With the help of relevant literature the paper analyses social aspects of ageing and getting ill. The author concludes that none of the scientific theories by themselves hold the solution for studying these complex processes and the position of old people in the modern society, and that the interdisciplinary approach is the best. To accomplish the set goal, the article discusses: a) theories that help us understand old age and ageing, and allow us to define social and healthcare policies in everyday conditions, which directly affects the attitude of individuals, families and the society towards the constantly growing group of old and ill people, and b) the understanding of old age and ageing through history and the present which helps affirming those behavior patterns and activities that are an alternative to the one-sided, stigmatizing and at times segregating attitude towards people over 65 years of age. This may help institutional reforms of social and health care systems to allow for a different quality, and in some segments an entirely different attitude towards old people so they would not feel redundant and forsaken by families and the society in the otherwise difficult conditions of transition, as well as to find answers to increasingly more complex and important social, healthcare, legal, economic and ethical questions, in our parts, that are: a) current, b) insufficiently discussed, c) lacking a systematic and comprehensive representation.