UPPVJP004 Sociology of Old Age and Social Gerontology

Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Winter 2021
Extent and Intensity
13/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Jitka Skopalová, 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
Wed 12:15–13:00 C204
Prerequisites (in Czech)
FAKULTA(FVP) && TYP_STUDIA(B) && FORMA(P)
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
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. Gerontology-definition, subject, tasks, system, relation to other sciences. Content and importance of gerontosociology. 2. Definition of old age and aging, calendar and functional age. Individual aging. 3. Gerontosociological theories of old age and aging. 4. Population aging - demographic aspects of aging and old age. Economic, health, social and family contexts of the aging of Czech society. 5. Social integration and autonomy of seniors. Myths about old age. 6. Problems of self-sufficiency and dependence in old age. Risk situations and risk persons in the elderly population. 7. Ethical aspects in the care of the elderly. 8. Forms of preparation for old age. The second life program. Activity and social contacts of seniors. Forms and alternatives of active old age. 9. Social ties in old age, intergenerational relations. Problems of socialization of the old person's personality, integration into social groups. 10. Ageism, abuse of seniors. Multiplicity of losses in old age. 11. Selected chapters from   thanatology.
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
    recommended literature
  • 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.
  • 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 - written and oral.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Teacher's information
Students will prepare a term paper in the range of at least five standard pages with the use of at least three professional resources on a selected topic in relation to the content of the course (eg topics from the above areas, content of professional monographs, professional experience, elaboration of case studies , autonomy, social risks, etc.) with emphasis on the social aspects of old age and aging. At the oral end of the course, the processed work will be discussed (accessible - SUBMISSION - a week before the exam).
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2019, Accreditation winter, Winter 2020, Winter 2022, Winter 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fvp/winter2021/UPPVJP004