Two and a half years ago, I wrote a piece for this blog called “Successful” Aging –– On Whose Terms?, mistakenly assuming that I had covered all of the points I wanted to make on the subject. I asserted at the time that “there’s an inherent problem with equating aging with the kind of success that is solely based on conscious individual achievement.” I argued that even if an older person has made the effort to secure adequate health and wealth, as well as to be socially interactive and passionately engaged in living, such success is never solely due to that person’s choices, actions, and abilities. Luck and uncontrollable external factors play equally influential roles in the outcome.
But even now, if I do a Google search for “successful aging” or merely sample the feature articles in newspapers and magazines, it appears that the term, with all its attached misconceptions, is slow to die.
And I wish it would. Quickly. Here’s why.
Every time we assign the sole responsibility of aging well to an individual, we disregard that person’s uniqueness in a very unrealistic and unjust way. Each of us has gone through a combination of biological and socioeconomic experiences that have affected us at every turn.
Are you a male or a female? Are you a member of an ethnic or racial majority or minority? Females and minorities in general are economically disadvantaged throughout their lifespan, earning less than their white, male counterparts and subsequently receiving smaller pensions and Social Security benefits. In addition, more women than men leave the job market, becoming unpaid laborers who raise children and/or care for elder parents.
Have you spent most of your life on a farm or in the middle of a big city? Did you inherit great wealth or have you had to earn all or most of your income? How much education were you able to afford and receive? What career paths were open to you? Did you ever experience serious health problems that affected your ability to work? How many children, if any, do you have, and are they willing and able to help you in your later years if you need support? Do you have easy access to nearby and affordable housing, transportation, and other vital services for older adults?
Somehow questions such as these are still not factored into definitions of successful aging in most media discussions. And because these factors aren’t foremost in the public’s consciousness as issues to address, they are often ignored or considered irrelevant in government and private-sector policy decisions. This situation must change.
For “success” implies accomplishment within an established system. But what if that system is outmoded, disjointed, or worse, deliberately fostering social inequality? Then successful agers who have been lucky, wealthy, and in the majority are aging well because of our social policies and cultural norms. But agers in other categories who have managed nevertheless to age well are successful despite those same policies and norms. Their challenge has been far greater.
And let’s not forget that there is a huge population of older adults who struggle to stay economically and physically stable as well as purposefully and socially engaged. In many cases their difficulties could be significantly eased if our society would only redefine “successful aging” in less polarizing terms. Let’s stop evaluating aging as either the result of being ambitious and productive or being negligent and irresponsible.
In fact, let’s totally ban the term “successful aging.” We need to replace that unproductive and discriminatory paradigm with one that is realistic, compassionate, and fair –– one requiring an equal commitment between the individual and society.
Let’s coin a new term: “Empowered Aging.”
Why “empowered”? Because it moves the focus away from the static goal of accomplishment and toward an ongoing process of maintaining autonomy, dignity, and self-worth through interdependence.
This bilateral commitment should be fostered throughout a person’s life, starting from childhood. We should be raising children to appreciate every age through which they pass, and expecting our cultural values to honor and support them all along the way, in their education, careers, personal relationships, and social contributions.
When an individual’s skills, values, aspirations, personal history, and beliefs are continuously supported by a pro-aging society’s common goals, expectations, opportunities, and public policies, empowerment becomes the inevitable human condition.
And isn’t that the kind of success we should aim to achieve?
Hi, my name is Jake and I am a student in AGNG 320 at the Erickson School of Aging. I appreciate this blog and its argument that there is an inherent bias when coining the term “successful aging”. Too often we do not account for the many factors that can influence one’s life as they age. People are shaped by different experiences and are limited by the resources that are available to them. This is why I agree that the term “empowering aging” is better suited to promote aging in a healthy way. What I like about the term “empowered” is that it is continuous. It is a term that does not have an endpoint, such as “success”. Success is a measurement in which that accomplishment of success is the end goal. But to be empowered, one is efficient at using the tools and resources at hand. There is no limit to empowerment. I believe empowering aging promotes a continuous use of resources to continue a healthy aging experience. This relates to what I have studied in my class in that we have focused on how to better provide care to a patient given their individual needs. Instead of using a standardized system that provides a general definition of healthy aging, we are taught to design a health plan that is tailored to the individual. With their individual needs and factors being considered, we can “empower” their aging experience, giving them the ability to keep control of their life and their pursuit towards a rewarding life.
You make a very good point, Jake, about the continuous process of empowerment vs. the endpoint status of success. Thanks for your thoughtful feedback.
So true! Aging is different for each and every one of us. We have different expectations from life as we grow old.
I’m a student at the Erickson School of Aging and am taking the course AGING 320. Your post made me think about: What is “successful aging”? On what basis were those standards established to regard as “successful”? In my opinion, like with many other things, society created a list of things that would consider an individual to “successfully age” while for those who have not accomplished the requirements on the list, are not considered to be “successful.” By saying one has to complete a certain list to be considered “successful” in aging neglects his/her unique traits and experiences. People go through different things in life, which lead to different circumstances; so to determine someone’s life as not “successful” only because it doesn’t fit the criteria of the “norm” is unjust. When I looked up the definition of “successful aging” on Google, there were several definitions that stated that a “healthy, happy, and long life” is defined as “successful aging.” Then according to this definition, does that mean those who are ill and have a short life are unsuccessful? What about happiness? If an older adult lives in poverty but is fully satisfied and happy with the life he/she lives because of a loving and supportive family he/she has, does this mean this older adult did not “successfully age”? Society cannot put a label to what “successful aging” is because everybody is different and the way we age is different.
My post was too long, but I also wanted to add:
In class, we’ve discussed the different ways older adults age. Some get physically or mentally ill while others try to enjoy the whole process of aging and growing old. The aging process is different for each person, so it is impossible to state that something is “normal” or is the “right way” to do something.
I’m an AGNG 320 student at the Erickson School of Aging. As a SOCY major, your discussion about external and structural impacts resonates with my own ideas coming from a conflict paradigm. We are socialized to believe that each person is born with the same opportunities for upward mobility and overall life opportunities, but this very dramatically varies by gender, race/ethnicity, disability status, etc. I think the term “Successful Aging” is a privileged stance about what it means to age in today’s society, and agree that the term “Empowered Aging” will be more inclusive for all people. “Empowered Aging” can further push research in a more inclusive direction in order to effectively direct policies and implement change more equitably. Also, it will help us strive for more equitable and realistic ways to adapt with aging processes from an intersectional perspective. For example, the individual’s set of circumstances would influence their own ideas in promoting wellness, designing health interventions catered to an individual’s needs, and targeting prevention/intervention for marginalized populations. Rather than having this static view and points to measure whether one is aging successfully or not, this approach would help ensure that people simply feel empowered in their own experiences.
A major problem with educating people about successful aging is that we use ages as milestones for accomplishing certain things. All of us age differently with some of us never reaching certain milestones, some exceeding them, and others lagging way behind. We need to change the way we look at this. All of the questions you raise in the above “question” paragraph are relevant but only begin to touch the surface of those questions that determine successful aging. Replacing the term successful aging with empowered aging may not solve the problem, as we face similar problems with defining the new term. Most of those proposed in the literature for successful aging, for example, include disability. Who’s to say that one cannot successfully age with a disability? Maybe we need to focus on better definitions and expectations of successful aging and empowered aging.
How quickly we forget that millions of older Americans lost their homes, jobs and savings in the Great Recession (a mere decade ago!) due to the greed of Wall Street executives who were never held to account and, in some cases, were rewarded with taxpayer bailouts. Older Americans experienced prolonged unemployment due to epidemic and unaddressed age discrimination in hiring, that still persists. Older women suffer from the double whammy of age and sex discrimination! Millions of older Americans were forced to retire as soon as they could (age 62) and as a result will receive reduced Social Security benefits for the rest of their lives. At the end of all of this, wealth inequality was at record levels. (See my book, Betrayed: The Legalization of Age Discrimination in Employment)
Empowered Ageing will only happen when ageism disappears and the different levels of Government through adequate policies see the potential of helping older people to become players in their own communities.
Very insightful points. But it should be added that those of us lucky enough to have next to great environmental settings have an even greater responsibility to use our gifts and good fortunes both to do the best for ourselves and to help others reach their potential.