Public Perceptions of Older People A literature review

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literature that negative perceptions of older people outweigh the positive. This becomes particularly evident in the next section, which presents commonly held stereotypes of older people as reported in the literature. 7.5.1 Commonly held stereotypes of older people From a review of the literature, the most commonly held stereotypes of older people relate to their health, body image, sexuality, mental ability, personality and social involvement. 7.5.1.1 Ill-health and decline A large body of research indicates that people generally associate ageing with ill-health or death (e.g. Novaes & Derntl 2002 cited in Wachelke & Lins 2008; Arnold-Cathalifaud et al. 2008; Hall & Batey 2008; Musaiger & D’Souza 2009). Older people are generally perceived as sickly, weak or ill with health worries, requiring regular check-ups and fearing death (Arnold-Cathalifaud et al. 2008; Musaiger & D’Souza 2009). These themes of illness, dependency and death have been identified in the literature. Arnold-Cathalifaud et al. (2008) for example, found that older people were considered ‘dependent’ by two-thirds of respondents. Other studies conducted with students revealed that they tend to focus on chronically ill or dependent individuals in essays or reflective writing exercises, describing the health status of older adults in terms of multiple diseases, chronic conditions, and as a group of people who use multiple drugs (Sauer 2006; Westmoreland et al. 2009). Few people described older people as healthy or active. Hall and Batey (2008) examined children’s ideas about ageing and found that when asked what happens to people as they age, over half of the children (58%) said that they ‘die’ and a substantial proportion (36%) said that they get ‘weak or sick’. These findings are also consistent with older students where Kimuna et al. (2005) noted that college students were likely to believe that older people’s physical strength declines with age and physical limitations increase. Similarly, Arnold-Cathalifaud et al. (2008) reported that 66% of young people believed senior citizens to be fragile, 62% in the case of elderly men and 78% in the case of elderly women. Studies that have used student drawings to examine perceptions of older people have produced sketches reflecting images of sickness, frailty and impairment (Barrett & Cantwell 2007; Barrett & Pai 2008). Indicators of physical impairment were not uncommon, as demonstrated by drawings which displayed physical aids, such as walking sticks, canes, crutches, walkers, or 14
wheelchairs as being associated with old age. To a lesser extent sensory deficits such as being chronically hard of hearing have also been associated with old age (Musaiger & D’Souza 2009). Falchikov’s (1990) study involving sketches drawn by 10 and 11 year olds found that of a third of the pictures of old men included hearing aids. Similarly, Barrett and Cantwell (2007) found that thirty-five per cent of student sketches of older people included visioncorrecting glasses. Musaiger and D’Souza (2009) presented findings which are contrary to the popular perception that older people live out their retirement in ill-health and physically dependent. For example, only 1.6% of respondents in a sample of 305 Kuwaiti adults aged between 20 and 64 years believed that older people require a geriatric home. This may indicate positive attitudes towards care for the older person. However it may also be reflective of cultural beliefs about caring for older people within the family. Findings also reported positive perceptions regarding the ability of the elderly to travel alone which indicates respect for the desire of older people to live independently (Musaiger & D’Souza 2009). Overall it is evident from the literature on the public’s perceptions of ageing that older people are predominantly associated with poor health and are generally perceived as weak and frail. Older people are also characterised as having physical impairments, needing physical support aids as well as having declining eyesight and hearing. Although some evidence exists which indicates that older people are viewed as having the capacity to live long independent lives, the majority are stereotyped as becoming progressively frail and needing support as they get older. It is acknowledged that although the stereotypes of older people as weak, frail and disabled result from the ageing process and therefore have a basis in reality, some researchers have argued that it is not the experience of all older people and is often based more on myth than reality (Barrett & Pai 2008). 7.5.1.2 Body image Other commonly held stereotypes of older people are associated with physical attributes and appearances. Facial appearances in particular have been reported as an important criterion for defining elderly people (Musaiger & D’Souza 2009). This has been found to be predominantly true for elderly women with about 60% of a sample of over 300 people considering facial 15
Page 1 and 2: Review 1, November 2009 Public Perc
Page 3 and 4: Content Executive summary .........
Page 5 and 6: Executive summary As people live lo
Page 7 and 8: assessment of how old one feels, as
Page 9 and 10: How older people are perceived can
Page 11 and 12: Towards Old People Scale (Kogan 196
Page 13: Research studies carried out on the
Page 17 and 18: sketches of elderly people drawn by
Page 19 and 20: Cathalifaud and colleagues (2008) e
Page 21 and 22: friendly society. As one ages, less
Page 23 and 24: this is referred to as the ‘doubl
Page 25 and 26: linear trend showing increasing pos
Page 27 and 28: should be aimed at young adolescent
Page 29 and 30: improving attitudes and perceptions
Page 31 and 32: pan-cultural nature of ageist attit
Page 33 and 34: have a direct relationship to the w
Page 35 and 36: may modify their behaviour based on
Page 37 and 38: Taylor 2005). Such negative stereot
Page 39 and 40: Negative stereotyping and prejudici
Page 41 and 42: services, mistreated or misdiagnose
Page 43 and 44: however care of the older person is
Page 45 and 46: 7.7.6 Elder abuse and neglect Ageis
Page 47 and 48: 7.7.7 Summary This third section ex
Page 49 and 50: 4. The findings from the review sug
Page 51 and 52: References Ajala, A.S. (2006) The c
Page 53 and 54: Bittman, M., Flick, M. & Rice, J. (
Page 55 and 56: Donlon, M.M., Ashman, O. & Levy, B.
Page 57 and 58: Gringart, E., Helmes, E. & Speelman
Page 59 and 60: Kogan, N. (1961) Attitudes toward o
Page 61 and 62: National Council on Ageing and Olde
Page 63 and 64: cross-cultural comparison. Howard J
Page 65 and 66:
http://www.un.org/esa/population/pu
Page 67 and 68:
Appendix 1: Glossary of terms Perce
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Public Perceptions of Older People A literature review

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