Subject:
Sociology
Material Type:
Module
Level:
Community College / Lower Division
Provider:
Ohio Open Ed Collaborative
Tags:
  • Oss0212
  • Sociology
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    Identify the global impact and future of aging and the elderly

    Overview

    OER Text Materials

    Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Sections: 12.6

    This section will cover:

    • Presenting a brief sociodemographic profile of the U.S. elderly.
    • Discuss the several problems experienced by the U.S. elderly.
    • Describe how the social attitudes of older Americans generally differ from those of younger Americans.

    Supplemental Materials (Videos and Reading)

    1. ASA – American Society on Aging  (journal)
      The balance of this article summarizes some of the FrameWorks Institute’s findings, detailed more expansively in the report, Gauging Aging: Mapping the Gaps Between Expert and Public Understandings of Aging in America, by Eric Lindland et al. (2015).
       
    2. AARP - Population AGEING is a major GLOBAL TREND (article)
      Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out a universal plan of action to achieve sustainable development in a balanced manner and seeks to realize the human rights of all people. It calls for leaving no one behind and for ensuring that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are met for all segments of society, at all ages, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable—including older persons.
       
    3. World Health Organization (article)
      This article reviews population ageing is rapidly becoming a global issue and will have a major impact on health policies and programmes. The World Health Organization’s Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) aims to address the gap in reliable data and scientific knowledge on ageing and health in low- and middle-income countries.

    Data

    1. United Nations
      Data and resources to review the aging world population: virtually every country in the world is experiencing growth in the number and proportion of older persons in their population.
       
    2. United State Census Bureau (data source)
      With this swelling number of older adults, the country could see greater demands for healthcare, in-home caregiving and assisted living facilities. It could also affect Social Security. We project three-and-a-half working-age adults for every older person eligible for Social Security in 2020. By 2060, that number is expected to fall to two-and-a-half working-age adults for every older person.

    Additional Student/Classroom Resources

    Study Support​
    Sociology – Aging and the Elderly Flashcards / Quizlet [not sure which link to use]
    https://quizlet.com/29864333/sociology-aging-and-the-elderly-flash-cards/
    https://quizlet.com/subject/elderly%20and%20aging/

    Assignment Options​:
    Select One Video from the following link – discussing the future of aging and the elderly – and complete the following:
    Population Pyramids: Powerful Predictors of the Future

    1. Two paragraph summary of selected video
    2. Connect content in the video/summary to the three sociological perspectives (structural
    3. functional, conflict, and symbolic interaction) – one paragraph for each perspective
    4. Identify the global connection – traditional experience of aging (address traditional and modern day perceptions and stereo types of the elderly) – two paragraphs

    Based on above review of resources (and the OER material) – and suggested project completion, students should be able to discuss the following:

    • Discuss aging and the elderly, the impact on domestic and global societies
    • Identify traditions and stereo types of aging and the elderly
    • Apply the sociological perspectives to aging and the elderly – domestic and global experience
      • Structural Functionalism
      • Conflict
      • Symbolic Interactionism
    • Critique the characteristics and challenges of the aging
    • Identify the global impact and future of aging and the elderly