and attitudes and to assume that they share these bnegative beliefsand pessimistic attitudes. Rather than tackle them directly ift may be mre effective to talk about the mistaken beliefs and attitudes which prevail generally and why the beliefs are wrong and theattitudes therefore unjusifiable
LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST
HOW OUR ENVIRONMENT IS USUALLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR GENES
The three previous podcasts have described three of the four factors that influence how we live after the age of sixty – ageing, fitness, and disease. The important factor is how the social and physical environment in which you have grown up and are living.
Too many older people still experience significant social pressures and deprivation and there is now new research showing that people at a high level of deprivation are so focused on day to day living for example heating costs and housing problems but they do not have the resource or energy to, for example, increase their fitness level. Similarly, when a person with significant pressures and deprivation develops a long-term health problem, they have less energy to devote to the contribution that they can make to adapting to that problem and therefore their outcome of even best clinical treatment may be less good.
The second significant social pressure that we have mentioned is ageism. Fortunately, geriatric medicine has ensured that ageism is less of a problem in clinical practice now where people are no longer assumed to be ineligible for tests and treatment on the basis of a chronological age but ageism ??? society. Sometimes it leads to well intention or protection but it is not only a failure to involve the older person in the types of challenging situations, such as helping young people through a voluntary organisation which allows that person to regain a sense of purpose or Ikigai
Points for Reflection after listening and reading; if you are working through these podcasts with a group ask people to turn to their neighbour and discuss these points or allocate them to a Zoom room if you are online
- Can you think of three things that people have said or you have read that are ageist?
- What do you think is the best term to describe the 60+ population group, the elderly or third agers or elders or what?
- What are the main barriers people who have very low incomes face when they try to take action to improve their fitness and reduce their risk of disease?
Decide what action you could take to counter ageism