Respecting the social role of the elderly as a condition for counteracting their exclusion and discrimination

https://doi.org/10.63189/NBMB3617

An ageing society

As rightly emphasized by Prof. N. G. Pikuła in the article "Loneliness or social exclusion of older people?", the modern world is characterized by "smooth change". The pace of changes we are witnessing has a significant impact on the quality of life and also shows how progress affects the social situation. The changes in the demographic structure of the population are undoubtedly noticeable changes. The societies of rapidly developing countries have become old societies.

It is no different in the case of Poland. Data published by the Central Statistical Office show that at the end of 2013 the population of Poland was 38.5 million. Older people aged over 65 constituted approximately 5.7 million. In the years 1989-2013, there was an increase of almost 1.9 million elderly people. The share of older people in the population increased from 10% in 1989 to 14.7% in 2013. At the same time, the share of children and adolescents decreased from almost 30% to just over 18%. Changes in subpopulations of older people also deserve attention. The number of people in the subpopulation aged 80 or over doubled - from less than 2% in 1989 to almost 4% in 2013. In the subpopulation of people aged 65-79, the number of people increased in this period from 8% to less than 11% in the general population. In the last 10 years, this process has accelerated even more.

Such a demographic change entails unfavourable sociological changes. We live in times when work, consumerism and immediacy dominate family life. The quoted author therefore asks the following question: where and if there is a place for older people in the current world? It is time to stop and think about how older people find themselves in the "liquid reality".

Old age is associated with many dysfunctions resulting from the ageing process. Moreover, it is associated with the loss of loved ones. It is marked with the stigma of "dying", not only in the physical sense, but also in the sense of social relations. In addition, there are difficulties in communicating with the younger generation, lack of time on the part of the younger ones for the elderly, loss of loved ones, friends and work income. These are often the causes of loneliness and social exclusion of seniors. This condition adversely affects the quality of life of older people. Hence, social bonds play an extremely important role at this final stage of life.

Loneliness and social isolation

The already mentioned Prof. N. G. Pikuła points out that the terms "loneliness" and "social isolation" are often treated as if they were synonyms. However, they refer to different concepts. Social isolation is defined as separation from social or family contacts, social engagement, or lack of access to services. This means the inability to exercise many basic freedoms and economic, social and cultural rights guaranteed in the Polish Constitution. Loneliness, however, is a subjective human feeling. It refers to the feeling of lack, among others, social relationships despite the need to have them. It should be emphasized, however, that although these are two different phenomena, they can coexist. You can be lonely without social exclusion, but social exclusion very often generates a feeling of loneliness.

According to D. Perelman and L. A. Pelplau, loneliness is an unpleasant experience that occurs when there is a deficit, both qualitative and quantitative, in a person's network of social relationships. Moreover, loneliness is caused not by simply "being" alone, but by living without some specific relationships or group of relationships necessary in life. Loneliness always manifests itself as a response to the lack of a specific type of relationship or, more precisely, as a response to the lack of a specific type of relationship security. Loneliness is therefore defined as "an exceptionally unpleasant and focused experience associated with insufficient satisfaction of the need for human intimacy and interpersonal closeness".

Experts in the literature on the subject point to various typologies of loneliness. J. Stochmiałek distinguishes:

– personal loneliness, resulting from the lack of personal and intimate relationships, which are an expression of the isolation experienced by the individual;

– social loneliness, resulting from the lack of social ties or lack of belonging to a community;

– cultural loneliness, characterized by isolation from the life of the community and its culture (occurs mainly where ethnic minorities and disabled people live);

– communication loneliness, resulting from difficulties in receiving verbal and non-verbal signals sent by other people and a low level of social maturity.

In turn, R. Pawłowska points to the following areas of loneliness:

– social loneliness – people deprived of a social network of connections and common social experience; people do not maintain close relationships with society or live outside it, do not maintain natural relationships with other people or have significantly weakened relationships;

– mental loneliness – an internal experience of a person, consisting in the feeling of loneliness, a person feels unneeded by anyone, feels bad, etc.;

– moral loneliness – a person's sense of loneliness in his or her views and values that are not supported by society, as well as the lack of a life philosophy that gives life meaning and significance.

What are the causes of loneliness? Reading the literature on the subject allows us to distinguish the following factors generating this dramatic and painful feeling: social isolation, emerging diseases, suffering, difficulties in admitting lack of independence, pride that does not allow asking for help, inappropriate idea of old age, inability to understand the environment (generational differences), death close person, empty nest effect, change of place of residence (moving to live with children, to a social welfare home), lack of feeling of being needed, negative stereotypes about older people, feeling of rejection, feeling of boredom, passivity. Proper senior policy should be aimed at eliminating or limiting all of these phenomena as far as possible.

Exclusion, as T. Pilch points out, means states and processes in the social structure that define individuals and groups limited in their ability to use commonly available goods and forms of collective life and functioning outside the common principles of custom, law and social order. Therefore, exclusion is a situation that prevents or significantly hinders an individual (or group) from fulfilling social roles legally due, using public goods and social infrastructure, collecting resources and obtaining income in a dignified way. According to Prof. J. Grotowska-Leader the essence of social exclusion is the limitation and lack of participation of individuals and groups in important spheres and aspects of social life.

Threat to the freedom and rights of elderly people

The effect of the exclusion and loneliness of older people is a radical limitation or even exclusion of the possibility for this part of society to exercise the freedoms and rights guaranteed in the Polish Constitution. The most at risk are the following:

            - specified in art. 6 of the Polish Constitution, the right of access to cultural goods: "The Republic of Poland creates conditions for the dissemination and equal access to cultural goods, which are the source of the identity of the Polish nation, its survival and development";

            - specified in art. 67 of the Polish Constitution, the right to social security, understood comprehensively (sensu largo), not only as the right to a pension: "A citizen has the right to social security in the event of incapacity for work due to illness or disability and after reaching retirement age. The scope and forms of social security are determined by law;

            - guaranteed in art. 68 (2-3) of the Polish Constitution, the right to health protection: "Everyone has the right to health protection. Public authorities provide citizens, regardless of their financial situation, with equal access to health care services financed from public funds. The conditions and scope of providing benefits are specified by law. Public authorities are obliged to provide special health care to children, pregnant women, disabled people and the elderly”;

            - stated in art. 69 of the Polish Constitution, the right to assistance in securing existence: "Public authorities shall provide disabled persons, in accordance with the Act, with assistance in securing existence, training for work and social communication".

All these provisions of the Polish Constitution, which on the one hand indicate the freedoms and rights of older people, are also program norms establishing specific tasks of the state. All these tasks are called comprehensive senior policy.

Senior policy

In order to create conditions for the proper and dignified existence of older people, the state is obliged to introduce reforms and solutions that, on the one hand, counteract the phenomenon of loneliness and exclusion of older people, and on the other hand, allow the rest of society to benefit from the wisdom and experience of seniors. Therefore, it is definitely necessary to increase efforts aimed at counteracting the exclusion of older people from the labour market, creating Universities of the Third Age, promoting senior volunteering and creating intergenerational clubs - intergenerational education centres. It is also needed to place greater emphasis on educating young generations to increase their awareness of the need to respect older people and the need to benefit from their wisdom and experience. Much better systemic solutions are needed in health care, targeting prevention and disease control for the elderly; definitely more geriatric and rehabilitation departments for the elderly.

As she rightly pointed out, Prof. N. G. Pikuła, however senior policy activities are aimed primarily at seniors who do not struggle with multi-morbidities, live in large urban centres, in their own apartments, and have the opportunity to use the goods of technological progress. There still remains the issue of elderly people, sick people, in small towns, left alone with problems, diseases, without access to electronic devices. This poses a really challenge for public authorities.