This month: Gerontology
What is Gerontology?
It is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of ageing.
Any etymological insights on the term?
Yes, as it happens – the word was coined by Nobel-winning Russian zoologist, best known for his pioneering research in immunology, Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, in 1903. It comes from the Greek γέρων, geron, “old man” and -λογία, -logia, “study”.
I assume there’s been some new research in this area.
Yes, indeed. A new US study examined how age affected the practice of preventive and risky behaviours in response to COVID-19 and how these behaviours changed over the first three months of the pandemic.
What did they find?
At the beginning of the lockdown period, older people were no more likely than younger people to practise preventive behaviours in response to the pandemic. In fact, in March, older people were no different from younger people in their engagement in wearing a facemask, washing hands frequently, cancelling personal and social activities, and avoiding high-risk people, public places and eating at restaurants. However, by May, older people were more likely to implement such behaviours.
And what about risky behaviours?
Older people were less likely than younger people to have close contact with non-household people and less likely to go to other people’s homes a month after the pandemic started. However, both younger and older people tended to resume these potentially risky social behaviours as the pandemic progressed.
Where can I read more about this?
The team published their findings in PLOS ONE. Here’s the link to read their paper – bit.ly/2IwKWtw
Image Credit: iStock