Working with elderly as career
Ranjan K Baruah *
These days we could see many old age homes in different areas where elders stay or are kept by others. Like crèche for kids, old age homes are also becoming crucial these days .
The year 2020 marks the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and the 30th Anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons which is observed around the world on 1st October .
This year 2020 has seen an emergence of COVID-19 that has caused an upheaval across the world. Considering the higher risks confronted by older persons during the outbreak of pandemics such as COVID-19, policy and programmatic interventions must be targeted towards raising awareness of their special needs.
The importance of older people are felt everywhere. On 14 December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons (resolution 45/106). This was preceded by initiatives such as the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, which was adopted by the 1982 World Assembly on Ageing and endorsed later that year by the UN General Assembly.
Between 1950 and 2010, life expectancy worldwide rose from 46 to 68 years. Globally, there were 703 million persons aged 65 or over in 2019. The region of Eastern and South-Eastern Asia was home to the largest number of older persons (261 million), followed by Europe and Northern America (over 200 million). Today we shall discuss working with elders or older persons which can be a career choice for many of us.
Gerontology is the study of the social, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging. It is distinguished from geriatrics, which is the branch of medicine that specializes in the treatment of existing disease in older adults.
Gerontologists include researchers and practitioners in the fields of
biology, nursing, medicine, criminology,
dentistry, social work, physical and occupational therapy,
psychology, psychiatry, sociology, economics,
political science, architecture, geography, pharmacy,
public health, housing, and anthropology.
It encompasses studying physical, mental, and social changes in people as they age investigating the
biological aging process ,
effects and mechanisms investigating the social and psycho-social impacts of aging investigating the psychological effects on aging ,
investigating the interface of biological aging with aging-related diseases ,
investigating the effects of an ageing population on society applying this knowledge to policies and programs,
including the macroscopic (for example, government planning) and
microscopic (for example, running a nursing home) perspectives.
The multidisciplinary nature of gerontology means that there are a number of sub-fields, as well as associated fields such as physiology, psychology and sociology that overlap with gerontology.
Gerontologists view aging in terms of four distinct processes:
chronological aging,
biological aging,
psychological aging, and
social aging.
Chronological aging is the definition of aging based on a person’s years lived from birth.
* Ranjan K Baruah wrote this article for The Sangai Express
Ranjan K Baruah is a career mentor, skill trainer and motivational speaker and can be reached at at bkranjan(AT)gmail(DOT)com
This article was posted on October 13, 2020.
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