The old in a new world: a pilot project on cooperative living for the destitute elderly

Abstract

Ageing has been defined as the process of growing old whereby there is wearing down in physique and mind. It is a constant and inevitable process. It begins the moment a person is born and ends only in death. According to Dr Sheldon in "Report on the Social Medicine of Old Age", old age is in fact a quality of mind and body whose time of onset varies from individual to individual. Hence it is possible for someone to be old at 60 while someone else may feel ’relatively young' at say 75. Many gerontologists however argue that at least chronologically, old age generally has its onset around the age of 60.