FVP:UPPVJK004 Sociology of Old Age and Socia - Course Information

UPPVJK004 Sociology of Old Age and Social Gerontology

Extent and Intensity

10/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

PhDr. Naděžda Špatenková, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

doc. PhDr. Jitka Skopalová, Ph.D.
Institute of Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences – Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Contact Person: PhDr. Edita Ondřejová, Ph.D.

Timetable

Fri 29. 10. 15:35–19:40 C301, Sat 30. 10. 8:55–13:00 C303

Prerequisites (in Czech)

FAKULTA(FVP) && TYP_STUDIA(B) && FORMA(K)

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Educational Care for Seniors (programme FVP, EPOS)

Course objectives

The aim is to gain knowledge of the area gerontosociology. The intention of this discipline is to understand the complexity of the final developmental stages of life, focusing on the extent and quality of intergenerational relationships and contacts. The above will be regarded as a framework in which the elderly manage their own age.

Learning outcomes

Professional knowledge: Students acquire current theoretical knowledge in the scientific approach to old age and ageing, they will be able to understand the terminology, interconnect knowledge from sociology and other disciplines (geriatrics, psychology, demography, etc.) in relation to the elderly. Students will also learn the sociological theories of ageing and old age and social integration of the elderly. They can apply these theories to explain the contacts, relations and exchange of help and support especially in the extended family.

Professional skills: Students demonstrate the ability to identify and diagnose social needs of ageing and elderly people. They can analyze basic stereotypes (myths) about old age and assess the impact of demographic change and the transformation of post-modern family on older persons’ status in the society and in the family, respectively on the individual experience of ageing and old age. Students will learn about the most important results of empirical research in gerontosociologie, esp. family gerontosociology.

General qualification: Students can form qualified opinions not only to health and social factors of population ageing, but also to the demographic and economic aspects. Students can analyze the process of ageing and old age in a social context and enumerate the most common social problems of the elderly. Students come to an understanding of the ambivalent nature of intergenerational relationships; They can identify signs of ageism against older people in the family and in extra-familial environments and interpret their possible consequences.

Syllabus

• 1. Definition of old age and ageing, chronological and functional age. Individual ageing
• 2. Population ageing - demographic aspects of ageing and old age. Economic, health, social and family context of ageing in the Czech society
• 3. Myths about old age
• 4. Gerontology - definition, subject, objectives, system, relationship to other sciences
• 5. Gerontosociology - content and meaning. Gerontosociological theory of old age and ageing. The theory of kinship and mutual support in the family
• 6. Social integration and autonomy of the elderly. The family as a pillar of coping strategies: coping with extreme situations and crises in the lives of the elderly
• 7. The issue of self-reliance and dependency in old age. Risk situations and risk persons in the elderly population
• 8. Ethical aspects in caring for the elderly. Dilemma of family and / or institutional care
• 9. Forms of preparation for old age. Second life program. Activity and social contacts of the elderly. Forms and alternatives of active ageing
• 10. Social relationships in old age, intergenerational relationships. Problems of the socialization of elderly persons, integration into social groups
• 11. Elderly parents / grandparents as providers of help and support. The sandwich generation
• 12. Ageism, abuse of the elderly. Multiplicity of losses in old age
• 13. Selected chapters on thanatology. Interdisciplinary approach to the issue of death and dying

Literature

required literature
• HAŠKOVCOVÁ, H. Sociální gerontologie aneb Senioři mezi námi. Praha: Galén, 2012. ISBN 978-80-7262-900-8. info
• JEŘÁBEK, H., HAMANOVÁ, J., ŘEHÁK, J. aV. TOMANDLOVÁ.Mezigenerační solidarita v péči o seniory.Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství (SLON), 2013. ISBN 978-80-7419-117-6.
• SAK, P., KOLESÁROVÁ, K. Sociologie stáří a seniorů. Praha: Grada, 2012. ISBN 978-80-247-3148-3. info
• SKOPALOVÁ, J.Sociologie stáří a sociální gerontologie[online].Opava: Slezská univerzita v Opavě, Fakulta veřejných politik v Opavě, 2019. Dostupné z:https://elearning.slu.cz/course/index.php?categoryid=45
• ŠTĚPÁNKOVÁ, H., HÖSCHL, C., VIDOVIĆOVÁ, L. a kol. Gerontologie: současné otázky z pohledu biomedicíny a společenských věd. Praha: Karolinum, 2014. ISBN 978-80-246-2628-4.

recommended literature
• ČEVELA, R. aL. ČELEDOVÁ.Sociální gerontologie: východiska ke zdravotní politice a podpoře zdraví ve stáří. Praha: Grada, 2014. ISBN 978-80-247-4544-2.
• GOTT, M. andCh. INGLETON.Living with ageing and dying: palliative and end of life care for older people. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-1995-6993-9. Dostupné z: https://katalog.knihovna.cestadomu.cz/l.dll?cll~P=156797
• HAŠKOVCOVÁ, Helena. Fenomén stáří. Praha: Havlíček Brain Team, 2010. ISBN 978-80-87109-19-9. info
• JANIŠ, Kamil and Jitka SKOPALOVÁ. Volný čas seniorů (Leisure time of senior citizens). první. Praha: Grada, 2016, 156 pp. Pedagogika. ISBN 978-80-247-5535-9. info
• SÝKOROVÁ, D. Autonomie ve stáří - Kapitoly z gerontosociologie. Praha, 2007. ISBN 978-80-86429-62-5. info

Teaching methods

Interactive lecture
Lecture supplemented with a discussion
Lecture with a video analysis

Assessment methods

Combined exam

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

Study Materials
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.

Teacher's information

Within the set deadlines students will do three selected corresponding tasks from educational books and send them to the teacher.
Students will also do a seminar paper in the range of at least seven pages using at least three professional resources on a selected topic related to the course content (e.g. a theme from mentioned areas, a content of a specialized monograph, professional experience, processing of a case report of people of senior age - relationships, activities, autonomy, social risks etc.) with the emphasis on the social aspects of old age and aging.
When completing the course processed corresponding tasks of the study support of the subject and the content of the semester work will be discussed (available one week before the examination).

• Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2021, recent)
  
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