To age gracefully is the wish of most people. Aging in some cultures is a sign of wisdom and is accompanied with the deepest respect while some other cultures view aging as a degenerative process into feeble mindedness and broken bodies. However, with the advancement of modern medicine people are living longer. This is great 
news for those who are over age 70. In many countries, as 30 years ago, reaching 70 meant that the person was in the age of the elderly. Today, 70 is a fairly young age. People are active well into their late 80s and early 90s. The lifespan of many Americans and other people from around the globe has reached an all-time high.
Additionally people’s quality of life has increased with age. Being a 75-year-old today does not often mean that that person is in a nursing home. In fact many people do not enter nursing homes until they reach well into their 80’s, if at all. Today’s medicine has brought a much higher quality of life and longevity for people that no one could have predicted just a decade ago.
Overall however there are quite a few cultures in the world that have always respected their elders no matter what age or condition their bodies or minds are in.
This is especially true with the Native American cultures and, in fact, it is true of almost all homogenous peoples. Other countries that embrace the elderly as well are the China, Philippines and Japan, as well as people from India and many Asian countries. In fact, more than half the global cultures have deep rooted ideologies towards respecting the elderly. Other countries have what we might call a “baseline respect” for the elderly such as; the United States, much of Europe, Russia, Australia, Canada and South America. These countries have respect for the elderly but do not necessarily extend the elderly more respect than any other age group which is in contrast to the previous countries and cultures that extend their highest level of respect for the aged and elderly.
In America the elderly are looked upon with duality from most of its citizens. Those in the younger generations wish to always see the elderly as the ones to be taken care of, but there is also a drive by much of the nation to advance care and medicine to give them a greater quality of life. Overall the areas where disrespect for the elderly can be found is actually quite often in the nursing homes themselves or in the individuals who look at the elderly as feeble and seek to only take what they can from them or simply ignore. This is not however the overall mentality of the nation.
Olivia Williams is a health, fitness and relationship blogger and also a contributing writer for Court House Clinics a professional service which offers Botox treatments and Botox injections.