What is the Meaning & Definition of Social Gerontology

The term Gerontology comes from Greek and is formed by the word geron (meaning old) and logia (knowledge or study). Thus, gerontology is the study of aging.
Social gerontology is a discipline that focuses on the health of older people not only from a medical perspective but also from a social conception of the individual. This specialty focuses on people in global aging.
Social gerontology tries to deal with a reality that affects most countries: the ageing of the population and its consequences for the individual and for society as a whole.

Physiology of the human being

Aging presents several planes. On the one hand, everything related to the physiology of the individual. In this sense, this discipline studies natural degenerative processes and ailments of the elderly, as well as a series of guidelines to maintain health and an adequate quality of life (for example, through a proper diet and physical exercise). The other side of social gerontology focuses on the relationship of the individual with its surroundings and all the aspects that affect you: the economic situation and family, participation in society, home care, human relations and the situation of retirement.

The challenge of retirement

After working life individuals face a new stage, retirement. This new period involves a radical change in all the orders, thus affecting leisure, social relationships and the vital project in general. For this reason, from social gerontology emphasizes the importance of understanding retirement as a personal challenge to avoid the isolation of the individual, the sedentary lifestyle or even a possible depression.

What is to be an old

The idea of old depends on, logically, the age of each person. However, the concept of old is more than chronological age, because there are a whole series of elements that are involved in Aging (mental and physical faculties or the attitude to life). Even from a historical and social perspective the concept of old has evolved and nowadays someone 60 years is not considered as an old but 50 years ago if I had had this consideration.

Longevity

Longevity has a paradoxical component: it is positive because it involves live longer and at the same time, live longer does not mean to live better. This contradiction is evident and therefore in social gerontology specialists believe that old age must be compatible with the quality of life.
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.