24
A
ging can be defined as the process of growing old
regardless of chronological age. Global aging of
populations is an accepted phenomenon. We live in a
world, a country, a society, in communities in which the
numbers of older persons are increasing. According to the
United Nations Population Division (2011), Trinidad and
Tobago is listed as one of ten nations in the world predicted
to have the largest increase in the 60-plus population
between 2011 and 2050. The expected increase is from 21%
in 2011 to 32% in 2050.
The answer to the question of what age is old as it relates to
the provision of services may vary according to employers,
bankers, insurance companies, and organizations such
as TTARP; ranging from 50 to 65 years. In Trinidad and
Tobago, in news media reports on incidents involving
persons described as elderly, the ages of the individuals
ranged from 62 to 89 years. With global aging and increased
longevity, the reality is that the average healthy 60-year-old
today may anticipate at least 20 more years.
As generations age, they are being replaced by another
that is increasingly better educated, less insular and with
greater expectations for this life stage. The generation in
gerontological literature called the “baby-boomers” has its
parallel in our society. The term “baby-boomers” refers to
persons born between 1946 and 1964, who, in 2013, are
between the ages of 49 and 67. These persons are more
educated than the previous generation, and many women
are professionals who have had careers in addition to home
making and may have more disposable income. What
does aging mean to this group of older persons? And what
implications does this group have for our society?
There is a tendency to associate aging with illness and frailty.
The focus on aging is therefore on geriatrics (the branch of
medicine that focuses on the problems and diseases of the
elderly) rather than on gerontology (the study of the impact
of aging upon individuals and society and the subsequent
reactions of individuals and society to aging). The fact that
there is a large proportion of older persons who are vibrant,
healthy, active, skilled
and experienced, with
much to contribute to
societies’ growth and
with much growing
and achieving still in
their future is ignored.
The elderly are
stereotyped as being
frail, disengaged, living
a sedentary life style,
uninvolved in society.
This view results in
elder living facilities for
example being designed
using a medical model
of caring, as opposed to
a social model of being,
places where an older
person might CHOOSE
to live for various social
and other reasons.
An informal survey was done with groups of young persons
between the ages of 12 to 25 asking them about plans for the
different decades and developmental stages of their life. The
results showed ideas for productive activities for all stages
until the age of 60. Then, came retirement and a nameless,
shapeless void of time that constitutes that period of life
that somehow signifies reward for labour, a vague, happy,
fulfilling period of grandchildren, a rocking chair and bliss
until death.
Aging is sometimes viewed from a social problems
perspective. However according to (Hooyman & Kiyak,
2001), “The major problems faced by older people are
socially constructed in a capitalist society as a result of
societal conceptions of aging.” Estes et al. (1996) argues that
the marginalisation of the older population is furthered by
the development of the “Aging Enterprise,” a service industry
of agencies, providers, and planners that reaffirms the out-
group status of older adults in order to maintain their own
jobs.
Whether we agree or disagree with the above theorists, we
can admit that societal conceptions of aging may affect the
way older persons live in our society, and that older persons
are marginalised.
There are expectations, both personal and societal, for
each developmental stage of life – tasks which are to be
accomplished from infancy through childhood, through
adolescence through adulthood. There are specific roles
society expects the individual to play. Each stage is one of
growth and development, building on the previous stage. Is
this new developmental stage a launch pad for continued
growth and new learning experiences or a landing strip from
which one exits after completing a journey?
With retirement comes loss of a role that occupied a
significant portion of life and a loss of significance and
purpose that role supplied. The social status of older persons
is defined by the value placed on factors such as their
physical frailty, their altered features, their knowledge and
experience due to long life, retirement, the attitude towards
the old. Ken Dychtwald in Age Power asserts that “a new
more productive role for life’s later years – including social
contribution, productivity, and intergenerational leadership
– needs to be established”. Until that is done, older persons,
have to decide if this period will be one of continued growth
and new experiences or one of increasing isolation and
yearning for what was.
In our society some programmes and organisations exist that
are geared to persons over 60. When discussing the political
economy of aging, it is stated that “Social class is a structural
barrier to older people’s access to valued social resources,
with dominant groups within society trying to sustain their
own interests by perpetuating class inequities. “ Thus some
services for the elderly offered by private organisations might
only be accessed by persons with higher income levels.
The Level I GAPP (Geriatric Adolescent Partnership
Programme) of the Ministry of Community Development is
an excellent intergenerational programme which seeks to
foster caring relationships between older persons over 65
and young persons in communities throughout Trinidad.
Peter Spiers in the book, Master Class: Living Longer,
Stronger and Happier, shares research into the lives of
active, older persons. He presents four elements which he
found common to persons who were successfully navigating
this new stage of development. These were socialising,
moving, creating and thinking. In his book, The Creative
Age, Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life,
Gene D. Cohen gives many examples of individuals who
had their major accomplishments later in life. Research also
shows that occupational productivity peaks in their 60’s and
70’s for scholars.
Building a deeper, broader life in this new developmental
stage becomes an individual choice. It can be safely
assumed that of the 252,000 (21% of 1.2 million) persons
over the age of sixty, less than 10,000 live in elder care
facilities. There are therefore at least 240,000 older persons
in our society whose contributions are essential to our
society’s growth. To navigate this new stage successfully,
older persons can view their aging and entering this new
stage as a celebration. There are three basic elements to a
good celebration – Purpose, privilege and planning.
Every celebration has a purpose; it may be a birthday, an
anniversary. Growing old with a sense of meaning and
purpose in life begins before old age. However it is never
too late to begin living a life of purpose. What would you
like to achieve, in specific areas of your life? What are your
goals for the next five years? Is there something new you
would like to learn? Embrace the concept of lifelong learning
remembering that learning is not schooling. Choose to find
in society what you need to continue living a life of purpose.
Intergenerational relationships are important. Mentoring is
one avenue of continuing to use your skills.
Those invited to a celebration are the privileged. Depending
on the celebration, receiving an invitation is seen as the
measure of a person’s significance. Living to enter this
new developmental stage is a privilege that is not given
to everyone. Acknowledge and appreciate that you are
privileged as an older person. Value this new developmental
stage that you have achieved.
There is so much planning and preparation that goes into
some celebrations. Wedding celebrations for example are
often planned more than a year in advance for a one day
event. Preparation for aging often focuses on finances. There
is other preparation necessary. How do you prepare for the
rest of your life psychologically, emotionally, spiritually?
Older persons must be prepared for the changes that
increasing age brings to their lives. How well do you live
your older
years? Aging
is the process
of growing old
regardless of
chronological
age. Aging
is therefore
universal to the
baby as to the
elder statesman.
Aging is
living. As with
growth, aging
is inevitable
but living is
intentional.
By Agnes Nydia Punch, Dip Pharm, B.A. Ed, M.Sc.Gerontology
Aging Is Living
Agnes Punch is a
pharmacist, educator
and a gerontologist. She
combines these disciplines
in her passion for helping
people. She has been
involved in planning and
speaking at Seminars in
Trinidad and Tobago and
in the United States.
Agnes worked as the
gerontologist on an
intergenerational
programme that seeks
to foster relationships
between the youth
and the elderly, and
works part-time as a
pharmacist, periodically.
She has served on the
board of the Alzheimer’s
Association of Trinidad
and Tobago. She teaches
Psychopharmacology
and Gerontology at the
University of the Southern
Caribbean.
