Sociological Theories Of Social Aging

These Sociological theories offer insight on ways people adapt to changes as they age and also defines the social forces that will inhibit or encourage an active lifestyle. Disengagement, continuity, activity, and age stratification are ways people can adapt to changes in aging. The first explanations are the disengagement theory. This assumed that people must find ways for older people’s to give way to younger people. We are living a society that encourages its aging people to disengage from their previous roles; assume roles more appropriate to their physical and mental decline. Making a smooth transition into a more sedentary lifestyle is becoming normal.
With the belief that previous roles will be undertaken by a younger generation that is presumably can carry out these roles. Because disengagement theory assumes that social aging preserves a society’s stability and that a society needs to ensure that disengagement occurs, it is often considered a
Usually, elderly spend endless hours of the day inactively, just sitting, sleeping, and stretching doing nothing. This sedentary lifestyle is a danger to their lives both physically and mentally and their health ends up suffering due to their inactive lifestyle. According to The Center for Disease Control (2011), “reports that inactivity levels increase with each older group. At the age 75 about one third of the men and half of women engage in no physical activity”. The sedentary lifestyle may be linked to an increase in diseases like diabetes, heart diseases, obesity, body aches, and short life span due to an inactive lifestyle. It is imperative to have a healthy, active lifestyle to sustain overall fitness and independence. The aging and older generations are choosing to live more silent but cautious lives. They have come to the conclusion that to live their best lives a lot of older people choose to be less