The thing that shocked me the most about Cruikshank’s talk was how closely society associates health issues with age. I had never given any thought to how much the medical system and how older people are portrayed may shape our perceptions of aging. According to Cruikshank, society frequently places a strong emphasis on physical decline, which can lead to older people being perceived as ill or dependent just because they are aging (Cruikshank, 2013 p.34).That stood out to me because I  worked with senior citizens in in the healthcare setting at a nursing home and I  have witnessed how easily a person’s medical issues may be used to identify them. Sometimes a person’s diagnosis, prescription drugs, or limitations are the first things that people discuss. We tend to overlook that this individual has had a full life, with relationships, experiences, opinions, and things they still wish to pursue.Cruikshank’s explanation of the sick role  caught my attention as well. It got me to thinking about how it’s virtually expected of elderly individuals to be reliant or ill ( Cruikshank, 2013 P. 42).

Aronson’s conversation with Irina interesting because it demonstrated the emotional and complicated nature of medical decisions for families. Irina was attempting to support Dimitri while maintaining faith in the medical professionals who were caring for him. I could see how that would be challenging. You might not feel comfortable challenging a doctor’s decision to prescribe medication, especially if you are concerned about a loved one.I had a difficult time by Dimitri’s circumstances since, although the drugs were meant to treat him, they eventually led to the issue. His case demonstrated how a prescription for one medication may result in the prescription of another to address a side effect, resulting in a cycle that becomes difficult to recognize. Aronson’s example how important it is for medical professionals to consider a patient’s entire pharmaceutical regimen rather than addressing each symptom independently (Aronson, 2019). Irina’s discussion, in my opinion, also demonstrates why patients and their families should feel free to ask questions. I am aware that physicians have the training and expertise, but it does not mean that patients and their families should be silenced. I believe that communication between the patient, the doctor, and the family should be a part of quality healthcare. Determining what is genuinely benefiting the individual and what might be doing more harm should be the main objective.

I took Cruikshank’s statement that Alzheimer’s disease stands for aging in America to suggest that a lot of people now identify aging with dementia, memory loss, reliance, and losing control over one’s life (Cruikshank, 2013 p.38). This, in my opinion, can lead to a great deal of anxiety about growing older. It got me thinking about how younger people occasionally discuss aging as if it’s inherently bad. It is simple to form a negative perception of aging when common pictures of aging are those of illness, nursing homes, dementia, and the need for care from others.I think Aronson takes a different approach to dementia because she encourages us to look at the individual instead of immediately assuming that every change in an older person’s behavior is dementia. Her discussion of confusion made me think about how important it is to ask what is actually happening with the person. There could be different reasons for confusion or changes in behavior, and automatically labeling someone can prevent us from finding the real cause (Aronson, 2019).I do think we have made some progress toward Aronson’s approach, but I don’t think we are completely there yet. There is more awareness that dementia is not simply a normal part of aging, but I still think older adults are sometimes stereotyped based on their age.

The current article I chose was Jonsson’s (2024) article about the medicalization of old age. What I found interesting was that the article showed that overmedicalization is not just about taking too many medications. It can also happen when normal changes that come with aging are treated as medical problems that automatically need to be diagnosed or treated.This connected with Cruikshank for me because both authors challenge the idea that aging should automatically be viewed through a medical lens. Jonsson (2024) discusses how older adults can feel pressure to constantly manage their health and take responsibility for preventing every possible health problem. I thought this was interesting because we are constantly told that we need to “fix” things about ourselves, and that mindset can also affect how people view getting older.The article also connected with Aronson because both authors show the importance of looking at the whole person. Aronson uses individual patient experiences to show how medical decisions can affect someone’s quality of life, while Jønsson looks more broadly at how society’s expectations about health can contribute to medicalization. One thing I still wonder about is how healthcare professionals decide when treatment is necessary and when they may be going too far. I don’t think the answer is to avoid medical treatment because older adults obviously have real medical needs. Instead, I think there needs to be more balance. Healthcare providers should consider the person’s quality of life, goals, preferences, and overall situation instead of focusing only on treating every symptom. Overall, these readings changed the way I think about aging. I used to think about aging more from a physical and medical perspective, but Cruikshank and Aronson made me think more about the social side of aging.

Reference:

Aronson, L. (2019). Elderhood: Redefining aging, transforming medicine, reimagining life. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Cruikshank, M. (2013). Learning to be old: Gender, culture, and aging (3rd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.

Jonsson, A. B. R. (2024). Medicalization of old age: Experiencing healthism and overdiagnosis in a Nordic welfare state. Medical Anthropology, 43(4), 310–323.