Overmedicalization and Aging
What surprised me the most about Cruikshank’s discussion of overmedicalization was actually nothing. I already believe the medical system can profit from older adults. Many older adults take several prescriptions every day, and sometimes one medication causes side effects that require another medication. This can create a cycle of taking more and more medicine. Cruikshank (2013) explains that society often links aging to sickness rather than seeing it as a normal part of life.
I thought Aronson’s conversation with Svetlana, Dimitri’s daughter, was sad. Dimitri had been doing well only six months to a year earlier, but after starting several medications, he experienced side effects and needed more medication to treat those problems. This showed me how important it is for doctors to look at the whole person and not automatically add another medication. Aronson (2019) also shows the importance of patients and families being able to ask questions about their treatment.
When Cruikshank says that Alzheimer’s disease “stands for aging in America,” I think she means that people often associate getting older with sickness, memory loss, and decline. Instead of seeing aging as a normal part of life, people may automatically think about diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Aronson takes a different approach to dementia by focusing more on understanding the person and providing appropriate care. I think we have made some progress, but many people still have a strong fear of dementia and connect it with aging.
The current article I chose was Jonsson (2024), which discusses the medicalization of old age and overdiagnosis. The article explains how normal changes that happen with aging can sometimes be treated as medical problems. This connects with both Cruikshank and Aronson because all three discuss the problems that can happen when older adults are viewed mainly through a medical lens. I learned that healthcare is important, but not every change that comes with aging needs medication or medical treatment. I still wonder how doctors, patients, and families can work together to make sure medications are truly necessary and are not causing more harm than good.
References
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. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2024.2349515
Reading your post, I can see where we agreed that it is definitely a continued cycle that could be better health wise for older adults rather than taking advantage of them. The reading and you point out evaluating each client closely rather than assuming what’s best for the patient and I couldn’t agree more. The family is depending on help from professionals, and their biases have to be taken out of their professional diagnosis. Before this class I didn’t think so many older adults were stereotyped to have Dementia or Alzheimer’s instead were just old and aging. I think environment and how you grow up plays a role in how someone is perceiving older adults.
Kia,
Please review how to upload your featured image. I know it seems small, but I spent a lot of time making sure it appears at the top of the blog post on everyone’s post. Just humor me and use the upload feature in the bottom-right corner of your post compose window.
I understand Cruikshank’s assessment didn’t surprise you, but you surprised me. I know that she focused somewhat on the profit motive of the “medical system,” but I was surprised you selected that specific aspect and nothing else. No criticism; I just wonder why that was your focus. It would have been interesting to hear that in the why not part of your answer. You say you already know this for a fact – so how and why was that part of the question. I also think that overmedication of older adults is a result of so many variables and circumstances. While drug companies, particularly, probably benefit the most financially, there are many reasons this practice continues.
Regarding Dimitri, I found the conversation inspiring, not because Dimitri was suffering and his daughter was confused, but because Aronson knew enough to keep asking the right questions and get the information she needed to make a real difference in his treatment. That is what I think we need to take away as professional social workers working with older adults.
Your discussion of dementia and equating it with aging itself is spot on. This aligns with our general understanding of aging, as we’ve discussed in this class. The article you selected is the same one many of you listed, which tells me AI is very fond of it. Unfortunately, this reflects issues with AI reference research that I’ll discuss in a video after I finish grading. I would have liked you all to talk about this issue in a reference relating to over-medicating older adults in the US, which seems more connected to what we have been discussing.
Dr P