Case study
Rosie is a lady in her 80’s and has just been taken into a care home as her family have recently had to move away, and she has been finding difficult to look after herself at home on her own. She used to walk her dog every day to keep herself a little bit active, and she used to attend an elderly peoples club every other Thursday, here she would socialise with both old friends and friends that she didn’t know until she joined the club. These things were helping Rosie to keep herself both physically and socially active.
Theories of ageing in relation to the individual.
The activist theory suggests that an elderly person needs to stay both physically and socially active in order to retain ability and mental capacity. Whilst living in her own home Rosie was able to do this to some extent, as her friends all lived very close to her, and she was still able to have a social life. As well as walk short distances with her dog using a walking frame outside of her home, often with a friend or family member. However since she has been in the care home she has been less able to have a social life with her old friends, as she does not drive and neither do they. She has been able to go for walks, but as she was unable to bring her dog with her to the care home, she has had low morale and has not wanted to go out much. She has begun to isolate herself as she has not wanted to partake in many activities as she has been missing her old life too much. Her mobility has also decreased; this is showing that the activist theory may be correct.
Since Rosie has been in the residential care home, the disengagement theory; which suggests that older people isolate themselves, and loose some of their cognitive and physical ability; has begun to come into play. Rosie has not wanted to go out much as the surroundings are unfamiliar to her, she also does not know anyone else in the care home, and has been staying on her own for long periods of time. This has