Challenges of Access and Affordability Women Elderly Health Issues

Abstract

The gendered nature of aging reveals that women tend to live longer than men. Gender relations structure the entire life cycle, from birth to old age, influencing access to resources and opportunities and shaping life choices at every stage. Good health, economic and social security and adequate housing are essential requirements of aging with dignity, but older women in both developed and developing countries face difficulties in accessing these on a basis of equality with men. Both men and women face discrimination due to old age, but women face aging differently. Gender and age discrimination make the lives of older women more difficult, as their rights are often violated. Many older women face neglect as they are considered no longer economically or reproductive useful, and are seen as burdens on their families. In addition, widowhood, divorce, lack of caregivers for older women, post-menopausal difficulties and absence of geriatric medicine and health care are other grounds of discrimination that prohibit older women from enjoying their human rights.