them.’
It is important to dispel the myth that as men get older their sexual abilities will significantly decrease. There’s really no physiological or anatomical reason why a healthy man who takes good care of himself, and who doesn’t have attendant medical problems, shouldn’t be able to have a fulfilling and active sexual life. A comprehensive national survey of senior sexual attitudes, behaviours and problems in the United States has found that most people aged 57 to 85 think of sexuality as an important part of life and that the frequency of sexual activity, for those who are active, declines only slightly from the 50s to the early 70s, and that this activity continues into the 80s.
If the old have energy for sex, they also have sufficient energy for crime. In England and Wales, prisoners aged over 60 are the fastest growing age group in prison. The increase in the elderly prison population is due to harsher sentencing policies, which have resulted in the courts sending a larger proportion of criminals aged over 60 to prison to serve longer sentences. Between 1995 and 2000 the number of elderly males given custodial sentences increased by 55 per cent. In 2007 there were some two thousand prisoners aged over 60 in England and Wales, including about four hundred over 70. The majority of elderly men in prison were there for sex offences. The next highest offence was violence against the person, followed by drug offences. More than half of all elderly prisoners suffer from a mental disorder, mainly depression, which may be caused by or aggravated by imprisonment. In the USA, the number of prisoners over 50 is more than twice as many as a decade earlier.
One of the greatest pleasures of old age is having grandchildren—I have six. They usually need a minimum of care and they are a delight. Perhaps they will help look after me in my very old age—but I would not rely on it. Looking after grandchildren is a possible role for the old. Patsy Drysdale from Stranraer was crowned the UK’s best grandparent in the 2008 Age Concern Grandparent of the Year Awards in association with Specsavers. The annual competition‚ now in its 19th year‚ is a celebration of how important grandparents are to family life. It gives grandchildren the chance to say thank you for all the love and support they receive from their grandparents. Patsy was shortlisted for the national award from hundreds of entries. She was nominated by her granddaughter Gina‚ aged 13‚ to thank her grandma for taking her in when it looked she was going to have to go into care following the death of her mother. Patsy has supported Gina through difficult times and Gina has been there when her grandmother needed her‚ nursing her after a cancerous tumour was removed from her lungs. In 2009 Christine Levin from Falmouth‚ Cornwall‚ was crowned the UK’s best grandparent, again nominated by her granddaughter.
But there are also problems associated with the role of the caring grandparent. A study in London showed that children did better if they went to nursery school than if they were cared for by their grandparents. Their social skills at 3 years were worse and they had more behavioural problems already at 9 months, though their vocabulary was better. Worse still, it was found in the US that grandparents who looked after grandchildren or lived with them were in worse health. A recent study found that for many, friends and hobbies are more satisfying for the old than grandchildren.
With regard to the age of parents, researchers analysed the scores of children who had been tested at regular intervals in a variety of cognitive skills, including thinking and reasoning, memory, understanding, speaking and reading, as well as motor skills. Regardless of their mothers’ ages, the older the fathers, the more likely the children were to have lower scores. By contrast, children with older mothers generally performed higher on the cognitive measures, a finding in line with most other studies, suggesting that these children may benefit from the more nurturing home environments associated with the generally higher income and education levels of older mothers.
There are great benefits to be had from pairing the elderly with pets, but there are also some risks and one has to be careful in the selection of a dog. Companion dogs can be very comforting and can bring much joy to any elderly person, and studies have proved that the overall wellbeing of old people can be improved when sharing love with a four-footed friend. Doctors, social workers, home care workers and nursing homes recommend companion animals to help the elderly, and this includes not just dogs but birds and cats. Dogs can provide more than just affection: studies have shown that they can lower blood pressure, offer a sense of security and safety, and decrease feelings of isolation. There is also good evidence that touch is very important to the wellbeing of humans. A cat curled up in the lap or the friendly touch of a dog’s nose can give a sense of reassurance and satisfaction. Stroking a beloved pet can lower blood pressure and lift depression. The elderly will be kept active by feeding, grooming and caring for their pets. Dogs get them out of their living quarters and into the fresh air and sunshine, and this also helps them to get to know other people in the neighbourhood. Caring for a pet’s needs gives the elderly an incentive to maintain their normal activities.
Ageing is more than an innate physical process; it also reflects patterns and choices made at individual and societal levels. The proportion of older people in England’s rural areas is significantly higher than in urban areas. It is a trend that is likely to continue, as more people move to the countryside for quality-of-life reasons in their middle age, and stay on into retirement. Findings from Age Concern show that almost all older people in rural areas consider their local post office to be ‘a lifeline’‚ with over half of over-60s in the countryside fearing that post office closures would leave them more isolated. Rural post offices provide much more than just a postal service to older people. Many pensioners use their post office as a ‘one-stop shop’ to access their pension and benefits‚ pay their bills‚ get advice and information‚ and meet and socialise with others. Closures leave many older people increasingly financially and socially excluded.
A survey of nearly 14,000 people confirmed that the happiest older people are those living in the country. One in ten picked Devon as the best place for old people to retire to. Cornwall also got high ratings. Many were aspirational, seeing retirement as the start of a new life, as they may have 20 years left. Nearly half of over-50s plan to move when they retire and just 3 per cent thought of moving to London—less then 1 per cent thought it a desirable place to live, with the high cost of living being a significant factor. Many older people in London are afraid to go out and feel very isolated.
It is almost inevitable that with age there is an increasing likelihood of an individual living alone, and loneliness can be painful. About one in ten people aged 65 and over, the equivalent of more than one million older people, perceive themselves to be often or always lonely. Millions of elderly people do experience loneliness. Nearly half a million older people leave their houses only once a week and a further 300,000 are entirely housebound. Half a million of those over 65 spend Christmas day alone. Loss of local services such as post offices and small shops makes things worse. Children, partners and friends matter. Approximately twice as many people in the poorest wealth quintile compared with the richest feel isolated often or some of the time. Living alone, in turn, is more common in the poorer wealth groups. Not surprisingly, feeling left out is more common for people living without a spouse or with a spouse with whom they do not have a close relationship. Three in five women of 75 and older live alone, while less than a third of men of similar age do. Household size decreases with age more sharply for women than for men, with two thirds of women and one third of men aged 80 years and over living alone, compared to one in ten of both men and women in their early 50s. Many are home-owners, but many of the homes lived in are in a bad state. Over 80 per cent of older people want to stay in their own homes, which is hardly surprising, but about one half of those over 75 living in their own homes have a disability. Some 400 people aged 80 and over marry each year in the UK—more men than women, as the men marry younger women.
Those who are considered to be severely socially excluded belong to one or more of these categories: those aged 80 years and above, those who live alone, have no living children, have poor health, suffer depression, never use public transport, or do not own their accommodation. Social exclusion is also related to low income, those whose main source of income is via benefits, are unemployed, or take no physical exercise. Those who are socially excluded include some of the most deprived among the older population.
There is not much public effort to improve the lifestyle of the elderly in towns and with transport, but in London pensioners’ playgrounds are planned for Hyde Park and other areas, with fitness equipment and an outdoor gym. These will be less intimidating and expensive than normal gyms. Buses need to be designed so the elderly can easily get on and off. A positive feature is that there are concessions for the fares of the old on public transport. Some 4 to 5 million in the US use mobility devices.
The lack of public lavatories makes it hard for the elderly in town centres, and unrepaired pavements can cause serious falls. In Japan, however, one fifth of whose population of 128 million is over 65, attempts are being made to cater for the elderly, including cars designed to be more responsive when the old are driving and even elderly porn. In the Sugamo region of Tokyo, the elderly flourish. Shop fronts have been modified to deal with wheelchairs and the goods in them are what the elderly need—including many medicines and walking aids. Most of
