Older adults experience fewer stressful life events than younger adults. They have, for example, less marital conflict and job stress. Old men are less critical of their bodies than women. A study or 340,000 Americans found that levels of stress began to decline in their early 20s and when they reached 50 then worry decreased, and happiness and enjoyment then increased till 85. It is almost like having, the researchers claimed, a new life that begins at 40. There is new wisdom and the old are better able to view their life circumstances positively. Those who age successfully are in good health, with high levels of mental and physical activity, and active involvement with their environment. Most older people take a holistic view of what ‘health’ means, including wellbeing and social factors, and in general take a positive view. Social contact remains a central issue for the aged, and there is a decline in interest in national issues, yet about two thirds of the aged turn out to vote at elections in the UK. More of them vote more than young people, and their vote is very important to all the political parties.
Adults are very capable of learning well into their 70s, which is a good reason to accept lifelong learning as more than just a pleasant mantra. Likewise, it seems beneficial for teachers in the higher educational setting to be aware of the differences between the older learner and the traditional college-age student. The differences are somewhat subtle, so it will take effort on the part of an instructor to understand and implement appropriate strategies. Learning in later life contributes to physical and mental health and wellbeing. It is also associated with increased self-confidence and community activity. But participation in further education for older people is very low, with only 10 per cent of the over 75s being involved. The focus is on the young, the under 25s; and just 1 per cent of the education budget is given to the old. There should be more funds to help those who are starting new careers as they age.
The University of the Third Age provides many opportunities for the elderly. It offers the chance to study over 300 different subjects in such fields as art, languages, music, history, life sciences, philosophy, computing, crafts, photography and walking, and the number increase each year. The membership of a typical University of the Third Age is about 250, but can be as small as 12 and as large as 2,000. Their approach is learning for pleasure, as there are no assessments or qualifications to be gained. Individual membership rose to over 230,000 in England in 2009.
Exclusion from computers and the web is particularly pronounced for older people‚ with only 30 per cent of people aged 65 and over ever using the internet. Computers are being modified for the old with larger power buttons and easy-to-read menus. But it has been suggested that computer games may be bad for the elderly as they can decrease participation in more effective lifestyle interventions such as exercise. Only 20 per cent of those aged 65 to 74 and just 7 per cent of over 75s do enough exercise—30 minutes, five times a week.
When making choices about how to live, middle-aged and older adults attempt to preserve and maintain existing ways, and they prefer to accomplish this by using strategies tied to their past experiences. This may not always be wise, as a survey in 2006 of pensioners showed. They were asked what in their lives they would change if they could have their time again. While about one fifth would have married a different spouse, about one half would have saved more, and nearly three quarters would have had more sex. Old age can provide a useful excuse for men whose sexual abilities are failing. There are claims that the elderly get less pleasure from sexual intercourse, and they thus seek pleasure in erotic literature and the company of young women, and even voyeurism. Alison Park, co-director of the National Centre for Social Research’s British Social Attitudes survey, says that on issues such as marriage, pre-marital sex and homosexuality, ‘it doesn’t follow that people become more restrictive in their attitudes as they get older. People’s attitudes are shaped when they are quite young and stay with them.’
It is important to dispel the myth that as men get older their sexual abilities will significantly decrease. There’s really no physiological or anatomical reason why a healthy man who takes good care of himself, and who doesn’t have attendant medical problems, shouldn’t be able to have a fulfilling and active sexual life. A comprehensive national survey of senior sexual attitudes, behaviours and problems in the United States has found that most people aged 57 to 85 think of sexuality as an important part of life and that the frequency of sexual activity, for those who are active, declines only slightly from the 50s to the early 70s, and that this activity continues into the 80s.
If the old have energy for sex, they also have sufficient energy for crime. In England and Wales, prisoners aged over 60 are the fastest growing age group in prison. The increase in the elderly prison population is due to harsher sentencing policies, which have resulted in the courts sending a larger proportion of criminals aged over 60 to prison to serve longer sentences. Between 1995 and 2000 the number of elderly males given custodial sentences increased by 55 per cent. In 2007 there were some two thousand prisoners aged over 60 in England and Wales, including about four hundred over 70. The majority of elderly men in prison were there for sex offences. The next highest offence was violence against the person, followed by drug offences. More than half of all elderly prisoners suffer from a mental disorder, mainly depression, which may be caused by or aggravated by imprisonment. In the USA, the number of prisoners over 50 is more than twice as many as a decade earlier.
One of the greatest pleasures of old age is having grandchildren—I have six. They usually need a minimum of care and they are a delight. Perhaps they will help look after me in my very old age—but I would not rely on it. Looking after grandchildren is a possible role for the old. Patsy Drysdale from Stranraer was crowned the UK’s best grandparent in the 2008 Age Concern Grandparent of the Year Awards in association with Specsavers. The annual competition‚ now in its 19th year‚ is a celebration of how important grandparents are to family life. It gives grandchildren the chance to say thank you for all the love and support they receive from their grandparents. Patsy was shortlisted for the national award from hundreds of entries. She was nominated by her granddaughter Gina‚ aged 13‚ to thank her grandma for taking her in when it looked she was going to have to go into care following the death of her mother. Patsy has supported Gina through difficult times and Gina has been there when her grandmother needed her‚ nursing her after a cancerous tumour was removed from her lungs. In 2009 Christine Levin from Falmouth‚ Cornwall‚ was crowned the UK’s best grandparent, again nominated by her granddaughter.
But there are also problems associated with the role of the caring grandparent. A study in London showed that children did better if they went to nursery school than if they were cared for by their grandparents. Their social skills at 3 years were worse and they had more behavioural problems already at 9 months, though their vocabulary was better. Worse still, it was found in the US that grandparents who looked after grandchildren or lived with them were in worse health. A recent study found that for many, friends and hobbies are more satisfying for the old than grandchildren.