Aging and the Aged in “The Greek Anthology”

1998 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wortley
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Elderly Woman ◽  
Working Life ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Large Collection ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The One ◽  
Made In

A large collection of short Greek poems made in the tenth and eleventh centuries at Constantinople contains items ranging back many centuries. These shed some light on many aspects of Hellenic life and attitudes, but light of what validity it is hard to be certain as these poems are to a certain extent literary conceits. Insofar as they are more than that, they reflect some interesting attitudes to aging and the aged, especially women. They reflect (for instance) scorn for the woman who used to trade the charms which she has now outlived, but a surprising degree of affection for the elderly woman who has aged gracefully and retained her lover's devotion. They reflect the qualms and fears of the man who perceives the onset of old age, the anger of the one who fights against it, and the calm of him who is resigned to it. They provide some evidence of the ills that drove working men and women into retirement and some rare evidence of what constituted a working life, at least for charioteers.

scholarly journals Services for the Elderly in Israel: Privatization or Nationalization-An Unending Dilemma-A Reflection

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Avi Bitzur ◽  
Mali Shaked
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Elderly Person ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Baby Boomer Generation ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One

The world in which we live is aging at a dizzying pace and expressions like “70 is the new 50” or the creation of concepts such as the “Silver Tsunami”, a nickname for the aging baby-boomer generation, have become an inseparable part of the reality in our society.On the one hand, the spread of aging is a welcome phenomenon – a sort of solution to the great human effort to reach immortality. On the other hand, however, old age can be perceived as a period burdened by economic, social and health-related challenges and it is becoming more and more clear that throughout the world, and in Israel in particular – the focus of this article - we must begin to prepare systems and services for the provision of rapid and comprehensive solutions for the tsunami of aging that befalls us. This stems from an understanding that the services we have in place today are not sufficiently prepared to handle the range of challenges and issues that will arise as a side effect of this phenomenon.The dilemmas that come hand in hand with the aging of our population are innumerable, however five particular issues stand out: the first is who should be responsible for the elderly and their care – the government or the person’s family? The second: Should all of the elderly receive the same care or should the treatment assistance vary differentially – meaning each elderly person should receive care according to his or her economic, social and health status and receive only according to their needs? The third is, should we provide assistance to the elderly directly (e.g. specific medications) or should the elderly receive financial assistance equivalent to the value of their needs and should we hope that they purchase the relevant medications, for example, and not something else instead? The fourth dilemma is: should we provide assistance for specific projects or should we work on long-term solutions through legislation to provide care and assistance to the elderly? Fifth, which is also the main questions, is should the services provided be privatized or should the treatment be the responsibility of the state and its institutions?The question of privatization or nationalization is the main focus of this article, and while we do not pretend to offer a firm stance on the issue, the authors offer to shed some light on the basic concepts associated with our aging population and how we as a society might handle these issues from the perspective of comparison between privatization versus nationalization of services rendered. The main focus of this article will be around the issue of the residential arrangements for the elderly: Mainly - should the elderly move into what are typically called “old age homes” or should we allow for “Aging in Place” – an approach that favors allowing the elderly to remain in their own homes for the remainder of their lives. Which is the most favorable solution? This issue also falls under the dilemma of whether or not homes for the aging as one possible solution should be a state-provided service or if “aging in place” will result in the privatization of the services granted to the elderly.The focus of this article is the situation in Israel, a country in which a significant portion of the population is elderly and where, by 2035, 15% of the population will be considered senior citizens. We will present the dilemma through the lens of the situation in Israel. The article shall begin with an introduction offering an in-depth examination of the dilemma presented. We will continue by presenting basic concepts from the general literature in the field of gerontology available today. We will then examine the situation in Israel between the years 2017-2019 and conclude by examining the concepts of privatization and nationalization in regards to services for the elderly, while once again emphasizing that comprehensive solutions to these dilemmas are unlikely to be reached in the near future.

scholarly journals Death Anxiety in the Elderly in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Salmand ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-171
Author(s):  
Maliheh Khalvati ◽  
◽  
Masoudeh Babakhanian ◽  
Mahboube Khalvati ◽  
Ayub Nafei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Death Anxiety ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Men And Women

Objectives: Aging is one of the most critical stages of human development that has its own characteristics and conditions. One of the most common issues in old age is the mental health whose achievement requires special attention from both health system policymakers and service providers to the elderly. Death anxiety is one of the most common mental health issues in old age, because this period is full of feelings of shortcomings and disabilities. Since death anxiety is a multidimensional factor, it is expected to affect many aspects of the elderly. The present study aims to review and analyze published studies in the field of death anxiety in the elderly in Iran. Methods & Materials: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis conducted on the studies related to the death anxiety of the elderly in Iran published in Persian from 2011 to 2019. A search was conducted in national databases, including SID, IranDoc, MagIran, IDML, and CIVILICA using the keywords: Death anxiety, elderly, and older adult. Initial search yielded 61 articles. After screening, 33 studies that met the entry and exit criteria were selected for the final review. We used Stata v. 14 and SPSS v. 22 applications to perform meta-analysis. Results: In the studies, 40.35% of the participants were older women and the rest were older men with a mean age of 67.80±6.44 years. The mean score of death anxiety was higher in men than in women, and the elderly living in nursing homes had the highest score (11.8). Studies were categorized into three sections: comparison (3 studies), intervention (11 studies), and factors affecting the death anxiety (18 studies). The results of meta-analysis showed no significant relationship between spiritual therapy and reduction of death anxiety in the elderly (P>0.05). In studies with spiritual and behavioral therapies, the heterogeneity was significant and, thus, a significant positive relationship was observed between the reduction of death anxiety and these treatments methods. Conclusion: The death anxiety level of the elderly in Iran is low. Religious beliefs, hopes for the intercession of imams and religious leaders, and hopes for freedom from the hardships of worldly life seem to have contributed to low death anxiety in Iran. Different death anxiety scores have been reported for older men and women in Iran may be due to the effect of culture, religion, and traditions, the difference in the roles of men and women, and even the expression of fear and anxiety. Most of men have less tendency to express their emotions, including fear, while women are more likely to express their feelings. Behavioral and spiritual interventions lead to a decrease in the elderly’s death anxiety through affecting their finding meaning in life.

TREMULOQUE GRADU VENIT AEGRA SENECTUS: OLD AGE IN OVID'S METAMORPHOSES

Mnemosyne ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Physiological Process ◽  
The Body ◽  
Men And Women

AbstractAlthough aging is not a metamorphosis stricto sensu, it is a process that affects the shape of the body. This paper explores the ambivalent representation of old age and its interplay with the ostensible theme of Ovid's encyclopedic poem on bodies changing shapes. Aging in the Metamorphoses is mainly a physiological process, which affects men and women alike, but may be reversed by means of magic. It is also one of the trappings of divinity: gods and goddesses often disguise themselves as old women, in order to deceive or advise humans. Even the poem's narrator, 'Ovid', frequently assumes the persona of the elderly in an act of self-transformation.

Epilogue. Reflections on Women and Activism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annelise Orleck
Keyword(s):  
Driving Force ◽  
Elderly Woman ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Woman Warrior ◽  
Education Movement ◽  
The World

I did my share, that’s all.—Pauline Newman, on the significance of her long careerIn September 1962, Justice ran a two-part profile of Fannia Cohn. The ILGWU journal paid tribute to the elderly woman warrior as an organizer and as the driving force behind the international workers’ education movement. “Throughout the world,” Leon Stein wrote, “those concerned with worker’s education know her well. … Her name, many years ago, came to stand for pioneering efforts to increase the educational opportunities for men and women in the shops.”...

scholarly journals “With Length of Days I Will Gratify Him”

Scrinium ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-61
Author(s):  
Geoffrey D. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Value Of Life ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
The Bible ◽  
High Regard ◽  
The One ◽  
High Place

Abstract The Bible has a variety of perspectives on old age. On the one hand, as exemplified in Ps 91(90):16 and 92(91):15, old age is a sign of God’s blessing and the elderly are held in high regard as valuable, while on the other, as exemplified in Ps 39(38):5; 71(70):9; and 90(89):10, life is seen as fleeting and length of days as insignificant and the elderly fear neglect. The psalms held a high place in Augustine’s Christian identity. This paper explores Augustine’s use of these verses to consider the extent to which his religious outlook shaped his perspectives on ageing, as well as addressing the question of whether or not he was aware of the conflict between the two perspectives. It will be argued that Augustine was not interested in the contradictions presented by the psalmist, and that he interpreted all the verses through an eschatological framework, such that an evaluation of the meaning and value of life is to be found only through a perception of eternity.

Arbeit und Alter in ländlichen Gesellschaften der Frühen Neuzeit. Die Erwerbstätigkeit im Alter zwischen eigenem Besitz und den Zwängen einer „Ökonomie des Auskommens“

2008 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermann Zeitlhofer
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Social Position ◽  
High Rate ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The One

AbstractDespite the growing interest historians have expressed in old age and ageing in recent decades, our knowledge of the labour force participation of elderly people in pre-industrial times is still very limited. This is due to the fact that historians have, for far too long, discussed ‘old age’ mostly in terms of ‘providing for the elderly’ whilst more or less ignoring the wide range of activities the elderly were engaged in as well as the high rate of life-long labour force participation before the late 19th century.This study, on the one hand, discusses the social position of ‘retirees’ (former rural house owners), a social position often seen as an archetype for modern ‘retirement’. Numerous examples are presented from the regional case study of South Bohemia as well as from other parts of Central Europe showing that pre-modern retirees quite often continued to work in many different ways. In many cases inter vivos transfers of land and houses were not undertaken in order to allow for retirement from all activities but rather to facilitate a change in the individual’s own main focus of activity from one occupation to another. In a second part of the study the economy of makeshifts of the poor is analysed. Using rare sources from several South Bohemian parishes enables us to document the importance of the mixed economy of the poorest section of the rural elderly.

When Near Becomes Far

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira Balberg ◽  
Haim Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
World Literature ◽  
Family Relations ◽  
Intergenerational Relationships ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Bodily Appearance ◽  
The One

When Near Becomes Far explores the representations and depictions of old age in the rabbinic Jewish literature of late antiquity. Through close literary readings and cultural analysis, the book reveals the gaps and tensions between idealized images of old age on the one hand, and the psychologically, physiologically, and socially complicated realities of aging on the other hand. The authors argue that while rabbinic literature presents various statements on the qualities and activities that make for good old age, on the respect and reverence that the elderly should be awarded, and on harmonious intergenerational relationships, it also includes multiple anecdotes and narratives that portray aging in much more nuanced and poignant ways. These anecdotes and narratives relate, alongside fantasies about blissful or unnoticeable aging, a host of fears associated with old age: from the loss of beauty and physical capability to the loss of memory and mental acuity, and from marginalization in the community to being experienced as a burden by one’s own children. Each chapter of the book focuses on a different aspect of aging in the rabbinic world: bodily appearance and sexuality, family relations, intellectual and cognitive prowess, honor and shame, and social roles and identity. As the book shows, in their powerful and sensitive treatments of aging, rabbinic texts offer some of the richest and most audacious observations on aging in ancient world literature, many of which still resonate today.

Children's Perception of Aged Persons and Grandparents

1979 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfons Marcoen
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Life Style ◽  
Stimulus Person ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Sixth Graders ◽  
Principal Influence ◽  
Principal Effect ◽  
Subject Variables ◽  
Made In

Because results with regard to children's perception of the elderly contradict each other, it is necessary to differentiate between several groups of subjects, different groups of aged stimulus persons and various dimensions of the image or concept formed. In this study an investigation is made of the characteristics and quality of the image children have of aged persons in general and of their grandparents. A sample of 114 second-, fourth-and sixth-graders, boys and girls, drew successively an aged man and woman and their grandfather and grandmother. Those figures are examined and compared with regard to the richness of the drawings (the number of characteristics drawn) and number of deficit and old age life style characteristics. An analysis of variance is made in order to examine the influence and interaction of two between-subject variables - sex (S) and age of child (A) -and two within-subject variables - sex (Ssp) and kinship of stimulus person (K). Relating to the richness of the drawings, S, A, and K show a principal effect, in relating to the proportion of deficit characteristics there is a principal influence of S, A, K and Ssp. Ssp and K show a principal effect relating to the old age life style characteristics. Some specific characteristics are more often used for one or two figures, or more often used by boys or girls, second-, fourth-or sixth-graders.

scholarly journals Impact of quality of life between old age homes and family households in geriatric population

Biomedicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-248
Author(s):  
Anju Shaju Areeckal ◽  
Nayanatara Arunkumar ◽  
Pai Sheila R.
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Social Relationship ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Elderly Men ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Old Age Homes

Introduction and Aim: Life satisfaction is a key aspect of psycho-social study of aging. Social relationships and involvement in activities are key protective factors in maintaining cognitive and functional ability in elderly. The aim of this study is to compare the quality of life (1) among the elderly people living in old age homes and those living with their family, (2) among elderly men and women in Mangalore.   Materials and Methods: Study group consists of 160 elderly subjects above the age of 60 years, selected from old-agehomes and urban families in Mangalore. The quality of life is assessed using the questionnaires from the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL).   Results: The elderly persons living with their family had a better social relationship and social participation than those living at old age homes (p<0.001). The elderly at old age homes had a better personal and intimate relationship than those living with their family (p<0.001). The elderly men had a better social relationship compared to elderly women (p<0.05).The social participation and intimate relationship was not significantly different for elderly men and women.   Conclusion: Lack of support from family degrades quality of life of elderly. The elderly who experiences social isolation and loneliness are at a greater risk for morbidity, depression and cognitivedecline. Hence, it is the responsibility of every individual to work towards the improvement of quality of life in the elderly population.

scholarly journals Demand for Space: Elderly Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People, Healthcare, and Theological Ethics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Wirth
Keyword(s):  
Applied Ethics ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Theological Ethics ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
In Trans ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Basic Medical ◽  
Made In

Abstract Visibility for transgender and gender nonconforming people and the elderly is growing; however, thus far the overlap of the two groups has rarely been considered. Trans persons therefore remain largely invisible in the context of older people’s care and medicine. The discrimination faced by this group is at least twofold: they are the targets of aggression incited by transphobia, and also by ageism. Although older trans and gender nonconforming people exist as a greatly marginalized group within another already marginalized group, even the field of theological ethics has neglected to grant them ethical attention. This leads to especially harsh consequences for elderly transgender and gender nonconforming people due to their specific vulnerabilities. There are reports from trans persons who have resolved never to make use of health services again due to regular experiences of transphobia in medical settings. There are religious components within transgender and gender nonconforming issues that should not be overlooked in this context. On the one hand, medical staff, in the name of their Christian beliefs, have refused to provide trans persons with basic medical care. On the other hand, demands for places of visibility, and spaces for the individual, are regularly made in trans-positive studies, and can be linked to discussions within theological ethics about giving space. Some ethical formulas within the Hebrew and Christian traditions focus on the creation of space in which other beings may exist, as found in concepts like brother–sisterhood, friendship, and Sabbath. By casting light on elderly trans and gender nonconforming people, and on their demands for space, via reflections on ethical concepts of space-making, this study develops a specific understanding of space for elderly trans persons. The paper aims to develop an understanding of trans-positive spaces within theological ethics and applied ethics. Spaces that assume a withdrawal or contraction by all those who have previously taken up trans spaces through ignorance, contempt, or violence, should not thereby become spaces of absence: indeed, elderly trans and gender nonconforming people might be in need of both kinds of spaces, those where otherness enables withdrawal, and those where the helping presence of others continues.

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