Aging and Ageism: Life in Lines, Growing Old, Interview Example

Abstract

In this paper, I will interview my uncle George, who is 72 years old.  I will discussed his life experiences concerning his journey since the age of 50. The paper will briefly describe the changes in his life from a social, personal and health standpoint. The reflections will be shared on how the well-being or lack of well-being affected the entire family over the ageing years… The most meaningful experiences will be shared concerning connection between my families younger generation to my uncle George. The primary goal is to gain some insight about the struggles, spiritual, personal, attitudes and beliefs as my uncle journey into his 72 years of life. In addition, to understanding his point of view about senior life, getting older, ageism and gerontophobia.

Introduction

In our society today, the journey starts at 50 years of age because that is 15 years away from retirement and most seniors that are ageing must take better care of themselves. The elderly are living longer, exercising more, working beyond retirement age of 65. According to a US Census Bureau report from June 2011, 14 percent of the civilian work force in the United States was aged 65 or older. Of that number, 58 percent were men and 42 percent were women (Jobnab.com, 2014). This half century mark is the beginning of the change in importance in the community. The employee is looking for younger talent while the world is changing for the younger contributors not the ageing 50 year old. However, people are living longer and they are in better health than our previous ageing groups centuries ago. However, each journey by each senior over 50 years has different successes, failures and memories. They all have different directions and different goals on what they what to accomplish in life.

Description of the Interviewee

My Uncle George who is a mix of Asian and Irish at the age of 72. Uncle George has been suffering with prostate enlargement and bouts of cancer since the age of 52. However, Uncle George is a go-getter with a great attitude, strong faith and solid work background. George is an economic consultant that has been all over the world and is respected by many companies. The thing my Uncle George shared was there is not enough available resources and materials for people over 50 years of age. There seems to be a lack of research in the literature about representations of aging in the 50-60 year old group. This group is of particular interest as it is considered the emerging stage for old age, the pre-retirement age and the time to start preparing for the last part of your life (Craciun,Zaharia,Radu & Rusan(2012,pg.497)

George is in his prime even at 72 years old because his business experience is always needed at the business level and many universities stand in line just for his teaching abilities on economics. George is a very outgoing but conservative man that does not mind talking about his life. However, the environment has to be working on a project or cutting the yard or community project. In order to make Uncle George comfortable. The interview will be done at the local YMCA that needs some repairs in several classrooms. The repairs we could do together after hours with no interruptions. In addition, a lot of noise can interfere with the interview because Uncle George has a hearing aid that needs to be replaced in the left ear. This is perfect atmosphere to complete the interview.

What I Learned About and From My Uncle

My Uncle arrived early with his equipment looking like a real repairman. This was the first time I seen my Uncle George with so much joy. Naturally, I asked Uncle George why was he so happy. He indicated that since his wife died he has been lonely and the community does not use his skills like they did 10 years ago. I immediately learned that my Uncle felt good about someone needing his help. He spoke about his beliefs and self-views about getting old. Uncle George felt his life and meaning still was important to others. One of the things I learned from my uncle George was preparation. Uncle George had checked the weather that morning so he brought an umbrella. In addition, he brought lunch because he knew it would be storming during lunch time. Also, Uncle George arrived hours early making sure we had all the proper permits just in case, the police found us after hours on the premises. The most meaningful thing I learned from Uncle George is just because he does not want to put family out or have someone drive him around. He did not want to be a burden which was surprising because he was strong man about 6 ft. 4 inches and a sound mind. He was very independent rarely needing help. However, after spending three hours with Uncle George, I found out he was afraid of getting older and sicker. Gerontophobia is an extreme fear of growing old or fear of the elderly. Also known as gerascophobia, the word gerontophobia is derived from geronto- meaning old age from the Greek geronta and -phobia from the Greek phobos meaning morbid fear (Conjecture Corporation, 2013). He watched his wife just lose touch with the world with Alzheimer’s. Uncle George was afraid he would suffered the same fate alone. This was great meaningful news for the family because he was always busy for us to visit or if we visited it appear it was an intrusion or he did not have the time for family. So the most meaningful thing I learned from my Uncle George is just because on the surface they may appear to be fine but they do not want to be seen as needing too much help. Uncle George said he lived his life and did not want the children or grandchildren taking care of him. It was thing of pride, I learned that Uncle George was a proud man that did not want to be seen as a sick old man.  The second meaningful thing I found out that if you want a senior family member to opening up, just get them alone. In the one on one environment they open up especially when you ask about his life, occupation, his accomplishments, what he did when he was young, and what he would do different in life. The more time you spend with a person the more you can send the little things like his hearing aid not working or how he looks at your lips as if he is lip reading. In addition, you can see him lose his train of thought for minutes. This alone does not mean he has Alzheimer’s but the shaking of the hands did mean some health issues might be an issue.

Spirituality/Strengths/Resilience

My Uncle George shared that his constant faith has contributed to his better health. He confided that many years ago he did not have the faith and his body and mind begin to fade. He lost the will to move forward after his wife died. This leads to other illnesses creeping into your mind pushing the ageing in to depression. However, he was visited by a priest one day that told him that his faith in God should never doubt what is coming in your life. The priest advised the he should be preparing for long life because the elder are living longer than previous eras. Life expectancy in the developed world has nearly doubled in the past century (Bush, 2006, pg.1). My Uncle George shared that the organizations that plan events for local seniors is a great support system. The support system creates opportunities to visit local churches as a group of seniors. He found that many seniors were seeking the same security and events that could help them overcome being lonely and afraid of getting old alone. They all believe that faith gave them a reason to live.

Different Theories/Models of Aging

The elderly often find themselves at the end of the age joke or employers believing they are no longer capable of contributing to the organization. The only in the job market where you see seniors excel is at the executive or management levels. Many times the CEO or CFO has gray hair with years of experience making millions of dollars. However, that is a small percentage of the population. The number of Americans 60 and older is growing, but society still isn’t embracing the aging population, geropsychologists say. Whether battling “old geezer” stereotypes or trying to obtain equal standing in the workplace, those who are 60 or older may all too often find themselves the victims of ageism (Dittiman, 2003, pg.51). The truth be told many seniors end up giving up on life because they feel they are not worthy anymore because of their fragility and age. Ageism is responsible for many deaths in the senior communities. Also, Dittiman (2003), found that negative stereotypes hurtful to older people and found that 660 people 50 years and older, lived 7.5 years longer than those with negative self-perceptions of aging. However, from my interviews my Uncle George did not feel he was invisible but he was fearful of getting older alone and with his body continuing to breakdown. One of his greatest fears was dying a nursing home when his mind was still sound.

References

Bush, T. (2006).Faith and aging. Retrieved from http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3431

Conjecture Corporation. (2013). What is Gerontophobia? Retrieved fromhttp://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-gerontopho10bia.htm

Craciun, C., Zaharia, C., Radu, S., & Rusan, a. (2012). Bing old what you see in the mirror? How middle-aged Romanians understand successful ageing and how to achieve it. Cognitie, Creier, Comportament/Cognition, Brain, Behavior, 16, 495-508.

Dittiman, M. (2003).Fighting ageism. Monitor Staff, 34, 1-51

Jobnab.com. (2013). Rise of elderly persons in the workforce. Retrieved from http://jobnab.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/rise-of-elderly-persons-in-the-workforce/