Abstract
Critical Questions for Aging Societies provides a thorough overview and introduction to gerontology. It includes a glossary for the uninitiated and provides an international perspective. The authors are teachers; thus, they structure the book around questions posed by their students. Relevant theory is noted in each chapter, and policy applications are discussed. A full explanation of neoliberalism, the bane of many social workers and gerontologists, provides a roadmap to and full understanding of current policy.
The textbook starts with an outline of the chapters within and ends with overviews of the chapters just read. Issues and policy in the USA are often compared to issues and policy in the UK, with other countries brought in from time to time. The book was published after the COVID pandemic began, but before there were vaccines. COVID’s impact is addressed in several chapters. With waning attention spans these days, including myths about aging in bold font in the first two chapters seems a bit risky, but the myth-busting is valuable and may provide novices with insight into biases that are addressed throughout the book.
Chapter One challenges the reader to consider what policies should be “tweaked to serve an older demographic profile” (p. 15). Migration is discussed as a remedy to supporting older adults who are no longer working. Whether older adults can or should continue working and what that might entail, is introduced in this chapter. Chapter One intends to trigger the reader’s interest in exploring what it means to live in an aging world.
Ambitious and challenging topics are introduced in Chapter Two. They are attitude, stereotyping, and prejudice. Under the umbrella of Agism, this chapter has practical implications for researchers, practitioners, academics, and many others. More myths are presented in bold and refuted later in the chapter. The authors emphasize that explicit attitudes are fleeting and can change depending on context while implicit ones may be more enduring. From there we arrive at the definition of agism and how agism leads to limited research thus limited policy to support older adults. The chapter ends with a discussion of stereotyping and a call to action: “policy makers, employers and the public need to engage” (p. 31) and counter stereotyped images of older people.
Chapter Three addresses workforce issues, retirement and government support of older adults who have left the workforce. A brief history of the UK pension system kicks off this chapter. The dependency ratio concept is explained, and various statistics are shared. An excellent example: “the proportion of the entire population who are at work [in Britain] is similar now (48%) to what is was 60 years ago (46%)” (Spijker & MacInnes, 2013, p. 39). The chapter goes to great lengths to explore retirement ages, workers’ expectations, and the impact of agism on work and encore careers. A sociological perspective is shared: work is not just an economic issue. It orchestrates our life course. The authors inform us that the neoliberal approach to retirement is to have older adults work as late in life as possible. The authors introduce the concept of intergenerational solidarity here, as well as birth cohorts and generations, in discussing the welfare state, but elaborate on this later in the text. Then they begin their discussion of active and successful aging, discussing in depth a 1987 paper by Rowe and Kahn (1987) promoting active aging versus old age dependency—an ongoing debate within gerontology today.
Chapter Four begins with a salient quote by Rosalynn Carter: “There are only four kinds of people in this world - those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers” (Carter, 2011, p. 51). Chapter Four will resonate with students, practitioners, providers, and academics. The focus here is on caring for older adults, rather than a decline in health as we grow older. The chapter’s purpose is to explore the implications of longer life and quality of life changes in terms of care. The authors remind us that “a person can be well but still be in need of care” (p. 52). They emphasize the value of, and values associated with, care as a public good. Dementia is introduced, and the authors feel that Alzheimer’s disease research organizations have created a moral panic rather than their preferred focus—improving the quality of life of people living with dementia. We learn in that navigating the elder network in the UK is as perplexing as it is in the US. Some services are available through government and others through the private sector. Finally, elder abuse is discussed.
Chapter Five looks at diversity among the aging population, with a LGBTQI* lens. The stresses of prejudice, family strife, etc. can affect health outcomes and quality of life, for example. The lesson for us to consider is how other groups may have experienced challenges or trauma throughout their lifespans, and how those things can affect residential and family choices, health, etc. later in life. We also learn in Chapter Five that there are relatively new aging populations such as people with Down’s syndrome or cystic fibrosis.
Chapter Six may be a revelation to younger readers. In this chapter about gender, the authors share the recognition by older feminists and others that women experience age discrimination after living with sexism all their lives. This chapter discusses how the different genders perceive aging and roles differently. Discrepancies in work, wages, and how benefits are determined is addressed from a UK perspective. Engagement and social connections are emphasized as crucial to minimizing isolation and maintaining cognitive health.
Solidarity between generations is revisited in Chapter Seven: For society to thrive, the different generations have to support one another. After defining “generation” and “birth cohorts” we get to the heart of solidarity as the authors see it. Solidarity allows for the “redistribution of material, emotional, social and economic resources” (p. 102). On a macro level the authors bring in climate change and global resources, and the political activism of different age cohorts which is explored in further depth in Chapter Eight. And, neoliberalism rears its head again here, describing policy makers fulminating about the cost of care and pensions without regard for human dignity. The authors focus a great deal on policy and politics in this chapter because they feel gerontological researchers have neglected to look at political institutions, decision making and demographic change. The result, they write, is population aging being perceived as a policy problem. This is manifest in the US, as preventive care and support to those not in crisis are less available than critical care and skilled nursing care, for example. Are we headed to a gerontocracy? If older adults are more likely to vote, will they all vote the same way or for their own benefit? This reviewer particularly enjoyed the section on myths and facts about older adults and their political participation.
Chapter Nine asks what it means to live a long life and uses a cultural gerontology perspective. Thus, we can look at life through the arts and humanities, and values, rather than politics or economics. Cultural norms about aging are discussed, and the “narrative of decline” is pointed out as agist and persistent. Much of this chapter touches on the ageism, sexism, and marginalization of older adults that we learned about earlier in the book. The perspective of cultural gerontology is refreshing, and students will find practical activities to share with older adults in work or family settings.
The final chapter reviews the textbook in a meaningful way. The intent of the book is to open the eyes of students and readers to new perspectives about aging and to train gerontologists to identify agism, stereotyping and question conventional wisdom about aging to impact policy and research. I think it will succeed in this effort. The book appears to be geared to students rather than practitioners, in that mezzo and macro level issues far surpass the interpersonal, micro ones. Still, any practitioner can benefit from several of the chapters. And students will gain insight participating in the exercises at the end of each chapter.