Aging comes with so many challenges. Loss of independence, physical capacity impairment, and age discrimination are all possible results. Among them, social issues are more challenges that many elderly females discover they are victims of.
As we grow older, we experience changes in our physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual abilities.
The elderly may have financial difficulties as a result of their lack of employment. As a result of cultural assumptions, older persons may be the focus of ridicule and stereotyping.
When people get older, they face various challenges, but they do not have to do so alone.
No matter the gender, once people enter the age where find difficulties termed as senior citizens, and unfortunately they start facing discrimination.
According to the expertise survey, societal discrimination is more common than discrimination at home. It’s all due to prejudices about certain age groups and cultural misunderstandings.
Elderly women, on the other hand, suffer a variety and many difficult social challenges. This can be degraded not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally.
In this article, we explore the most important concerns facing older women today, and how we can help them to age with dignity.
So, Before Start. Let’s Know.
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Is 60 considered elderly? What are the issues at this age?
Yes, according to the World Health Organization(WHO), most developed world countries define old age as 60 years or more.
Everyone over the age of 65 is included in the old category. An individual 65 years of age have quite a different experience than one with 90 years of age.
What are the social challenges that many older women find themselves in?
Talking about the female group of aging, older women have much fewer resources. The life of an elderly woman who has lost her partner and is completely reliant on her children is fraught with difficulties.
When they survive their husbands’ loss, they are frequently confronted with decisions and tasks with which they are unfamiliar as most difficult social problems.
In the face of health and other services, the feminization of aging has several consequences.
A range of factors influences health outcomes, including cultural, social, economic, and political factors.
More than simply physical health is affected by these elements. In this circumstance, the fewer women who are aware of the regulations and services, the more disadvantaged they feel.
Before we address the emotional issues that elderly people face, we must first understand what constitutes old age and what constitutes aging.
What are some common social problems faced by old people?
The elderly have been grossly underestimated in a world dominated by glamour and youth. Old age is viewed as a disadvantage in a capitalist culture like ours.
Being openly ignored by the majority, including family members, appears to be an unjust and unnecessary burden placed on the elderly.
As mentioned above, social issues, challenges, and difficulties may have different prospects and definitions between them. But somehow they are interrelated and joined with some thread.
Social challenges faced by elderly females group they are victims of are also of elderly males group.
Here are some Social problems faced by old people:
Discrimination
Discrimination against senior adults is one of the most serious social issues that they face. And discrimination in access to health care, mobility, accessibility, educational services, financial services, insurance, and jobs.
When it comes to health care, when they go to hospitals or clinics, they have to wait a long time and no one seems to mind or care about senior folks.
However, when it comes to mobility and accessibility when the elderly go out and utilize public transportation, they don’t even get a seat to sit in.
When older persons look for work, they are often discriminated against based on their age, which is due to their physical condition, decreased work efficiency, and other factors.
Mistreatment and Abuse
Abuse and mistreatment of the elderly is a huge social issues. As is to be expected, the biology of aging causes the old to become physically feeble.
A Professional caregiver purposefully deprives an older person of care or damages the person in his or her custody, which is known as elder abuse.
Caregivers might be members of the family, relatives, friends, medical professionals, or employees of senior living or nursing homes.
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Dive into the pressing social concerns affecting elderly women and discover ways to provide compassionate support, fostering dignity and well-being in their aging journey.
Elderly people may be subjected to a range of sorts of abuse.
- Having their medical problems dismissed by doctors
- Sales checkers suspecting them of theft
- Having gas station attendants as customers
- Having their senior citizen status verified by a card
- Physical abuse, such as slapping, kicking or shaking
- Sexual abuse such as rape, and coerced nudity are examples.
- Verbal harassment or humiliation are examples of psychological or emotional abuse.
- A lack of care or a failure to offer enough care
- Financial exploitation and abuse
Social Dignity
Senior citizens have a strong desire for respect, which is understandable given that their age is a position that requires love, care, and respect. Senior citizens in society require dignity and affection for their self-respect to be maintained.
Many senior adults feel deprived because our society does not treat them with the respect they deserve, which makes them depressed, and they do not even receive respect from their children and relatives. The elderly want nothing but respect.
But they are questioned to show cards to prove their senior citizen card with a rude attitude, same goes with gas station and department stores employees almost every day.
Generational Gap
Every person’s relationship with the senior and junior generations is critical. Senior citizens are people who have worked hard their entire lives and have a wealth of experience, and when they share their knowledge with their juniors, the generational gap is automatically bridged.
Because life expectancy has increased over the century, the second generational gap has emerged in society.
This generation gap can occur not only between the young and the old but also between the old middle-aged parents.
Ageism and losing a sense of purpose
Many outmoded stereotypes about senior citizens exist, which can lead to isolation and marginalization in many areas.
We can not only help older people preserve a sense of identity and self-esteem by creating unique methods to integrate them into society through social events, but we can also tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience they possess, which is so important for the development of society
These social issues at the age of 60 and above can be eradicated if we put effort to understand the social need of elderly people and try to fulfil their social need
How to get rid of the social problem faced by elderly people?
Now that we are aware to consider the social needs of elderly people while we try to get rid of the social problem faced by them.
Provide transportation when needed
Offering rides to seniors and helping them to learn to use public transportation will help them maintain social connections and a healthy sense of independence.
Promote sense of purpose
Encourage elders to be engaged in their hobbies and interests, as well as provide them with volunteer opportunities, which can help them preserve their sense of purpose and avoid becoming isolated and lonely.
Encourage body positivity
Keeping seniors from worrying about their appearance or over-analyzing the cosmetic effects of aging could assist them from becoming so self-conscious that they forgo social contacts.
Make adaptive technologies available
Both as a society and in our own families we can encourage and facilitate the use of adaptive aids that make it possible for seniors to have active and involved social lives.
Aging with Dignity: Championing the Rights of Elderly Women
Join the movement to uphold the rights of older women and promote a society that values and respects their contributions. Learn how to advocate for change and create a more inclusive and equitable environment for all seniors.
Be a good neighbor
Watch out for fragile older people in your neighborhood. Be kind and maintain a peaceful environment.
Give extra support to seniors without a spouse
Provide extra emotional and social support to recent widows and widowers while they are grieving.
Final thoughts
As people enter old age, they face challenges. Ageism, which includes stereotyping and discrimination towards the old, contributes to misunderstandings about their capabilities. Their vulnerability should never be the reason for the social abuse they go through.
The negative attitude toward the elderly in society is expected to shift over time. However, we must remember that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way elderly people are perceived in this culture in the meantime.
So, Which is a social issue that many elderly females discover they are victims of? Which of the above issues are you finding the most problematic for seniors? Feel free to tell us in the comment section!
