Image of older people in 2024

[Chizz]

I'm in that weird generation thing. On my Dad's side, everyone married late and had children when relatively older. My Great-Grandad was born in 1865 and had his children in his 40s. His daughter, my Grandma and had my Dad when she was 31 (relatively older in the 1930s). My Dad didn't have me until he was 47. There are 20yrs age gap between my parents, so I have the weird situation whereby my maternal Grandparents were only 8/9 years older than my father. My maternal Grandparents were born in 1930 and 1931; my Dad in 1939. It's even more muddled and mixed because I was then a young parent and had my son when I was 16 (then another child at 31).

Our family cultural references are very different to what is typically associated with older people, as are our eclectic music tastes etc. I just find it curious that the "typical" activities that care homes and other support services seem to put on for older people and people with dementia, assume people have lived memory of events that they probably were barely born for.

In my immediate family, pre-dementia days, my OH did lot of family history research on her mother's side, and one of her sisters undertook the research on their father's side. It doesn't take many generations to go back @DaftDad a long'ish way!
My great-grandfather fought in the Crimea War against Russia (early 1850's!), my grandfather was briefly in WWI (and frightened us as small children with his amazing tales), and my dad in WWII. I am one of the lucky generations - too young (just) for National Service, and although there have been many wars around the world, I haven't been in any, nor my children and grandchildren (so far).
Yes @Lawson58 it's just as well we're all different with different tastes, likes, dislikes etc and, of course, we change through life.
As baby boomers, my OH and I were teenagers to twenties in the 1960's so far as "pop" music and dancing is concerned, but we both played instruments in school orchestras playing "classical" music ( me the violin and my OH cello and piano). My OH was secretary of the folk music club when we met as students in Manchester (in 1967) playing the guitar; later she went on to sing in local groups for musical shows (South Pacific, Carousel, etc, etc) before joining a pro-am opera company (for 25 years or so) (mostly Verdi and Puccini). In fact, looking back, apart from a few secondary school friends and a few uni friends with whom we keep in touch, nearly all our friends come from the local operatic group (the musicals) and the opera group.
So, on Spotify, I've made lots of different playlists of nearly all genres of music which we play most days depending on my OH's mood and choice. We didn't really keep up with "modern" music after the 1980's despite the children and grandchildren - so, yes, we're not "Swifties" (yet)
So to find out what "elderly" people like, whether in a care home or not, it's v important to get details of what that person did in a previous work life, a previous interests/hobbies life etc. and not to lump all old people together. Yes, I know the WWII songs from my parents, but not from any personal memory, although I like Paul Robeson from 1930's because of his amazing voice!

I commend again to you my poem called "Do you remember? When..." (about the 1960's)

 

[jennifer1967]

i understand what you are talking about @Lawson58 some where i worked, they had not only war songs but ones you heard in the pubs in london. they really do need to widen choices and really that also goes for tv programs. they just left it on one channel and let it play. type of film and the list goes on.