Academic literature on the topic 'Aging – Religious aspects'

The category of age is the only category of discrimination that includes all human beings—if they live long enough. With other categories—racial, caste-based, ethno-religious, gender-based, sexual, and disability-based, the dominant group can view itself as immune from the traits it imputes to the group targeted for discrimination. Because age and its signs are associated with death, this condition is regarded with particular fear and with a disgust closely linked to fear. It is thus no surprise that one of the most tenacious types of prejudice in all societies is prejudice against people who are aging. They are stigmatized in popular culture and discourse, and very often law gives sanction to those forms of stigma. The bodies of aging people remind younger people of their own frailty and mortality, and popular discourse portrays those bodies as incompetent, unattractive, even revolting. Moreover, even ageing people themselves often come to feel disgust with their own bodies, as new research proposes. This stigma is itself a social problem, producing much unhappiness, and it leads to various forms of injustice, such as discrimination against aging people in employment and in informal social interactions, not to mention the huge social evil of compulsory retirement. Age may well be the new issue for our time, since discrimination on the basis of age deprives all societies of valuable human capital. After situating this case in the context of my theory of disgust and stigma, I focus on the special aspects of this case.

This chapter tries to analyze the aging process of some Tibetans who came to India as young refugees but were forced to stay back and have spent the best part of their years in Dharamsala also known as Little Lhasa in Northern India. The question of coming to terms with aging and the nostalgia for a lost land in the midst of large-scale global changes informs the painful truth of aging on one hand and also the cultural resources of Tibetan Buddhism that helps them to come to terms with reality is the thread that describes their aging. The loss of this culture and the Buddhist way of life so brutally cut short in Tibet is the focus of the chapter, along with how they come to terms with these aspects. The chapter ends the description of activities in Dharamsala by arguing that aging is informed by spiritual and political climate with the old people also being active participants.

Alzheimer's disease and other dementias raise important questions of personhood and connection for those affected. Finding meaning in the face of dementia is one of the most challenging aspects of dementia; spiritual reminiscence is a way of connecting with those with dementia when their cognitive decline seems to preclude them from participating in a meaningful life. In this chapter a context for spirituality in later life is given through description of the spiritual tasks and process of ageing. This leads to presentation of work based on a mixed methods study of 113 people in residential aged care with a diagnosis of dementia who participated in either six or 24 weeks of weekly sessions of guided spiritual reminiscence (MacKinlay & Trevitt, 2012). Relationship was found to be almost synonymous with meaning for these people. Other important themes identified were vulnerability and transcendence, wisdom, hope, despair, and response to meaning.

This chapter addresses the fundamental nursing role in managing hygiene. The ability to maintain personal and oral hygiene forms some of the activities of living that everyone undertakes every day, but which are often taken for granted until a deterioration in a person’s physical or mental state, such as illness or ageing, prevents individuals from meeting these needs independently. Being able to assess the need for nursing intervention accurately, and to deliver appropriate evidence-based care, requires considerable skill. It draws on many of the core competencies of professional nursing, such as observation, communication, and clinical decision-making. Therefore it is inappropriate that, in a majority of care settings, these activities are often delegated by the registered nurse to those with the least experience. It is important to remember that, registered nurses retain professional accountability for the quality and effectiveness of the interventions provided or delegated to the patients under their care. Increasingly, this fundamental aspect of care is viewed as an overall indicator of the quality of the care provided. Assisting individuals to maintain their personal hygiene needs promotes comfort, safety, well-being, and dignity, and also plays an important part in the prevention of infection. It is also an important aspect of many religions, such as the ritual washing performed by Muslims before prayer. Indeed Young (1991) suggested that cleanliness is a basic human right rather than a luxury. There has been criticism over the past decade that aspects of nursing care relating to the maintenance of patient hygiene have become neglected, and the Healthcare Commission (2007) reported that 30% of complaints received against UK hospitals related to issues of personal care and dignity, including:…● patients being left in soiled clothing or bedding; ● hygiene needs not being met (patients not being washed or mouthcare given); ● hair and nails not being cared for….In response to these criticisms, both the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Department of Health (DH) worked to improve the quality of personal care provided by nurses.

This chapter provides a sense of how Thai subjects feel themselves to be part of a group, as well as how social, religious, and political structures are embodied through habituated means of perceiving as part of the collective. It shows how norms of social engagement prioritize what stands out in the environment, how interpersonal interactions are both felt and valued, and how certain patterns of etiquette template moral actions as well as ethical reflection. When one is habituated to perceive oneself as part of a group in the ways the chapter describes, actions to provide for that group according to social dictates function as a form of care for others and as a form of self-care. This aspect of Thai society and social relations carries great import for the way policy is created and implemented, as well as for the various ways social support is sought and governed at the community level. To understand the changes afoot in an “aging” Thailand, one must take into consideration the social body and the care people show to it. Likewise, to adequately understand the care shown to individuals, as well as the systems developed to support such care, one must be clear on the types of actions that constitute care at the interpersonal level and at community and institutional levels as well.