Why should social workers address the issues faced by older men?

Why Should Social Workers Address the Issues Faced by Older Men

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The elderly sector is the fastest growing population in the world today . About 30 , 000 cross the threshold of 60 everyday , according to Slater , 1995 . Since this final chapter of life is characterized by the decay of physical and mental capability , many problems are faced by the elderly people . They suffer from physical changes like muscle wasting of sarcopenia , macular degeneration , physical disabilities , waning

br inability to maintain balance , difficulty in handling cold or hot weather , decline in cognition , in hearing ability and the like

Among the major life stages , childhood , adolescence , adulthood and old age - the last seems to offer the least information regarding the people going to that age . Only recently , studies are being conducted about old age , probably because of the attention it attracts from its growing population . In countries like , Europe , Japan , Germany and other Western countries , the increasing population of the elderly , defined as 60 years old and above (Somera 1995 :219 ) is garnering concern because the burden of paying for their pension are shouldered by working-age population This problem is complicated by the fact that the number of the aged outnumbers those who are 20 years of age , as in the case of Italy and Australia . This means that the labor force has to support both their selves and their families and the pension of the growing population of the elderly (Newsweek June 30-July 7 , 2003 :22

The changes in the population have effects on the society . This explains why it is necessary to study the people belonging to this particular increasing population- the elderly . Although , they already reach the retirement age of 60 , it does not necessarily mean that they are invalid ' and must be nursed by people taking care of them . This is a common conception about the elderly but in reality their world is much colorful than what we think . Not all elderly posses the same character . The common variation that is used to differentiate this group of people is chronological age . They can be classified as young old (65-75 years old , old-old (75- 84 years old ) and oldest old (over 85 (Riley and Riley , 1986 in Hooyman and Kiyak , 1993 . Within this group are even more factors to distinguish one group from the others like , health status , social and work activities and their family situations (Hooyman and Kiyak 1993 :5 . Some are healthier than others and have more activities , while others arte more frail and prefer to stay home and rest . Most men over age 65 are married , whereas , women are more likely to be widowed and live alone as they age (Hooyman and Kiyak , 1993 :5 . Some still works while others retired , and still others would have work if only they could

There have been studies on the helplessness of the elderly in different institutions and these studies confirm that they continue to perform functional...