Sick older people are deeply problematic for contemporary forms of Essay

Sick older people are deeply problematic for contemporary forms of health care organisation. Discuss. (Medical Sociology) - Essay Example wess and clan or family properly introduce an incipient stratification.† (Davis & Moore, 1945: p 242: quoted in Zaidi, 1999: p 29) Age-group is one of the most important factors of social stratification that divides human society into the categories of children, young, middle-aged and elderly. Among these categories the elderly or older people make up a noteworthy proportion of every society and maintain the same significance observed by the young and adult individuals. Researches view ageing as a universal phenomenon that exists in all cultures and societies of the globe. Though old age is assessed and estimated through divergent scales, yet the individuals crossing 60 years of age are stated as old people or senior citizens all over the globe. â€Å"Aging is†, Sijuwade observes, â€Å"judged by different criterion in different societies. The transition to old age is identified with several factors such as chronological age, ill health, retirement, physical/mental dete rioration, and death of spouse. Studies reveal that changes in social role (widowhood, grandparenthood, retirement) and physical health dominate the definition of age identity.† (2009: p 1) Special attention is paid to the cause of elderly in contemporary era and disciplines of gerontological sociology and cultural anthropology have been established, which concentrate upon the study of life, culture and activities of the old people. As ethnography is a branch of cultural anthropology, that discusses human cultural traits in a scientific way, the older people also come in the fold of the study of aged. Political authorities and social welfare organisations aim to strive for the sound health of the population at large. It is the therefore the concerns regarding the falling health and medical problems of the elderly are of great significance for them. Governmental departments introduce new policies and revise them time and again for the welfare of the elderly. These social reforms, related to the