Through an interview with an aging John Lee who is 66 years from England, I realized that they do not get a proper treatment right there. His views about the treatment of the older age are that there are no services that seek to provide care for these people. His views are similar to the issues that the guardian highlighted about the aging population in the UK. According to the Guardians aging population survey, 26% of the responded feel older people have the quality of useful life, while 45 percent do not have quality life (Siddique, 2017). Besides, it is only 28% who felt that the elderly are well financially while 46% did not agree with this view.

One of the areas that seem to be affecting the older people in England is loneliness. About three-quarters of the older people in the UK are lonely. Besides, half of the people have never spoken to anyone about these issues. The problem that seems to affect the aged in this society is that they are left to deal with the issues without any help. People think that they are doing well and thus they do not focus on talking to them and letting them express their concern (Siddique, 2017). Therefore, most of them are lonely.

Besides, the other problem that the aged are facing is that more than 200,000 of those aged 75 and above were readmitted to the hospital within a month in 2010/11. The question that seems to emerge in this society is that they are not given care at home or were released too early from home (Siddique, 2017). The problem of health seems to be the biggest challenge that is affecting the aged within society. The same problem emerged during the interview. The issue of housing also appears to change the people in the country. About a quarter of the older households live in non-decent housing.

Problems affecting the aged in the US

From the interview, John pointed out some issues that seems to be changing the elderly in use. One of the problems that he pointed out is that there are no approaches in the countries that seek to deal with the physical and mental health of the elderly. The biological effects of aging often lead to more physical and mental health problems among senior people. As the people age the muscles and bones weaken, people tend to lose eyesight and hearing and their mobility becomes more limited. With the increase in these problems, there is often the need to have specialized care for these people. Other studies have also shown that due to the physical and mental health conditions about two-thirds of the people above the age of 65 need assistance. However, there are no effects that seek to help older people deal with the issue.

The other issue that seemed to emerge from the discussion is the problem of loneliness among older people. Due to the changes in terms of employment and family, most people are involved in the day to day activities. Young people are either forced to deal with the issues of work, family or business (World Health Organization). The time to focus on the needs of the older people is thus too limited. Most people have no time to spend on the elderly and ensure that they feel like part of the family. Therefore most of the elderly are faced with the issue of loneliness.

Financial security seems also to be one other problem that affects older people. One the older people get poor it’s more likely that they will remain poor as compared to the younger people. In the US most of the senior population stayed on a fixed income that does not reflect on the continually increasing cost of living. Most of them thus find it hard to afford the same lifestyle they were accustomed (Bloom et al., 2015). Therefore, they are often faced with the challenges of a burdened life and stress.

The last thing that came out is the issue of elderly abuse. Most of the seniors in the county face abuse. However, the biggest challenge is that most of them do not report it and thus it becomes hard to provide useful statistics on the issue. Sadly, the scanty information shows that some of these older adults are the victim of serious abuse that has been committed by their relatives. Some of the damage includes physical and sexual violence, emotional injuries, physical abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. Therefore, the elderly in the country seem to suffer so much.

Similarities

In looking at the issues of the aging between the US and UK, there seems to be similarities and differences. First in both the two regions, the problem of neglect seems to stand out. Both their families and the authorities neglect the older adults in these countries. The result is that most of them end up feeling lonely and do not have any person that they can share these issues with. The government has not set up any legal structures that seek to look into the wellbeing of older adults (Bloom et al., 2015). At the same time, the family members are not providing any framework for these people to talk out their problems and that is the reason most of them are lonely.

The issue of healthcare also seems to be common in these two countries. While the authorities are aware that the elderly are at risk of health problems, there is no concerted effort to deal with the issue. There seems to be laxity in the development of specialized healthcare for the elderly (Bloom et al., 2015). Therefore, most of them die early because of the lack of intervention.

However, there are still some differences that emerge between the two countries. While in the US the issue of abuse seems to be pronounced, the same is not common in the UK. While the elderly can be neglected in the country, it is not every day that they might also suffer from issues of physical, sexual or emotional abuses.

Reflection

Through the process of interviewing the individual, I got the chance to reflect on the challenges that these people encounter. It emerged that there are no policies or institutions that seek to focus on the problems of the elderly. The society seems to focus so much on the middle-aged who is healthy and able to deal with their issues and forget this important part of the community. There is thus need for the city to rethink and refocus on this issue. It would be essential to look at ways that can help mitigate the health, financial and other problems that the elderly seem to experience in this way the society might be more responsive to the issues of the elderly.

References

Siddique, H. (2017, March 17). Three-quarters of older people in the UK are lonely, survey finds | Society | The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/21/three-quarters-of-older-people-in-the-uk-are-lonely-survey-finds

World Health Organization. (2015). World report on ageing and health. World Health Organization.

Bloom, D. E., Chatterji, S., Kowal, P., Lloyd-Sherlock, P., McKee, M., Rechel, B., … & Smith, J. P. (2015). Macroeconomic implications of population ageing and selected policy responses. The Lancet, 385(9968), 649-657.