title: [Psychology and social ecology of the aged (or the dynamics of gerontologic action)].
abstract: Increasingly, gerontologists are recognizing the need to counteract the detrimental effects which prevalent attitudes toward age have on programs for the elderly. A familiar example is the widespread but misguided view that old age is a medical condition best treated as a terminal illness. Challenging such noxious misconceptions, the authors point out that old age--by the same token as infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and mid-life--is a natural phase in human development, with its own strengths and weaknesses, wisdom and shortcomings, joys and sorrows, problems and solutions and, above all, its own rightful place in the natural scheme of things. Remarking that the accumulation of knowledge alone does little or nothing to improve the quality of life, they launch an appeal for redoubled efforts to find practical measures to help the elderly adjust to their particular phase of development. They suggest that such efforts would be greatly facilitated by having the elderly participate actively in the development of their own programs, particularly if their participation encompasses concepts which can infuse meaning into life as a whole.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D006803:Human Development; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012938:Social Perception
vernacular_title: Psychologie et écologie sociale de l'âgé (ou de la dynamique de l'action gérontologique).