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Ageing

In: Handbook on the Sociology of Health and Medicine

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Higgs
  • Chris Gilleard

Abstract

This chapter will outline the potential significance for medical sociology of ageing and its increasing importance for understanding health in contemporary societies. It will highlight the inter-connection between the biological processes of ageing and senescence, and the wider social structures within which these processes take place. Within this matrix of biological, cultural, and social change that typifies the ageing of the advanced economies, it will focus upon the polarising imaginaries of a third and a fourth age; one fostering models of an active, healthy and productive later life, the other, a much darker imaginary preoccupied by issues of frailty, cognitive impairment, and institutionalisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Higgs & Chris Gilleard, 2023. "Ageing," Chapters, in: Alan Petersen (ed.), Handbook on the Sociology of Health and Medicine, chapter 22, pages 339-353, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:19641_22
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    File URL: https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781839104756.00031
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