Biological function, activity and dependency among elderly Sherpa in the Nepal Himalayas

Cynthia M. Beall and Melvyn C. Goldstein

Social Science & Medicine, 1982, vol. 16, issue 2, 135-140

Abstract: This paper considers a model contrasting the aging experience of Western and non-Western populations through consideration of the hypothesized interrelationships among four factors (biological change with age, dependency, family structure and the aging experience) in a non-Western setting. Western views of the contrast in the aging process in Western industrial and traditional pre-industrial societies include the notion that traditional societies manifest relatively slow rates of biological aging, and have extended family structures which accommodate the elderly resulting in few aging problems. On the basis of data deriving from a case study of Sherpas in Helambu, Nepal, the model appears to be an oversimplification and suggestions for revision are offered.

Date: 1982
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0277-9536(82)90015-6
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:16:y:1982:i:2:p:135-140

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().