Hi!
I think that in my culture elderly people are respected. Luckily, nowadays people who reach ages like 60 or 70 have (generally) good health and a lot of autonomy to do their things and enjoy life. For example, my parents do a lot of sport, go out with their grandchildren, travel with another group of people with their same age and interests... They have a good life.
In my culture, when people are too old to look after themselves, with have two options: 1) The family take care of this people 2) The old people are admited in a retirement home.
In my life, I don't ever need to take care directly for an elderly relative, because in my town (Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona) I only have my parents and one sister. All my family (grandparents, uncles...) is from Cádiz, a city in the South of Spain.
I think that the government has good policies about this issue. The elderly people can enjoy of discounts in a lot of places, a good health care, a good travel plan like the IMSERSO...
I'm agree about the stereotypical portrait of the elderly people in media. They are generally represented like conservative, angry, traditional people. And, in my opinion, that is not true, because I know a lot of old people that have more progressive ideas than some younger ones.