Short Paper About Theories of Aging

Aging – can it be done “successfully”? Is there a way for us to grow older, successfully? What puts us, as individuals, at an advantage, (or disadvantage) when attempting to age “well”? These questions all stem from the very root and beginnings of social theories of aging, which began with the theory we will be exploring here: Activity Theory. In every stage of life, we must adapt and adjust; this is a demand that is non-negotiable for living things. Activity theory seeks to define how individuals adjust as they develop into older adults and provide answers as to what constitutes “successful aging” (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2017).

When aiming to understand the field of social gerontology and its theoretical approaches over time/today, it’s vital to examine the most prevailing ideas and lasting concepts. This makes Activity Theory an especially interesting and important theory to explore, considering that it aided in the very beginnings of the field, and is still a commonly used/accepted theoretical framework for both gerontologists, and other occupations where you work directly with older adults.

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Activity theory sees aging through a holistic intake of factors which can aid in an individual aging successfully. These include how the individual adjusts mentally, spiritually, physically, and socially. It also carefully considers factors which increase the difficulties an individual may face when aging, like; race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc. (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2017). The basic idea boils down to this; the better a person adjusts and responds to changes that come with age (in all the aforementioned areas), the more successful their aging process will be.

In the last 50 years, activity theory has been used widely in gerontological research to attempt to find correlations between how successfully a person ages, and how “active” that person is (Hiller & Barrow, 2015). This is debated by some scholars because it is very difficult to be entirely objective and remain accurate when trying to define and research this idea. This is largely due to the inherent privileges that some groups have over others, and how the underprivileged and marginalized are affected in their aging process because of this.

This of course includes a variety of circumstances that contribute to marginalization; LGBTQ+ individuals, veterans, the homeless/” lower” class, minorities in race and culture, family/marital status, social status/isolation, and gender. Role loss and social disengagement are considered to be possible hinderances to successful aging, so activity theory has been used to attempt to provide new roles, improve policies, and provide programs which help older adults stay active in ways a middle-aged person might. These programs seek to bolster older adults’ self-concept, adjustment, productivity, and social engagement. (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2017).

I chose activity theory for a few reasons, largely not due to personal preference, in all honesty. I found this theory to be one of the most widely accepted, applied, and researched of the theories we have learned about in this course so far. It being part of the foundational theoretical framework of social gerontology made it, in my opinion, a wise choice. To know the origins of a field helps you to know how and why the field has progressed as it has over time, and where many ideas in other theories and changes socially have come from. I do appreciate how simultaneously activity theory attempts to be both subjective, and objective, in its approach. I think any theory must have some balance of the objective and subjective, or it will lack vital details needed to make a solid theory worth using. The framework has some sound universal principles, and over time, has attempted to pay more attention to the diversity of the aging process because of how who we are/what we are born into affects our reality and circumstances in every facet of life.

How we age is both universal, and subjective. Activity theory provides a theoretical set of principles to establish a precedent for how to age well, what determines how we age, and what “successful aging” truly is/looks like. Our environment, our socioeconomic status, our physical health, our social interaction, and our mental health all work in unison for, with, and/or against our process of aging. We can age successfully, according to activity theory, if we attend to each of the aforementioned areas of living. Successful aging is partially held up by the idea of a longer “middle age” period of life. In the end, we age in accordance with our adjustment into this stage of life that follows middle age (Hiller & Barrow, 2015). I learned that activity theory sees our successful aging as being helped greatly by a good self-concept/image, and being content with our lives as they are, and for where they will head with time (Hiller & Barrow, 2015). I also learned that there is an interconnectedness that is fundamental between all of the facets of our health/satisfaction, and how well we age.

References

Hooyman, N. R., & Kiyak, H. A. (2017). Social Gerontology: A Multidisciplinary Perspective, 10th Edition. Retrieved from https://revel-ise.pearson.com/courses/5b48f7a4e4b0a8e4496630fd/pages/aaf773affe02671a56995124304111165dcbcc39d?source=contents

ISBN-10: 0-13-391153-5 ISBN-13: 978-0-13-391153-4

Hillier, S. M., & Barrow, G. B. (2015). Aging, the individual and society. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. 9781111067748, Aging, the Individual, and Society, Susan M. Hillier - © Cengage Learning