Aged people, do they really become useless?

 By Carmen Calderon

As years go by we become more aware of the deterioration of our bodies and "minds". It should be considered that ageing (could be) is “normal” (without chronic diseases or pathological mental states) 

Among the causes we can mention is the increasing mental inertia of routinary lives, without stopping and asking ourselves “Is there anything else I would like to achieve?”, which triggers the little or no contribution to society by our generations and the resulting feeling of despair in a stage in which learning to be "with oneself" becomes vital.

Research carried out on the social image of the elderly has concluded that the social perception of older people is basically negative.

Therefore, in this sense we have the responsibility to inform ourselves in order to treat older adults in a dignified, comprehensive, and non-discriminatory manner, considering them to be the socially active subjects they really should be.

Furthermore, speaking integrally, we quote Peck (1959, 1968)1, who establishes four stages:2

- Appreciation of wisdom versus physical strength.

- Socialisation versus sexualization in human relation.

- Emotional flexibility versus emotional impoverishment.

- Flexibility versus mental rigidity.

Science is currently demonstrating through its research how a good quality of life in the Third Age is a necessary and achievable aspect by making use of the resources and potentialities inherent to the Human Being, and which far from being limitations at this stage of life, are capacities that keep on developing.

One possible solution is the creation of spaces where the elderly can socialise and use their talents, in the activity they enjoy the most. It would be a place for entertainment, a place of respectful coexistence between people of similar ages and/or interests. The activities to be developed there could be a reading club, dancing lessons, or putting into practice talents to express themselves in a creative way, such as painting, singing, public speaking, and many others.

To conclude, older people would take advantage of their experience and talents to learn how life can be enjoyable regardless of how old they are. Being aware of this, we can enjoy life much more than our predecessors did as we age and the incidence of mental and emotional disorders could be reduced to its minimum level ever!

1 https://www.gob.mx/inapam/articulos/envejecimiento-y-vejez?idiom=es

2  https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/3498/349832315005.pdf