Old age as a social event

Abstract Old age as a social event The Old Age is a natural period of life. This period brings wisdom, insight, sense of fulfillment, but physical, mental and social changes occur at the same time. A retirement is a fundamental change in this period. How do these changes actually affect the senior life? Some individuals are not ready for these changes and they do not know what to do, how to cope with their Old Age. And therefore it is a very important thing not to underestimate the retirement preparation process. Attitudes of the majority population to the seniors are among others influenced also by the media which constitute key factors in the society involved in a social construction of the reality and in a socialization of all generations. The population ageing has an impact not only to intergenerational relationships but also to a subjective experience of the Old Age. The senior issues cannot be only reduced to the issue of the pension reform but there will be necessary to deal with the status of a senior in the society, the recognition of a senior contribution, questions of the their upbringing and education, a media presentation of the senior issues, an adaptation of services to the needs of the seniors, to the senior fashion, transportation, environment... The aim of my bachelor thesis was to acquaint with particular consequences of the retirement (coping with the retirement, positive and negative aspects of a pension, a health state and plans of seniors for the future). In the course of my work I respected a personality of each person and his or her attitude to the life. My research aim was to find out whether seniors perceive their retirement as a social event in the meaning of a change in their social status. The partial aim was to characterize factors that most influence the perception of the Old Age. I think that the aims were met. I chose a qualitative form of the research using a narrative dialogue method and an inquiry. The research sample consisted of seniors older than sixty five years who are retired and live in the region of Tábor. Results of my thesis show that the retirement preparation and adaption process is very important. In order to get to a gradual change of the lifestyle, a transitional phase between the unemployment and the retirement is necessary. Seniors need to familiarize with a new situation and how to cope with it. The senior economic situation is getting worse with the retirement as well. It is obvious that senior living standard has got its own social significance and that indicates, in a certain way, their social status. The results of the conducted research show that seniors perceive their position in the society negatively and they consider their retirement as a social event with a meaning of a change in their social status. A declaration of the above mentioned European Year for Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity is therefore considered to be a useful step in the process of the coping with consequences of demographic changes in the Czech Republic. The theme concerning seniors is currently very timely, because with the demographic development the number of seniors is still increasing not only in the Czech Republic but also in the whole Europe. The society warns about an inappropriate behavior of younger generation towards seniors. Therefore I believe that my thesis will serve to a creation of a more comprehensive picture of the Old Age from the perspective of the seniors