Ageing as a Social Challenge

The Introduction chapter of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. With a focus on the case of Poland, where an ageing population poses a crucial challenge for the state's social, family, and gerontological policy, this book explores ageing as a personal and social phenomenon, considering the ways in which the experience of ageing is shaped by younger generations' attitudes, government support policies, local initiatives undertaken help older people stay active, and the ways in which the elderly themselves understand their own mortality. Employing demographic, philosophical, legal, psychological, gerontological perspectives, it emphasises activities that can support older adults locally or nationwide and proposes the development of a social policy and social attitudes that can facilitate changes in the social perception of ageing, together with a redistribution of resources for older adults. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in ageing and the lifecourse, as well as those who wish to support older adults with concrete solutions and familiarize themselves with the ageing process from an individual and social perspective.

Maria Luszczynska is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland. She is the editor of Researching Ageing: Methodological Challenges and their Empirical Background.

Introduction PART I: Understanding ageing 1. Ageing within the context of a particular society: polish older adults in numbers 2. Ageing research: methodological approaches to building gerontological knowledge PART II: Specific challenges of old age: crisis, violence, exclusion, and death 3. The social death of the older adults: reflections on double exclusion 4. Being old: 'They' or 'we'? The social perception of ageing, conditioning, and the impacts on subjectivity 5. Old age in crisis or the crises of old age? The social meaning of 'crisis' interpretations of old age 6. Rights of the older adults against social marginalization 7. Awareness of mortality and successful ageing: a research communication PART III: Social support and the helping professions 8. Gerontological social work: specifying its context, definition, and challenges 9. The role of the social worker in supporting the older adults: theory, practice, and postulates 10. The hermeneutics of loss and death in practical aid work for the older adults 11. Social work in the face of death and dying 12. Addressing abuse of the older adults: recommendations for practice 13. In search of the activation of the older adults: streetworking with older adults PART IV: Older adults in the context of family and institutions 14. Faces of intergenerational solidarity through the eyes of the younger generation: barriers, benefits, and prospects 15. Social services for the older adult family: current state and prospects for development 16. The older adult family within the space of a social assistance home: best practices 17. The Intergenerational Dialogue Centre as an initiative for building social capital without regard to age 18. Education for old age: traditions, perspectives, and recommendations