Scientific and Academic Facts of Gerontology

Croatian Medical Journal, 2020

The subjects of gerontology and geriatrics did not arouse stronger interest among Croatian scholars until the second half of the twentieth century. From 1952 to 1957, a number of Croatian medical experts gave lectures on gerontology at the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. Based on these lectures, in 1958 the Academy published the first book on gerontology in Croatia under the title Symposium on Gerontology. Its editor was Franjo Kogoj, a dermatovenereologist and a Fellow of the Academy (1894-1983). In this article, we focused on the contents of Symposium, namely, on the discussions about geriatric terminology, theories of aging, epistemological issues in gerontology, as well as clinical experiences with older patients. We argue that Symposium marks the beginning of a synthetic and interdisciplinary approach to gerontology in Croatia.

Cultura, lenguaje y representación / Culture, Language and Representation, 2021

The study of the elderly is a recent field of study and as such, has not been given its proper place in the human society. The elders or the retired workforce are in most cases regarded as people who have exhausted all their potentials of life during their services at their various places of work. They can no longer make meaningful contributions to the development of the society. This paper however, takes the position that adult education has a role to play in making people understand and appreciate the fact that the elderly or retired elderly people can still contribute meaningfully to the betterment of the human society. They should as well appreciate the message coded in gerontology. This paper explains the concept of ageing and its perspectives, gerontology and its implications to adult education. This paper concluded that adult education could be used in reducing the challenges faced by the elderly people by providing them with appropriate programmes of guidance and also proper counselling that will help in adjusting and assisting them to cope with the declining functions of the organ of the body and contribute meaningfully to improve the society. Introduction Most people are frightened or afraid and not comfortable to hear that they are ageing or growing old. This is simply because it tends to suggest advancement in age, decline in the function of the organs of the body, and loss of flexibility, decline in hearing, vision, and lessen of muscular strength, flexibility of the skin and blood vessels, appearance of wrinkles on the skin and so on. It is a process that is inevitable a known fact that the process of maturation and ageing in living organisms (human beings) because life cycle continues and is not reversible until death comes. Ageing, should be conceived as a natural stage of development which comes when it should

This paper talks about the health and social problems associated with old age. many people do not know how to treat the old ones and there is a stereotype attached to old age which is Ageism, there is the need to understand them better in other to associate well with them.

The concept of meaningful ageing goes beyond the goal of preventing diseases among the elderly. It pursues the objective of activating and facilitating the life of this social group in its physical, psychological, social and cultural aspect. It is generally believed that high level ofactivity in old age and the optimal model of support in different fields of life allows the elderly to achieve their priorities: being independent and self-sufficient as long as possible which inuences their opinion on their quality of life. This means that being active is the core element of the model of meaningful ageing. The title of this publication reflects the premises and dictates the order of chapters and articles. Presented texts are mainly praxeological and in major part consist of the authors’ studies and research. The remainder are theoretical inquiries built around recent scientic findings. They are all bound together by the final chapter which includes the description of good practices in the field of activating senior citizens. The object of the authors’ inquiries were the issues associated with social gerontology. Their aim was to recognise or describe the spectrum of social reality already known to us which can contribute to meaningful and active ageing, which both constitute the elderly’s quality oflife.

2021

The study seeks to address a variety of age-related topics and issues. The way old age is defined and how the elderlyare treated is influenced by social and cultural factors. Ageing as a social process and the emergence of social gerontology as a sub-discipline must be investigated. Ageing is a ubiquitous occurrence that affects every object on the planet. Ageing is viewed as a social rather than a physiological process in human civilization, as it is always understood in the context of a social context. A better understanding of ageing in today's culture necessitates a re-examination of ageing as a process at both the individual and societal levels.

Exlibris Biblioteka Gerontologii Społecznej, 2019

The purpose of the article is to present the methods of reconstruction of theories of aging, developed on a different socio-cultural ground, which are introduced to Polish readers. The basis for this analysis is the need to look at the effects of reconstructing the main theoretical perspectives in social gerontology in Poland. The topics discussed in the article seem important because the quality of reception of theories of aging has a significant impact on research. Better quality of theory reconstruction should result in their wider use, both in exploratory and verification studies, for example as a source of hypotheses, research questions, as well as explanation and understanding of the obtained data. The analysis revealed that in most cases the receptions presented in Polish gerontological literature are fragmentary, insufficiently described and their origin is not explained. They often lack critical comments. An analysis method has been proposed to increase the quality of new receptions of aging theories.

The quick increase of life expectations is a typical phenomenon of developed world. The aging has been considered simply waiting period of the death for long time. Thus, today more never, it becomes extremely important to reflect upon possibility increasing the quality of life among elders. In ecological-systemic framework, one question extremely important is how to change social representations on elders and make meaningful the years of the old age. According to designed scenery, we are going to carry out a research, which is going to be articulated in two studies: the first is going to carry out involving one group of elders and one group of young people; the second is going to carry out to make cross-national comparisons between Italy and Spain. We are going to use a psychosocial questionnaire, which includes the following measures: a set of items regarding to model of resistance to change and the activities which an elder usually does during the day; free associations; Positive ...

The Gerontologist, 1996

Since 1988, there has been a commendable increase in concern for explicit theory development in gerontology. However, this has not been reflected in recent journal articles reporting empirical research. We summarize some central issues in the recent history of gerontological theory-building, noting both "progress" and "pitfalls." Have there been paradigmatic shifts in biogerontological, psycho-gerontological, and social-gerontological theories of aging during the past decade? We think not, though advocates of particular theoretical perspectives may disagree.

2015

CBU International Conference Proceedings

Ageing should be considered not only as an increase in the number of elderly and old people in their absolute and relative numbers, but also as a unity of the transformations of the lifecycle, with an emphasis on: later retirement, prolonged period of good-quality life, an active approach towards the process of retirement and differentiation of the category of "fourth age". The general preparation for old age has earned a new appeal in the contemporary societies. Motivation of the old people for activityboth physical and intellectualis of great importance for the better survival of the old age and long life in good health, supported by realized well-being and feeling of joy from life. In this aspect the study of both risk and protective factors for human health (in a salutogenetic perspective) becomes increasingly fundamental. The issue of population at an advanced age has definitely been considered as an independent subject since the beginning of the 21 st century. Moreover, the society perceives it as an essential basis for further progress and flourishing of the mankind. In this sense the demographic strategies treating the problem need to address it in a new positive way, with different and positive attitude, accepting the population-related failures and anxiety and turning them into challenges and advantages.

Experimental Gerontology, 2008

Studies of centenarians as a model of successful ageing may help identify various environmental, social, psychological, and genetic factors supporting longevity. The scientific aims of the programme were to assess health status and environmental determinants of ageing of Polish centenarians, and to collect biological material for studying selected aspects of longevity, including genetic factors. The social aim of the project was to bring public attention to ageing of the population, as well as living conditions of elderly individuals. The intention of the authors of this paper is to present aims, scope, methods and preliminary results of the Polish Centenarians Programme, as well as to provide potential new partners for studying various aspects of longevity and ageing with the information about available materials collected during the programme. In this study, 346 subjects aged 100+ were visited, biological material was collected from 285 subjects, and 153 lymphocyte cell lines were immortalized.

2012

The quick increase of life expectations is a typical phenomenon of developed world. The aging has been considered simply waiting period of the death for long time. Thus, today more never, it becomes extremely important to reflect upon possibility increasing the quality of life among elders. In ecological-systemic framework, one question extremely important is how to change social representations on elders and make meaningful the years of the old age. According to designed scenery, we are going to carry out a research, which is going to be articulated in two studies: the first is going to carry out involving one group of elders and one group of young people; the second is going to carry out to make cross-national comparisons between Italy and Spain. We are going to use a psychosocial questionnaire, which includes the following measures: a set of items regarding to model of resistance to change and the activities which an elder usually does during the day; free associations; Positive ...

isara solutions, 2014

Maturing of an individual can be named as a procedure or a progression of progress that happens in a life expectancy. Gerontology is worried about a time of a person where he/she has achieved most extreme development and capacity. Gerontology taken from the Greek word 'Geron' which means elderly people men and 'Logia' which means investigation of, was authored by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903 ("Gerontology", 2014). Gerontology manages social, mental, and natural parts of maturing. Each region managed has an alternate methodology and point of view regarding the matter.