STATUS AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION AFTER CORONAR Y-BYPASS

For the individual the status passage from employment to retirement me ans a process of social aging. Retirement can involve old-age pensions or disability pensions. Regarding the quality of medical rehabilitati on, four forms of social aging emerge: normal, accelerated, adequate a nd delayed aging. Empirical courses of rehabilitation are explored in a qualitative study on patients after Coronary Bypass Surgery. These c ourses comprise in each case a specific form of social aging as indivi dual process. The hypothesis is verified whether different forms of ag ing are typical for different SES. Furthermore the question is venture d whether early retirement is a status-bound destiny or an individual strategy.