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KMID : 0978920220230020082
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Korean Journal of Clinical Geriatrics
2022 Volume.23 No. 2 p.82 ~ p.89
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Anthropological Research of Old Age and Its Implications to Clinical Caring of Elderly People
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Kim Jae-Sok
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Abstract
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This paper outlines anthropological research on old age. Anthropology, as a discipline of cultural critique, has regarded the concept of old age as cultural construct and highlighted existing diverse understandings and practices related to the elderly. Based on ethnographic research on elderly people in different cultural settings, anthropologists have argued that actual, day-to-day understandings of old age widely differ by regional, educational, gender, ethnic, and historical backgrounds. Anthropological research also emphasizes elderly people's agency. Commonsensical ideas of old age often characterize this period as fundamentally passive?a time of retreat from social activities. In contrast, anthropologists discovered that elderly people actively established various social networks of mutual aid and caring, relying on a shared idea of convoy. The elderly also imposes genuine meanings to their surroundings and belongings, as they strive to make sense of "being old." In conclusion, this paper delves into the possibility for anthropology to contribute to clinical gerontology. Anthropology's holistic approach to elderly people and aging experience helps medical specialists to understand the multilayered dimensions of the elderly patients' illness, which enables them to more properly evaluate the patients' needs and thus design more efficient methods of clinical intervention.
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KEYWORD
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Anthropology, Cultural relativism, Culture, Geriatrics, Illness
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