If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Did you know that our medical system often fails the elderly because it treats 'old age' as a disease rather than a natural, distinct stage of life?
- Have you ever wondered why our society is so obsessed with 'anti-aging' that we’ve completely lost sight of how to actually live well as we grow older?
- What if the key to a better future for you and your aging parents lies in challenging the stereotypes that define what it means to be 'old'?
Listen to Elderhood — Free Audiobook
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Key Takeaways from Elderhood
- Understand how the medical establishment fails seniors by lumping everyone over 60 into a single category, and why adopting the term 'elderhood' can dismantle this bias.
- Discover the surprising truth about happiness as we age, backed by data showing that personal well-being actually increases significantly after the age of 60.
- Recognize how society's fixation on youth and efficiency breeds a toxic ageism that treats old age as a disease to be avoided rather than a natural life stage.
- Learn why quality relationships and a strong sense of purpose are the true keys to healthy aging, and how current care institutions often fatally neglect these needs.
- Explore the systemic flaws in hospital-to-nursing home transfers, and realize why prioritizing personalized, in-home care can protect elderly patients from isolation and neglect.
Elderhood — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: We hold biases toward aging, and ending them begins by first changing our language.
Chapter 3: Life after sixty can be truly wonderful; the challenge is being perceived as old.
Chapter 4: Older people need relationships and purpose, needs institutions fail to provide.
Chapter 5: Medications impact older people differently than adults.
Chapter 6: Old age is often regarded as a disease with inevitable, universal symptoms.
Chapter 7: Treating each symptom with medication can cause drug-induced complications, particularly among many older adult patients.
Chapter 8: Many resources older people need aren’t covered or reimbursed by insurance at all.
Elderhood Summary & Overview
Elderhood (2019) is an exploration of aging in America. Mixing personal anecdotes with sociological insights, author Louise Aronson illuminates what it means to grow old in a society fixated on youth, speed and efficiency. By challenging our stereotypes about old age, we can start paving the path to a better elderhood.
Who Should Listen to Elderhood?
- Children with aging parents
- Students considering the field of geriatrics
- The elderly and the aging
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