Abstract
Ageing is a crucial era at the last stage in the lifespan of human beings, particularly for those who survive and pass through other stages of the life cycle. There has been a considerable increase in the number of people who reach this stage and live longer across the globe. The rampant increase of this population group has yielded unprecedented challenges to the both the developed and underdeveloped world due to the psychological, health, economic and social needs of this population cohort. In most developing countries, these social challenges faced by older the older persons are to a certain extent mitigated by the cohesive structure within the community. However, the social, living arrangements from families and communities that are available to the older population are under threat due ongoing demise in the traditional forms of care is as a result of families having suffered from the impact of social change, including urbanisation, geographical spread, migration, the trend towards nuclear families, and participation of women in the workforce. Ageism as a concept is viewed as the theoretical, policy and practical underpinning for how ageism is perceived and dealt with. The negative stereotypes that often shape the theoretical framework with regard to ageism is the root cause of negative attributes associated with ageing. This chapter therefore, concludes with the key recommendation that governments from the developing economies should strive towards development of policies for the protection of advancement of the wellbeing of older population and make resources available for the implementation of the policies.