HLTH340 Assessment 2 Weight: 50% Must Complete: Yes Word Length: 2500 words Notes: Project Report Due Date: See the bottom of this page This assessment relates to: Learning Outcomes4-6 Task Use the...

Social Determinants
Social Determinants
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Introduction
In this paper, we would be discussing a case study in which we would be applying theories & analyzing with respect to the case study scenarios and characters.
We would be discussing and evaluating a range of theories with respect to the applicability of the aging which can be shaped and allowed to be applied in terms of beliefs and attitudes through which a different set of people are also involved. This paper would also evaluate the need of the age intersection with respect to the other social categories and apply with the given scenario, which needs to be evaluated with respect to the gender, class, ethnicity, and sexuality (Hubbard, 2014).
Towards the end, we would apply with respect to the case study and would understand the elements of the physical and biological changes which can have a determining impact on Barbara's situation.
Body
The most significant achievements of modern society in this world are the rise in human longevity. If we just see from 18th-century life expectancy at birth has gradually increased over the years (Lipsky, 2015). These changes in human biology have produced various challenges for scientist, doctors, policymakers, and sociologists. According to psychologists the main task of late adulthood is to maintain integrity and ego, they usually avoid doing new task fearing there would be little time to begin a new life. Those who succeed and achieve a high degree of integrity also feel despair at a later stage as their compare it with their past.
There are two major theories of aging explaining the psychological aspects of aging in older adults.
1. Disengagement theory
2. Activity Theory
Disengagement Theory
It is the theory which views aging as a process where older adults slow down by retiring, as expected by society (Martin, 2015). This theory holds the mutual social withdrawal benefits of both individuals and society. It suggests that aging leads to 'disengagement' from the society. That means it reduces the tendency of old age adults in involvement in society and hence living their 'declining' years with little or no interference from the society.
When older people start realizing their body does not allow them to perform physical work with that much efficiency which they used to do some years back (that means now they are in a declining years of their life), then they themselves start making distance from the society , In return society also starts cutting off from these ageing adults and delegates the roles and responsibilities of them to younger people
In their declining years, their capacity to play any role in the society decreases, due to which they self-realizes that they are free from all the responsibilities of life, as a result, they prepare themselves for declination in health and moving towards last days of their life.
On the other hand from the society's perspective disengagement of old people from the society allows younger people to gain knowledge, handle responsibilities, manage wealth and power which earlier used to be done by them. So their disengagement from the society prepare younger people to handle roles and responsibilities to develop in the future, which leads to the continuous and effective functioning of the society even after the death of a valuable older member
But this disengagement theory depicts the nature of the society of the time period when it was developed. In the 20th century aged people were encouraged by the society to live their declining years freely without taking the stress of their roles and responsibilities towards society, and without 'interfering' much in the process of development of the society. Although at that time, in rural areas, elderly people still used to contribute their knowledge to the society by sharing their experiences (Niehaves, 2014).
Although in the era of the early 21st century, with the rapid advancement in technology these experiences and skills of aged people become less valuable for the society. In the current scenario past experiences and skills of aged people has become useless to them. This is a kind of role discontinuity.
However, in the modern time, old age people are more aware of this technological advancement, as a result of which there is a continuous growth in of the positive idols of elderly people who are active and healthy even in their declining stage. These idols or role models have become shining stars in youth
According to disengagement theory, elderly people must disengage themselves from roles and responsibilities of the society now (Fedarko, 2014). if these role models follow this theory disengaged themselves from society, then this not only leads to financial and social loss to the society but also would affect the self-esteem of these individuals.
So, it seems that disengagement theory is not universally applicable, it only relates to the society of the post world 2 eras.
To Counterpoint this weakness of Universal applicability in disengagement theory, Activity Theory was developed
Activity Theory
It is a positive correlation between keeping active and aging people (Robins, 2017). Growing old means different things for different people active people are young and middle adults who probably remain active as older adults, whereas the less active people may become disengaged due to their age. As people get older near the end of their lifespan, they are more adaptable to conduct a life review. The elderly people take trips to their favorite childhood places, or they see photo albums and scrapbooks (Fakhoury, 2015). Throughout the whole process they characterized their lives in finding life meaning, older people often have a need to share their remembrance with others who care especially, family.
Activity theory depicts old age as a part of middle age, rather than a separate stage of life as considered by disengagement theory. It is based on a...