Ageing in Society

This subject is not offered in 2015.

170 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.
The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website.

This subject aims to offer students a critical examination of the ways in which ageing is socially constructed. Students will learn about ageing from a range of perspectives, including life course, bio-medical, gender, cross cultural, consumer, historical and self-reflection. The subject will focus on how the prevailing social context shapes ideas, relationships, and practices with specific implications for older people. This subject will critically analyse all forms of ageism and how older people are portrayed in literature, media and government policy using case studies from Australia and other countries around the world. Students will be encouraged to reflect on what ageing means to them, how they would like to age and what the impact of an ageing population might mean for future policy development.

On completion of this subject, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an informed understanding of how social construction of ageing influences perceptions, policies and practices.
• Demonstrate familiarity with a wide range of the key social issues in the field of ageing.
• Critically analyse government policies, examples in literature and media as well as professional practice in terms of the influence of social constructions of ageing.
• Select and further develop appropriate strategies to prevent social isolation and promote participation and engagement throughout the ageing process.

• Weekly contribution to Online Discussions (10%)
• Four 250-word assignments worth 5% each due at approximately two- week intervals (20%)
• A 1,000 word assignment due mid semester (20%)
• A team project due mid-semester (20%)
• A 2,500 word assignment due at the end of Semester (30%)

Students will have access to electronic copies of relevant readings.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students will be provided with the opportunity to practice and reinforce:

• High level written communication skills.
• Apply research skills to make evidence-supported recommendations.
• Advanced skills in reasoning, persuasion and effective argumentation.
• Demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively with team members.
• Ability to make connections between theoretical concepts and everyday practice.