EMBRACING ELDERHOOD AS A STAGE OF LIFE – LOUISE ARONSON

1. BIODATA OF THE SPEAKER- LOUISE ARONSON

Louise Aronson is an American geriatrician, writer, and professor of medicine at the University of California,
San Francisco (UCSF). Her book Elderhood was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize. Recognition of Louise’s work
includes a MacDowell fellowship, four Pushcart nominations, the American Geriatrics Society Clinician-Teacher of the
Year award, and a Gold Professorship for Humanism in Medicine.

Aronson was born in 1963 in San Francisco. Growing up, she had no intention of pursuing a medical degree;
instead, she hoped to become an author or basketball player. So, Aronson refused to enroll in colleges that had
math or science requirements. This led her to enroll in Brown University’s history and anthropology program
for her Bachelor of Arts degree. After receiving her undergraduate degree, Aronson attended Harvard Medical
School for her medical degree.
2. SUMMARY OF THE TALK

When you think of “old age” what words come to mind?. (preguntar preguntas: frail, disease, gray hair, wrinkles,
useless)

Louise Aronson, reflects on how society has denigrated and maligned elderhood and how people become horrified
when someone associates them with words related to their age. She mentions that we make it hard and undesirable
and then we complain its hard and undesirable.

She suggests that our society casts a shadow on the last years of life, from the words we use to the attention we give
to aging populations. In some ways it can make sense, because with age comes greater chances of losing functions
and increasing the risk of diseases including death

But she points out that far more important than death is the quality of living that precedes it. Louise talks about how
old people were in a position of social privilege before the Industrial Revolution, they even controlled the family
finances and were considered to be closer to God. However, now, there are so many negative stereotypes, and no
one wants to admit they are old.

Moreover, although aging populations use the greatest proportion of the healthcare system, they are given the least
individualized treatment, research, or focus as a subgroup. For them, there are only nursing homes, no specially
designed hospitals, and no treatment guidelines. They also have been excluded from medical research for many
years. Even the media refers to the aging population as a problem and a burden.

But there is something that Louise insists so much in this Ted Talk and its that with elderhood comes the opportunity
to try out new experiences, have more time to enjoy life and contribute to the world. That´s why she makes it so
important to make elderhood better and healthier and consider it as a new and joyful stage in our life.

Because all of this, Louise argues for a well-defined, nuanced focus on "elderhood," just as we have created around
childhood and adulthood. Recognizing elderhood as a significant life stage, that is often longer than childhood, will
help us improve quality of life and health outcomes for our aging population. Louise believes that we can create an
"elderhood" that we are eager to embrace rather than one that we fear and deny.

“… look at the final third of life with the same concern, curiosity, creativity, and rigor as we view the first two-
thirds.”

3. NEW AND COMPLEX VOCABULARY.

Lifespan

 Person: lifetime. The lifespan of a person, animal or plant is the period of time for which they live or are
normally expected to live. The average human lifespan is increasing in most countries.
  Duration. The lifespan of a product, organization or idea is the period of time for which it is expected to
work properly or to last. These snacks have a lifespan of only a couple of weeks

Pitfalls  The pitfalls involved in a particular activity or situation are the things that may go wrong or may
cause problems. He also points out that forward planning can help avoid stressful pitfalls

Frail

 Someone who is frail is not very strong or healthy. The old frail man fell down outside the store and broke his
hip.
 Something that is frail is easily broken or damaged. The archivist turned the frail pages of the ancient book

Scaffold

 A scaffold is a temporary raised platform on which workers stand to paint, repair, or build high parts of a
building.
 As the metaphor of scaffolding has become popularized, it has often been adopted as a general term that is
used to describe all types of support and guidance. Today’s Society is often more barrier than scaffold

Geriatrician  Geriatricians are primary care doctors who have additional training in treating older adults, especially
those 65 and up

Nursing Homes  A nursing home is a private hospital, especially one for old people.

4. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

Hecho

5. DISUSSION QUESTIONS.

1. What could be the consequences of the exclusion of the elders from medical studies and experiments?.
2. What barriers or challenges do older people face in accessing the health services they need?
3. What could be the reason why the elders have been neglected in medical research and harmed by
healthcare?
4. What would you do to raise awareness about health disparities?.
5. What consequences does the lack of medical care for the elderly have for their quality of life, their
autonomy and their social involvement? How does it affect their families, communities and society in
general?

6. OPINION ESSAY