Social Dependency and Ageing Flashcards
Compression of morbidity principle
People are living longer in better health, therefore the period of chronicity is shorter + compressed
Sociological perspective of dependency
Older age as socially structured
Older age as socially constructed
Dependency as socially structured
Structured social inequalities (from material disadvantages) are associated with difference in social class, gender and ethnicity
Social disadvantages accumulate over a lifetime (‘lifecourse’) and become more prominent as life progresses
These social and economic processes impact freedom/agency of elderly
E.g. women have higher life expectancy than men, yet less savings and lower pension
This reflects the fact that women have less highly paid jobs, time out to have children etc.
This leads to greater risk of poverty and higher rate of morbidity for women
Retirement age is socially structured
Idea that as age increases, productivity decreases due to health status
Inevitability of retirement age from full-time work reflects socially structured ideas that advanced age brings a change related to productivity or participation in the labour market
Yet, official retirement age was created and then shifted for reasons other than productivity or health
This isn’t true anymore, except for manual labouring jobs
Outline the lifecourse theory
socially STRUCTURED
A way of framing the ageing process as a dynamic set of processes, non-static
No standardisation with biologically, chronologically, not sequential or gendered
Emphasises dynamics of social roles
What concepts does the lifecourse theory draw upon?
socially STRUCTURED
Trajectories reflect the changing level of individual participation within social structures (school, work, marriage, parenthood)
Transitions mark the beginning and end of trajectories and give them form and meaning e.g. employed to retired (shorter than trajectories)
Dependency as a social construction
The notion of transition at a particular age and stage based on points in the lifecourse
Focusses on binary of ‘independence/dependence’
Independence = working and earning, dependence = not
The relative success/failure of maintaining independence for as long as possible despite challenges of dependence in later life, reflects a dominant normative set of age-based social and cultural expectations about transitioning to older age
Despite academic and service-based challenges to expectation of chronological age, they do not challenge binary polarisation of health and decline when old
Many of the conceptions of late life, including incorporation in public policy, continue to be rooted in age/stage-based construction.
Dependency with increasing age
social CONSTRUCTED
The association between retirement and dependency is a social construction (construct - everyday knowledge produced through social interaction + direct towards practical problems. These become norms)
Dependency in adulthood is said to be undermining the values of self-respect and dignity and therefore a social construction
Key concern of elderly is to maintain independence. If older age is socially constructed period of dependence, this belief can act as a barrier to ‘active ageing’
The elderly want to preserve their independence, but social constructions of dependency affect people’s self-conceptions and thus become self-fulfilling prophecies
A reciprocal relationship exists between social participation + health
Also, associated with the transition to dependency, is the way in which normal processes of biological ageing are constructed as problematic pathological process = medicalisation
Dependency ratio
On-going debate concerning actual vs potential strain on public spending from ageing population = ‘dependency ratio’
The ratio between those working and paying tax than those who aren’t
As the population ages, this ratio narrows
Care Act (2014)
Introduced right to an assessment for anyone (carers and self-funders) in need of support
Worked on a basis of prevention with the goal to help people staying independence
What is Fair Access for Care Services (FACS)?
A national set of eligibility criteria introduced in 2003, to standardise the way in which decisions about level of care provision were made
FACs eligibility framework was used to place clients into one of 4 bands of need
Over 11 years, FACs lost utility
A point was reached when directly funded care become realistically available to those with ‘critical personal care needs’: highest band
What is the dominant theme of “dependency as socially STRUCTURED”?
Stages in life are not standardised either chronologically or biologically, nor sequential or gendered, but are subject to historical change, cultural diversity an individual agency
