Cultural Issues - Their Impact on the Health and Care of the Ageing Person

Overview:

• Defines culture, community and self
• Explains various components of culture such as food, religion and greeting alternatives
• Outlines examples to describe culture and the meaning of ageing
• Offers details and insights into the Aboriginal Culture
• Lists other sources to help carers to understand various cultures they encounter

Description:

Culture is a centrally important element in shaping all of us; it determines the kind of person we become and it is both dynamic and diversified in its effects. The very meaning of ageing and the ways in which both the ageing person and their family respond to it, is largely shaped by culture. This chapter offers explanations and detailed descriptions of what defines culture and its various components. Therefore, helping to distinguish one culture from another and encourage acceptance of all cultures through insights and information provided.

Topics:

• Introduction
• What is culture?
• Culture, Community and Self
• Broad principles in intercultural understanding
• Culture and the meaning of ageing
• The Aboriginal culture
• Developing understanding

Speaker / Author:

Elery Hamilton-Smith, AM

Professor and Honorary Research Fellow, Lincoln Gerontology Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.

Elery Hamilton-Smith is a sociologist with more than 50 years’ experience in social research and social planning, having worked at the community level, then as a social planning consultant across some 25 countries and, eventually, as an academic at Preston (later Phillip) Institute of Technology, now part of RMIT University in Melbourne.

Elery has wide-ranging interests in social policy and social development and has been a visiting professor at many universities in North America and Europe. His long-standing interest in ageing people led to his involvement in a research program on improving the lot of people with a dementing illness. That research culminated in the development of the ELTOS (Enhanced Living Through Optimal Stimulus) theory and the book Rethinking Dementia — an Australian approach (of which he was joint Editor) with its companion kit Teaching About Dementia, both published by Ausmed Publications and both of which have sold widely in Australia and are now beginning to penetrate overseas. Elery is now exploring the application of the ELTOS guidelines to better home care for people with dementia.

Professional Reviews: