In my culture elderly people are normally respected and they aren't portrayed in stereotypical ways in media, but sometimes you can see situations where this not happens. For example, I often see people that don't give up their seat to an old person on the bus. Or people that in a queue at the supermarket are always in a hurry and don't keep elderly people moving forward.
I think that we are concentrated too much on ourselves and don't think about other people around us. Elderly people, in most cases, are frail and they can't look after themselves. In this case, some little good action by us may help them a lot.
I never cared for an elderly relative, but I remember what my parents did for my granparents. For example, when I was young, my father's mother was affected by a brain stroke and she could stay only in a bed and she needed of expensive drugs. Fortunally there were my father and his sisters to help her until the end.
But an elderly person most of the time live alone, without relatives that may give help. In this case the local government should offer his help by economic, moral and phisycal support. Fortunally where I live there are some organizations that offer their free support to elderly people.