Ageism, Eldercare, and Healthcare: An Examination of Growing Old in Costa Rica

Author

Akshaya VijayasankarFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-7-2022

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Croft Institute for International Studies

First Advisor

Sarah Moses

Second Advisor

Kate Centellas

Third Advisor

Oliver Dinius

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The world’s aging population and the Covid-19 pandemic have revealed the high level of ageism against older adults around the globe, which has resulted in an overall decreased quality of life for elders. Societies are now faced with the challenge of creating a suitable and equitable model of care to support their aging population. Despite the recent publication of the World Health Organization's Global Report on Ageism, there is still a large gap in the literature regarding ageism. This paper addresses the issues of institutional ageism in the eldercare and healthcare sector. I argue that Costa Rica serves as a model for other countries in reducing institutional ageism through the analysis of ethnographic interviews and supplementary data on the quality of aging in the country. This paper shows that Costa Rica combats institutional ageism through its laws and policies in its healthcare and long-term care systems.

Recommended Citation

Vijayasankar, Akshaya, "Ageism, Eldercare, and Healthcare: An Examination of Growing Old in Costa Rica" (2022). Honors Theses. 2585.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2585

Accessibility Status

Searchable text

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.