Both of my in-laws are in their early 70s have been recommended to have shoulder surgeries by their doctors because of shoulder pain. There was no recommendation of seeing a PT or introducing any sort of strength and mobility work into their lives. My wife and I keep trying to convince them that they should be using surgery as a last resort, not as a first attempt at addressing their pain. They've lived the typical sedentary lives most Americans live and it seems impossible to get them to believe that doing physical activity would help their pain.
If they get the surgeries they're going to have to do months of PT anyway, so why not at least try it first? But surgery is what their doctor recommended and they're of the generation that doesn't believe a doctor would be wrong about something or would be doing the thing that makes them the most money.