{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.old-age","code":"thing-q191089","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q191089/","name":"old age","alternateNames":["third and fourth age","bodyage","aged 80 and over"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.QLT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"The final stage of the human life course, conventionally beginning around 60 to 65 years and sometimes divided into a third age of active retirement and a fourth age of frailty, including the oldest old aged 80 and over, characterised by biological senescence, changing social roles and rising risk of chronic disease and death, studied by gerontology and geriatrics and shaped by culture, policy and pension systems; old age is defined differently across societies and the concept of biological or body age is distinguished from chronological age.","purpose":"Let an agent explain old age as a life stage, relay definitions, biology, health and social aspects from gerontological sources with attribution, describe policy and cultural variation, and distinguish old age from ageing as a process, from specific diseases and from retirement as a status.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Late life stage","Senescence","Changing roles","Culturally defined"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What old age is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and stages.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is old age, how are the third and fourth ages and the oldest old defined, and how does it differ from ageing and retirement?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about old age as a stage, the ageing process, a disease or a personal situation?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"biology","name":"Biology","description":"Biology.","findings":[{"id":"biology-finding","name":"Biology","description":"Biology.","questions":[{"text":"What biological changes characterise old age, and what is biological or body age?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits senescence?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"health","name":"Health","description":"Health and care.","layers":[{"id":"health","name":"Health","description":"Health.","findings":[{"id":"health-finding","name":"Health","description":"Health.","questions":[{"text":"What health challenges and protective factors characterise old age, according to gerontology and geriatrics?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the user asking about their own or a relative s health, which needs a clinician?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"care","name":"Care","description":"Care.","findings":[{"id":"care-finding","name":"Care","description":"Care.","questions":[{"text":"How are care and support organised for older people across countries?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"society","name":"Society","description":"Society and policy.","layers":[{"id":"roles","name":"Roles","description":"Social roles.","findings":[{"id":"roles-finding","name":"Roles","description":"Roles.","questions":[{"text":"How do work, family, community and identity change in old age, with findings attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"policy","name":"Policy","description":"Policy.","findings":[{"id":"policy-finding","name":"Policy","description":"Policy.","questions":[{"text":"How do pensions, retirement ages and elder rights vary, and what debates surround ageing societies, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation neutral?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"Culture and history.","layers":[{"id":"culture","name":"Culture","description":"Culture.","findings":[{"id":"culture-finding","name":"Culture","description":"Culture.","questions":[{"text":"How do cultures regard old age and elders, and how is ageism addressed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits ageism?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How has old age been experienced and defined historically as life expectancy changed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the history of ageing?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe old age and the life course from attributed research.","Point older people to services and clinicians for their own needs."],"mustNot":["Stereotype older people as frail, incompetent or a burden.","Give personal medical or financial advice to an older person.","Treat old age itself as a disease.","Help others exploit older people financially."],"requiresHuman":["Decisions about an older person's care, money or living arrangements."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Ageism limits older people's rights and opportunities.","Older people are targeted by fraud and neglect."],"affectedParties":["Older people","Carers","Families"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns a life stage; each person decides for themselves where able.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q185836","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q1931388","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q2070979","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q2347178","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"age of a person","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"senescence","type":"related","note":"in registry terms, as its life stage"},{"target":"cause of death","type":"related","note":"in registry terms, as recorded on certificates in some systems"},{"target":"gerontology","type":"related","note":"and geriatrics"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.old-age","Wikidata: Q191089 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q191089)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["conventional threshold: 60-65 years - varies","people aged 65 and over worldwide: about 800 million - estimates, rising","life expectancy at 65: about 15-22 years - high-income countries"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Final stage of the human life course","Third and fourth age, oldest old aged 80 and over, biological body age","Ageing is the process; retirement is a status; specific diseases are separate","Not a visible object; a stage of life."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain definitions and stages","relay biology and health","describe social and policy aspects","distinguish related concepts"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Ageism and stereotyping","Agents giving personal medical or financial advice","Treating old age as a disease"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Pension and retirement age laws","Elder rights and anti-discrimination laws","UN Principles for Older Persons and the Decade of Healthy Ageing"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Not applicable; a life stage.","young old and third age","oldest old and fourth age including those aged 80 and over","healthy and frail ageing","old age in different cultures","old age as a demographic category","biological age as distinct from chronological age"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q191089: old age","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q191089","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Old age","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_age","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should ageing, gerontology and oldest old be separate primary entries?","How should gerontological sources be linked?","The registry parent cause of death should be reviewed"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q191089/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q191089/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T06:18:08Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:56+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}