Ch. 12 Week 6
Chapter twelve is about all the different problems that the elderly face near the end of their life. One of those obstacles is suicide, wether we want to believe it or not they are being affected as well. As stated in the book,“the suicide rate of older adults is more than fifty percent higher than that of the general population” (p.317). This is sad that they feel so alone, useless, a burden, that they turn to this to resolve their problems. They book says that they feel as if they do not contribute to society, have no reason to be there, or no use in the future, but they should not be feeling this way.
Another problem that the elders face in their older years is fear of being abused, beaten, or neglected. There are so many nursing homes that do not take care of the elders like they should. They neglect their needs, forget to give medicines, or help with showering. It is heart breaking to see them being treated worse than prisoners. There are also all those cases on the news where the elderly get beaten up and get their purse or wallet stolen. They are an easy target for robbers and people who want an easy robbery.
The elderly are also at risk of fraud and swindlers, tricking them into thinking they are spending their money the right way, or giving money to charity when they are being misled. This is something that happens all the time to the elderly and they are hopeless against them unless they are educated correctly.
Hillier, S. & Barrow, G. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. 3-28. 9th ed. California: WADSWORTH
It is so sad that these problems exist in such an already fragile population. A big reason I think of when I think of elderly committing suicide is the fact that they have already lost so many loved ones. They have probably lost their spouse and so many of their friends. That is why life satisfaction is key for them to experience in later life. Tying it back to chapter 11, "satisfaction in later life seems to depend on an elder's sense of self-efficacy--the extent to which a person is able to master the environment effectively and feel a sense of control in life". Sadly, some people take this ability away from the elderly population by taking advantage of them as you said. I personally know someone who has taken advantage of their mother's money and used it go get ahead in life while in the mean time she can barely pay her health care. It makes me sick to think about, but that's why social workers are so important. We are trained to look for the signs of this happening and stop it.
ReplyDeleteIt's so unfortunate that elders experience such negative thoughts, fears, and interactions with others based solely on their age and capability to do different tasks. Many people think it's easier to take advantage of this group based on their age, and many times it is, but the chapter discussed different ways to overcome some of these hurdles. Researching and educating oneself on prevention is possibly the most helpful tool of all. Preventing these awful instances from ever occurring would be the best solution, however, when things do happen, knowing the steps to take in order to recover are also important. This chapter gave a lot of helpful information on the legal steps to take when elders are taken advantage of, I think it's important for these people to be aware of this information.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. I did this chapter at well and the amount of abuse older people are put through absolutely amazes me. It is very unfortunate that older people feel that way about themselves and they feel like they have to end their lives altogether because they feel like such a burden on the world, when in all reality, I believe we could learn so much from the older generation. On the other notes, it is so unfair that people mostly target the elderly and how they are taken advantage of. That is what shocked me the most in this chapter was the amount of fraud that can happen to elderly people. I'm not so sure if I did not know all of it happened or I just was not as aware of these types of frauds happening. I think everything from this chapter should be looked after more often and on a top priority list. Great post!
ReplyDeleteYes it is very sad to know that when you should be relaxing and enjoying your end of life, you are worried and unfairly treated. There are so many things wrong with this picture and as future social workers we must advocate, educate and create changes for these unfortunate special problems elders face.
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