Dieses Open-Access-Buch befasst sich kritisch mit der Anwendung freiheitseinschränkender Maßnahmen (FeM) bei Menschen mit Demenz in professionellen Sorgebeziehungen, die sowohl im Hinblick auf ihren ...vermeintlichen Nutzen als auch auf ihre ethische Tragweite zu hinterfragen sind. In einer disziplinübergreifenden Analyse des Phänomens von FeM bei Menschen mit Demenz werden Diskurse und Erkenntnisse aus Pflegewissenschaft, Gerontologie, Rechtswissenschaft und Ethik gebündelt, zueinander in Beziehung gesetzt und erweitert. Die empirisch informierte Gesamtdarstellung wird dabei ergänzt durch eine tiefgreifende Reflexion der Personalität, Vulnerabilität und Leiblichkeit von Menschen mit Demenz. Davon ausgehend werden konkrete Kategorien und konzeptionelle Zugänge zur Bewertung und Einzelfallprüfung von FeM in professionellen Sorgebeziehungen entwickelt.
The focus of the paper are the possible effects of public discourse in our country during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the state of emergency, when care for the elderly was constantly ...being emphasized, along with responsibility for their lives. The paper is based on the results of several existing studies on the experiences the elderly had during the state of emergency in our country, when many of their rights were denied, and when the COVID-19 pandemic was presented as solely a “problem of the elderly”, which is why the elderly were presented as a homogenous group in the public discourse, that is, as vulnerable and powerless members of society. The aim of the paper is to view the risks of such a representation, and to indicate the need for and importance of discourse which emphasizes the heterogeneity of the elderly, and the need for synchronized activities from various institutions and organization, as well as collective and individual actors, with the aim of developing inter-generational solidarity. The conclusion is that it is important to refrain from generalizations based on age, so that any incorrect perceptions of the elderly could be altered, and thus a contribution made to the fight against ageism.
Wprowadzenie. W Polsce (choć nie tylko) ostatnie dziesięciolecia cechuje trwałe zjawisko,jakim jest wzrost udziału osób starszych w strukturze wieku ludności. Dynamikazmian społecznych, których ...źródłem są m.in. procesy demograficzne powoduje, że jednymz ważniejszych dziś wyzwań jest kwestia opieki nad seniorami. W naszym krajuopieka ta organizowana jest głównie w sferze prywatnej – ogromną rolę odgrywa tutajrodzina. Tymczasem jej opiekuńczy potencjał maleje.Cel. Celem artykułu jest wskazanie problemów i wyzwań dotyczących systemu wsparciaosób starszych w Polsce, w tym wsparcia udzielanego im przez opiekunów nieformalnych.Materiały i metody. W pracy wykorzystano dane zastane.Wyniki. Wśród wielu wyzwań dotyczących sytuacji osób starszych w Polsce nie od dziśdominują te, który dotyczą zdrowia i opieki zdrowotnej. Wydłużanie się życia nie idziew parze ze zdrowiem, a wraz z wiekiem pojawiają się (niejednokrotnie wielowymiarowe)potrzeby opiekuńcze. Opiekunami nieformalnymi seniorów są zazwyczaj członkowie rodziny(tzw. opiekunowie rodzinni), najczęściej kobiety – to wciąż niedocenieni sprzymierzeńcysystemu opiekuńczego państwa. Z dotychczasowych badań wynika m.in., że sprawowanietej opieki jest czasochłonne, wymagające, pozbawione kompleksowego wsparciaze strony twórców i świadczeniodawców m.in. systemu opieki zdrowotnej, nadmiernieobciążające opiekunów i utrudniające pełnienie przez nich innych ról (np. zawodowych).Zmiana, doskonalenie i rozwijanie systemu opieki senioralnej, odpowiadającego na bieżącepotrzeby zarówno seniorów, jak i ich opiekunów jest zadaniem bardzo aktualnym i pilnym.Poprawa sytuacji opiekunów nieformalnych, to poprawa sytuacji ich podopiecznych.
The paper presents the findings of a study that included 29 graduate year students of the Faculties of Sciences (Geography Department), Law and Medicine of the University of Novi Sad. Three focus ...groups discussed the students’ perception of elderly people and their first associations with old age. They were also asked whether they were aware of the life characteristics when it comes to the Third age and to explore their personal experiences with the elderly, as well as the young men and women’s thoughts of their own ageing and of themselves as old people. The students’ responses indicated that most of them had romantic visions of their own old age and, at the same time, multiple negative stereotypesand prejudices about the elderly people around them, whom they rarely supported. It is, therefore, important to promote understanding between youth and the elderly in an ageing society, as it is the case in Vojvodina and Serbia overall.
Abstract
Objectives
With the spread of COVID-19, the Netherlands implemented a policy to keep citizens physically distanced. We hypothesize that consequent reduction in the frequency of social ...contacts, personal losses, and the experience of general threats in society reduced well-being.
Methods
Data were collected from 1,679 Dutch community-dwelling participants aged 65–102 years comprising a longitudinal online panel. Social and emotional loneliness and mental health were measured in May 2020, that is, 2 months after the implementation of the measures, and earlier in October and November 2019.
Results
In this pandemic, the loneliness of older people increased, but mental health remained roughly stable. The policy measures for physical distancing did not cause much social isolation but personal losses, worries about the pandemic, and a decline in trust in societal institutions were associated with increased mental health problems and especially emotional loneliness.
Discussion
The consequences of long-term social isolation and well-being must be closely monitored.
The paper describes the “Reflections on Old Age” gerontology conferences organized by the Department of Andragogy and Social Gerontology. The main purpose of these conferences was to start fruitful ...meetings devoted to issues of old age and the process of ageing. The paper also presents a new editorial series entitled “Reflections on Old Age”.
Abstract
Objectives
We examined whether social isolation due to the COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders was associated with greater loneliness and depression for older adults, and, if so, whether ...declines in social engagement or relationship strength moderated that relationship.
Methods
Between April 21 and May 21, 2020, 93 older adults in the United States who had completed measures characterizing their personal social networks, subjective loneliness, and depression 6–9 months prior to the pandemic completed the same measures via phone interview, as well as questions about the impact of the pandemic on their social relationships.
Results
Older adults reported higher depression and greater loneliness following the onset of the pandemic. Loneliness positively predicted depression. Perceived relationship strength, but not social engagement, moderated this relationship such that loneliness only predicted depression for individuals who became closer to their networks during the pandemic. For those who felt less close, depression was higher irrespective of loneliness.
Discussion
The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected older adults’ mental health and social well-being in the short term. Potential long-term impacts are considered.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the range of critiques of successful aging models and the suggestions for improvement as expressed in the social gerontology literature.
We conducted a ...systematic literature review using the following criteria: journal articles retrieved in the Abstracts in Social Gerontology, published 1987-2013, successful aging/ageing in the title or text (n = 453), a critique of successful aging models as a key component of the article. Sixty-seven articles met the criteria. Qualitative methods were used to identify key themes and inductively configure meanings across the range of critiques.
The critiques and remedies fell into 4 categories. The Add and Stir group suggested a multidimensional expansion of successful aging criteria and offered an array of additions. The Missing Voices group advocated for adding older adults' subjective meanings of successful aging to established objective measures. The Hard Hitting Critiques group called for more just and inclusive frameworks that embrace diversity, avoid stigma and discrimination, and intervene at structural contexts of aging. The New Frames and Names group presented alternative ideal models often grounded in Eastern philosophies.
The vast array of criteria that gerontologists collectively offered to expand Rowe and Kahn's original successful model is symptomatic of the problem that a normative model is by definition exclusionary. Greater reflexivity about gerontology's use of "successful aging" and other normative models is needed.
The issue of old age and ageing covers only the periphery in philosophy. This may be illustrated by taking a look at the history of philosophy within which only a few texts and authors could be found ...taking pains to shape our understanding of old age. Among them there have been Cicero (Cato the Elder on Old Age), Plutarch (An seni respublica gerenda; Moralia 783B-797F) and, closer to us in time, Schopenhauer (Pererga and Paralipomena, Short Philosophical Essays) and S. de Beauvoir (La Vieillesse). Despite this, there has been more recent attempts at a more complex assessment of the issue of old age in philosophy.
There are two essential reasons for the historical marginal positioning of old age in philosophy:
Firstly, the topic of old age and elderly people is less attractive; it struggles to make its way against the great issues of philosophy and is more found in its shade when regarding the issue of death. This statement proves valid both in considering the history of philosophy and modern philosophy within which not many authors pay attention to questions of old age and ageing. From among the few, M. C. Nussbaum, J. Baars, T. Rentsch, H. Kunneman, D. Carr, M. Schwed, can be mentioned at this point. It is more often the case that important contributions that address the essence of old age and overlap into philosophy are to be found on miscellaneous research grounds; such as in psychology, literature, gerontology, or ethics of the helping professions.
Secondly, it was only the qualitative development of environmental conditions, the possibilities of medical science and nursing care in the modern era, and also the low demographic increase in population, that have made the elderly an important part of the population, which, in turn, had them facing a number of challenges: self-realisation, the ideal of youth and, hopefully, the ideal of a successful old age. In other words, elderly people stopped being a minor exception or a deviation from nature, but also an important socio-political issue requiring both an inter-disciplinary and a philosophical approach.
On a broad level the goal of this article is to draw attention to the connections among philosophy, the elderly, and ageing, which has been historically marginalized. Philosophy, at least since the times of Socrates, has focused, though not exclusively, on the individual, who is indeed capable of many things. This was made concrete in modern philosophy in the ideal of autonomy as the ability to be one’s own ruler. It is no wonder that marginalized groups, and we are especially interested in the elderly, have also remained on the fringe of interest for philosophers.
The article approaches the topic of the elderly, old age, and ageing from what is called a pluralistic position because this can allow for the avoidance of oversimplification which is often connected with the concept of loss. It is important to mention in this connection that the possibility of loss is a structural feature, not only of the pluralistic perspective, but also from the perspective of the narrativistic conception of identity, so often used in psychology and sociology especially in the context of the broader thema of the meaning of life. The natural need for the recognition of loss in the narrativistic approach to human identity leads also naturally to the context where loss is profoundly discussed. If we look at the genealogy of this problem, the confrontation between Plato and the sophists emerges as important and the position of Aristotle as pivotal. For this purpose, to show how a pluralistic perspective uses loss as a key feature of human life, attention is paid to the difference between pluralism and monism in order to be able to capture the most significant elements by means of their confrontation, and from the point of view of our topic. A possible contribution of the pluralistic approach to the topic of the elderly and old age is also reflected. This could, in my opinion, be beneficial for the caring professions. More specifically the goals of the following text are: a) to proceed from the possibility of loss in connection with virtuous choice and indicate the way in which it has been traditionally understood; preferably in confrontation with the monistic perspective. Because of the central role of the discussion amongst Plato or sophists, attention is paid to Plato´s dialogue Protagoras; where the basic distinctions of pluralistic and monistic approach to ethical matter are presented and where we can find the crossroad of western ethical thinking; b) to relate the acquired knowledge to a chosen specific group threatened by marginalization; the elderly; c) to suggest a possible contribution of the pluralistic perspective for working with the elderly.
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