Abstract
IN the British Isles the proportion of persons sixty years of age and more will be about 20 per cent in 1979 as against about 5 per cent in 1901. This ageing of the population creates serious problems for the and for society, particularly when considered in relation to the great reduction in manpower required to produce the goods and services needed in the country. After investigating some of these individual and social problems, a year ago the University of Michigan carried out an experimental twelve-weeks course on the adjustment to ageing ; details of the course have been set out by Clark Tibbets, director of the Institute for Human Adjustment, University of Michigan, in the July issue of Health Education (7, No. 3 ; 1949). The course was based on the principles that growing old is a life-long process of development and atrophy and requires individual behaviour adjustment as each new stage is reached, and that successful living at any age requires preparation. All phases of life were covered in eight broad groups, and practical suggestions were given to aid in individual adjustment. The eight groups included biological ageing, psychological changes, maintenance of physical and mental health, living arrangements, creative activities, religion, social and economic security, and legal problems. Some interesting results were obtained on the courses. The first drew fifty people ; the second had an enrolment of ninety. The students took a more objective attitude to ageing, giving more attention to their physical well-being and seeking ways to exercise their mental capacities as well as demanding opportunity for self-expression and social participation.
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Education for Adjustment to Ageing. Nature 164, 1034 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/1641034a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1641034a0