Ageing – change of attitude needed

s h a r e d by e v e r y b o d y w h o lives l o n g enough. O n the other hand, psychological characteristics and physiological manifest a t i o n s of a g e i n g s h o w

considerable

variation depending on cultural, structural and personality factors. T h e quality of the ageing experience can be changed and improved if il is clear how

specific

forms

of

ageing

are

constituted by special social forces. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the literature on the helping professions has tended to emphasise p a t h o l o g i c a l e l e m e n t s a n d o v e r whelmingly negative social stereotypes. Hven though many health professionals may be aware thai they have learnt

Ageing - change of attitude needed

little of the ageing process in theoretical education,

they

assume

they

have

a d e q u a t e k n o w l e d g e and skills to work with older people. Added to this, young

As we become an increasingly ageing soci-

health professionals have great difficulty

ety, the collapse of a coherent framework

fantasising about their future old age and

for the meaning of life in old age becomes

tend to block such imaginative activity

a pressing cultural and social problem. As il is not possible to study ageing independent of the images in which it is expressed and c o n s t i t u t e d , the images themselves require investigation. Indeed, the meaning of ageing (in terms of its value and place in h u m a n existence) b e c o m e s a pivotal concept in determining quality of health and quality of life for older adults.

from their conscious awareness. T h e ageism associated with these factors increases the iatrogenic potential associated with aged health care. O l d e r people are especially prone lo co-morbidity and to numerous complications secondary to being hospitalised. Many of these are potentially avoidable or at least should be m i n i m i s e d . T h e c o m b i n a t i o n of t h e normal ageing process and illness takes a

This cannot he resolved without clarification of the p h i l o s o p h i c issues - the m e a n i n g ol m y life, t h e m e a n i n g of human life and the m e a n i n g of the cosmos. In contemporary times, the value of older adults has diminished due primarily

toll on older people. As the inherent s h o r t c o m i n g s of the functionalist paradigm arc all too evident t h e r e is a n e e d to s t i m u l a t e a c r i t i c a l appraisal of contemporary practice within g e r o n t o l o g i c a l nursing and to i m p r o v e

to an emphasis on production and individ-

t h e k n o w l e d g e , skills a n d i n s i g h t s of

ual preoccupation.

health professionals. F.ducation needs to

T h e a g e i n g p r o c e s s is e x c e e d i n g l y c o m p l e x . Its b i o l o g i c a l c o n d i t i o n s are

focus on loosening up rigid p r e c o n c e p tions of ageing.

embedded in and modified by social and

Health professionals and the commu-

cultural contexts. T h e study of ageing is a

nity need to confront the ageism which

complex field of tensions between several

makes the prospect of ageing so depress-

poles. O n the one hand, there is the bio-

ing and to challenge d o m i n a n t assump-

logical evidence that the ageing process

tions about health in old age, especially

e n t a i l s effects t h a t will e v e n t u a l l y be

those concerning (he origins of ill health.