Recently, Dr. Cristina Ciocirlan and
Dr. Ed Chung presented their paper,
“Will you still need me, Will you still feed me, When I’m 74(64)?”
at the Eastern Sociological Society meeting. It looks at elder care.
By Emily E. Knitter
Staff Writer
Americans want to look young, feel young, and even act young. Magazines, television and the news constantly features tips on how to remain youthful. Though the citizens of America value being young, the truth of the matter is that they will not stay young forever. Eventually, they will enter their elder years and may become dependent on their family for personal, financial and medical help.
The treatment of the elderly population in America has become a problem. Here, we see abuse, neglect and mistreatment of the elderly by their caregivers more and more frequently. Aging is clearly an inevitable process, and citizens may not be ready for this impending crisis.
Dr. Cristina Ciocirlan and Dr. Ed Chung, associate professors of marketing, co-presented a paper on their research of elder care last week at 79th annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society in Baltimore. The paper was titled “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 74(64)?” and is a the continuation of elder care research which they have been compiling for the past couple of years.
“The population is aging,” Chung said. “This is not unique to the U.S. Indeed, in most parts of the world, populations are aging fast. By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older. That’s 71 million people in the U.S. alone. A great many of the elderly need people to help them with daily tasks, in addition to medical help. Unfortunately, America is woefully unprepared to deal with this impending crisis.” According to Chung, the paper focuses on drawing examples from many countries around the world and makes social policy recommendations on how to deal with and be prepared for the aging process.
“In 1990 there were 11 potential caregivers for each person needing care. In 2050, that ratio will be 4 to 1 (Chronic Care in America, 1999). By 2010, 50 percent of the workforce will have to care for an elder relative (Brown 2005),” Ciocirlan added. As the population grows, the elderly population grows as well.
Ciocirlan and Chung are very passionate about this subject. One of the problems discussed in their paper which they both touched on is what is known as the “sandwich” generation, which consists of citizens who are now in their 40s and 50s who have both children and elderly relatives to take care of. This creates a great deal of stress within the workplace for these citizens because of the constant balancing of time and money.
“It’s not just the elderly at stake here. Their offspring, mostly people in the 40s and sometimes 50s, are deeply affected. Many of them have their own problems, as well as problems with their own kids. These people are the ‘sandwich’ generation, who are squeezed by demands from all sides. Not a very attractive proposition,” Chung said.
“A recent study reported that 44 percent of Canadians say their work has a negative impact on their families. And for those who have to care not only for the elderly, but also for their own children (the so-called ‘sandwich generation’), 70 percent reported feeling very or somewhat stressed about their work-life balance. Indeed, only 27 percent of people are convinced that work-family balance is even achievable. (Canwest News, 2009),” Ciocirlan said.
The paper was presented to an academic audience who were mostly sociologists, so many of them had the same views. According to Chung, the presentation went well overall.
“Our goal was really to test the waters and gather new ideas. We are hoping to improve our paper for a major management conference in the fall, and, down the road, a journal piece,” Chung said.
© 2007 The Etownian, MMVI
April 2, 2009
USA: Business professors address increase of aging population
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ELIZABETHTOWN, Pennsylvania / Elizabethtown College / The Etownian / Features / April 2, 2009
Recently, Dr. Cristina Ciocirlan and
Dr. Ed Chung presented their paper,
“Will you still need me, Will you still feed me, When I’m 74(64)?”
at the Eastern Sociological Society meeting. It looks at elder care.
By Emily E. Knitter
Staff Writer
Americans want to look young, feel young, and even act young. Magazines, television and the news constantly features tips on how to remain youthful. Though the citizens of America value being young, the truth of the matter is that they will not stay young forever. Eventually, they will enter their elder years and may become dependent on their family for personal, financial and medical help.
The treatment of the elderly population in America has become a problem. Here, we see abuse, neglect and mistreatment of the elderly by their caregivers more and more frequently. Aging is clearly an inevitable process, and citizens may not be ready for this impending crisis.
Dr. Cristina Ciocirlan and Dr. Ed Chung, associate professors of marketing, co-presented a paper on their research of elder care last week at 79th annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society in Baltimore. The paper was titled “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 74(64)?” and is a the continuation of elder care research which they have been compiling for the past couple of years.
“The population is aging,” Chung said. “This is not unique to the U.S. Indeed, in most parts of the world, populations are aging fast. By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older. That’s 71 million people in the U.S. alone. A great many of the elderly need people to help them with daily tasks, in addition to medical help. Unfortunately, America is woefully unprepared to deal with this impending crisis.” According to Chung, the paper focuses on drawing examples from many countries around the world and makes social policy recommendations on how to deal with and be prepared for the aging process.
“In 1990 there were 11 potential caregivers for each person needing care. In 2050, that ratio will be 4 to 1 (Chronic Care in America, 1999). By 2010, 50 percent of the workforce will have to care for an elder relative (Brown 2005),” Ciocirlan added. As the population grows, the elderly population grows as well.
Ciocirlan and Chung are very passionate about this subject. One of the problems discussed in their paper which they both touched on is what is known as the “sandwich” generation, which consists of citizens who are now in their 40s and 50s who have both children and elderly relatives to take care of. This creates a great deal of stress within the workplace for these citizens because of the constant balancing of time and money.
“It’s not just the elderly at stake here. Their offspring, mostly people in the 40s and sometimes 50s, are deeply affected. Many of them have their own problems, as well as problems with their own kids. These people are the ‘sandwich’ generation, who are squeezed by demands from all sides. Not a very attractive proposition,” Chung said.
“A recent study reported that 44 percent of Canadians say their work has a negative impact on their families. And for those who have to care not only for the elderly, but also for their own children (the so-called ‘sandwich generation’), 70 percent reported feeling very or somewhat stressed about their work-life balance. Indeed, only 27 percent of people are convinced that work-family balance is even achievable. (Canwest News, 2009),” Ciocirlan said.
The paper was presented to an academic audience who were mostly sociologists, so many of them had the same views. According to Chung, the presentation went well overall.
“Our goal was really to test the waters and gather new ideas. We are hoping to improve our paper for a major management conference in the fall, and, down the road, a journal piece,” Chung said.
© 2007 The Etownian, MMVI
Recently, Dr. Cristina Ciocirlan and
Dr. Ed Chung presented their paper,
“Will you still need me, Will you still feed me, When I’m 74(64)?”
at the Eastern Sociological Society meeting. It looks at elder care.
By Emily E. Knitter
Staff Writer
Americans want to look young, feel young, and even act young. Magazines, television and the news constantly features tips on how to remain youthful. Though the citizens of America value being young, the truth of the matter is that they will not stay young forever. Eventually, they will enter their elder years and may become dependent on their family for personal, financial and medical help.
The treatment of the elderly population in America has become a problem. Here, we see abuse, neglect and mistreatment of the elderly by their caregivers more and more frequently. Aging is clearly an inevitable process, and citizens may not be ready for this impending crisis.
Dr. Cristina Ciocirlan and Dr. Ed Chung, associate professors of marketing, co-presented a paper on their research of elder care last week at 79th annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society in Baltimore. The paper was titled “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 74(64)?” and is a the continuation of elder care research which they have been compiling for the past couple of years.
“The population is aging,” Chung said. “This is not unique to the U.S. Indeed, in most parts of the world, populations are aging fast. By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older. That’s 71 million people in the U.S. alone. A great many of the elderly need people to help them with daily tasks, in addition to medical help. Unfortunately, America is woefully unprepared to deal with this impending crisis.” According to Chung, the paper focuses on drawing examples from many countries around the world and makes social policy recommendations on how to deal with and be prepared for the aging process.
“In 1990 there were 11 potential caregivers for each person needing care. In 2050, that ratio will be 4 to 1 (Chronic Care in America, 1999). By 2010, 50 percent of the workforce will have to care for an elder relative (Brown 2005),” Ciocirlan added. As the population grows, the elderly population grows as well.
Ciocirlan and Chung are very passionate about this subject. One of the problems discussed in their paper which they both touched on is what is known as the “sandwich” generation, which consists of citizens who are now in their 40s and 50s who have both children and elderly relatives to take care of. This creates a great deal of stress within the workplace for these citizens because of the constant balancing of time and money.
“It’s not just the elderly at stake here. Their offspring, mostly people in the 40s and sometimes 50s, are deeply affected. Many of them have their own problems, as well as problems with their own kids. These people are the ‘sandwich’ generation, who are squeezed by demands from all sides. Not a very attractive proposition,” Chung said.
“A recent study reported that 44 percent of Canadians say their work has a negative impact on their families. And for those who have to care not only for the elderly, but also for their own children (the so-called ‘sandwich generation’), 70 percent reported feeling very or somewhat stressed about their work-life balance. Indeed, only 27 percent of people are convinced that work-family balance is even achievable. (Canwest News, 2009),” Ciocirlan said.
The paper was presented to an academic audience who were mostly sociologists, so many of them had the same views. According to Chung, the presentation went well overall.
“Our goal was really to test the waters and gather new ideas. We are hoping to improve our paper for a major management conference in the fall, and, down the road, a journal piece,” Chung said.
© 2007 The Etownian, MMVI
