Dr. (Ms.) Vineeta B. Pai
Prof. & Chairperson,
Karnataka University
Introduction:
The Human life cycle moves through various stages from
the immaturity of childhood to the maturity of adulthood and then the senility
of old age. Every Stage is characterized
by certain concomitant changes in the physical, emotional as well as the social
realms (Pai, 2000)
Of
these stages the last one, that is old age had failed to attract the attention
of the society until recently. This was apparent even from the vocabulary of
social welfare, for, though included the terms like destitute, dependents and
vulnerable groups, connoting children,
women and to certain extent the youth,
it had not considered the aged.
Even the British Medical Association confirms the
considerable indifference shown toward ‘Geriatric Medicine denouncing it as a
second-rate speciality, looking after third-rate patients in fourth-rate
facilities’ (BMA, 1986 P.4)
Is
Old Age a Social Problem?
Today
despite being considered for the receipt of welfare services, the aged continue
to be practically left out of development, indicating the continued neglect
from and indifference to these aged in the society. The old age, therefore, has
almost become a bugbear striking fear in the minds and hearts of people about
the real and imaginary ordeals of it.
The
decline in the status of older people could be attributed, among many other
factors, to the shift of society from ‘agrarian economy’ to ‘industrial’ and
also to the replacement of ‘oral tradition’ to ‘written tradition’.
Cowgill and Holmes (1972) opine that deterioration in the
status of older people in the West began in the nineteenth century. Predicating
on the idea that ageing was a biological process of deterioration, it carried
the assumption that older people are a burden (Toucault, 1991)
Accordingly a number of myths have come to be associated
with old age. viz., All older people become senile and suffer from brain
deterioration, which makes it difficult for them to learn; the inevitable debilitating physical illness, coupled with memory loss and mental
deterioration, they become unproductive; older
people are lonely; it is useless to provide therapy to older people,
because they cannot benefit from it; etc.,
Unfortunately perpetuation of these and other myths has
not only lowered their status, and
devalued them, but also has developed
ageism and contributed to age prejudice and age dissemination, both in the
developing and the developed countries. Many older people seem to believe and
internalize ageist stereotypes and reproduce these in their ways. Ageist
assumptions present older people as homogeneous group and configure them as a
weight that has to be borne by the work of young people. In this world view,
older people are presented as dependent, incapacited and incapable. (Serutton.
1989)
Ageist attitudes ignore the interdependence and
solidarity that exist between people, young and old, and do not acknowledge the
burdens that older people have borne for younger people in the past by seeing
them through infancy, childhood and into adulthood (Phillipson 1982). Moreover,
constructing older people as not having a useful role in society, because
physical impairments limit their involvement in waged labour; it also subjects
them to disablist stereotypes and a consequent exclusion from the main stream.
The situation in India is no different from the West.
Owing to the shifts in the employment patterns, and consequent separation and
migration, besides the negative images of older people are central to the
changes in their status and roles. Marulasiddaiah (1969) based on his research
findings reports a decline in filial piety and the loss of authority, respect
and recognition of the old, even in the rural India. The 'aging' and the
‘elderly population’ are perceived as 'social problem' and because the society
is expected to support them with its resources, the elderly are viewed as
burden.
Phillipson (1998) states that the ageist attitudes
contributed to the medicalization of old
and its unhelpful approaches to older people. Thus the ageist view reinforces
socially constructed negative images of elderly and projects them as
unproductive and dependent members of the society.
Constructing
old age:
The reality, however
is that, not all elderly are dependents or in need of care and
protection. They are not a homogenous group as projected by these ageist
discourses. There are a number of persons who are more than seventy five years
and above, but still active independent, working and contributing to the
society in several ways. They do not look forward to or when offered they may
not accept the gerontological services. They may not qualify any of the
standards set by the society to consider them old except that they have
advanced in chronological age.
The question before social workers, therefore would be,
what should they call them- 'the elderly' “senior citizens”, “golden
agers” “old adults”, or some other
appropriate term be coined? With the increasing life span and enhancement of
the quality of life, what once was considered as old age, does not seem to be
appropriate today.
The
social workers therefore need to be more conscious and cautious while providing
gerontological services. They cannot devise and standardize services, and
render them uniformly to all elderly alike, considering all older citizens as
having lost their physical powers and the capacity to contribute to the society
economically. They should avoid the negative construction of old age and be
more pragmatic while working with them.
Social Work Intervention
with the Elderly:
Research in the field of gerontology has proved that,
although changes in the brain do take place as one grows older and the body has
outlived its sell-by date, yet severe deterioration of mental functioning or
physical debility is not inevitable. Most elderly people remain mentally alert
through out their lives and enjoy good health. Several of such persons take on
new activities after retirement, learn new skills and make significant
contributions to their society.
Thus, severe physical and mental deterioration is not
necessarily an out come of old age. Moreover, most physical and mental problems
associated with aging are treatable. All the same, the ‘very old’, the ‘frail
old’ may need attention of the young.
The social workers therefore should first and foremost
dispel the negativistic attitudes toward the aging. They should prepare
themselves to accept that aging per se and all aged do not pose problems to the
society. The negative portrayals of the aged be challenged, and endeavour to
develop positive images and attitudes toward aging not only among the people in
general but among the aged themselves in specific.
Whenever,
the latter they are intervening with the
aged, they should always believe that they deserve full attention and respect
because, they too have skills and strengths which can be harnessed. The social
workers could intervene at three levels ;
1)
By providing direct services to those who are unable
to help themselves in certain areas
2)
By providing indirect services through families and
other resource systems either to support or substantiate the efforts of the
elderly in helping themselves or the systems to assist the elderly in living
presentable, enriched life.
3)
The social workers can work as advocates and
strengthen the positive image of the elderly by challenging and dispelling the
negative images which have been prevailing in our society.
To do this, the social workers have to restrain
themselves from replicating ageist projections of elderly in and through
practice. Their concern with vulnerability should not prevail on them and cause
them to put all elderly in that group.
Those social workers who decide to work in the field of
gerontology and geriatric care besides having a comprehensive
knowledge–biological and physiological, psychological, sociological and
political–economic, should have an aptitude, compassion and patience to accept
the elderly as they are.
Conclusion:
Gerontological
Social Work has practically assumed the status of a specialized service. A
worker here is called upon to work not only with the elderly but also with
their families and other resource systems. A worker therefore may have to
convince the concerned that the well-being of the elderly in their penultimate
stage of life is as important as the well-being of children, youth or even the
adult members. Social Workers, therefore, have to perform a number of roles
such as friend, philosopher and an enabler besides being a clinician, broker,
advocate and an outreach worker. He/She needs to liaise with various resource
systems, including families to identify the potential strengths and capacities
of the aged and harness them for the benefits of the society.
The families especially the 'sandwiched' carers should be
helped and assisted in making appropriate decisions about maintaining the old
at home or shifting them to old-age communities or care centres. The
professional intervention of the social workers should strengthen both the
older clients and the care givers as the case may be and enable them self determine.
In our contemporary society old age being an ageist
construct, and the service being commodified, Social Workers have a crucial
role to play in challenging the negative image constructed about it. Their
intervention should also succeed in doing away with the negativity developed
among the old towards the younger generation. A mutual trust between the old
and the young, and compassion shall go a long way in benefiting the entire
society.
References:
1) DiNitto
D.M., McNeece C.A and Others (1997), ‘Social Work: issues and Opportunities in
a challenging Profession, Allyn and Bacon, USA.
2) Dominelli
Lena (2004), ‘Social Work-Theory and Practice for a changing profession,
‘Polity press, Cambridge, CB21UR, UK (Indian Reprint, 2005)
3) Pai V.B.
(2000), ‘Coping with Retirement- Portraits of Female Pensioners’, UNESCO CLUB,
Naganur, and Tq: Gokak, India.
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