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1 – 10 of over 17000To understand ageing well, one needs to study not only those who are ageing but also the places within and with which people are ageing. In the past, much ageing‐well research has…
Abstract
Purpose
To understand ageing well, one needs to study not only those who are ageing but also the places within and with which people are ageing. In the past, much ageing‐well research has been focused on ensuring individuals have the “right” resources and are engaged in the “best” types of activities. However, recent theorizing has prompted the study of ageing well as a process of making sense of self amid later‐life changes. Building on Rowles' attachment‐to‐place work, the purpose of this paper is to consider how the “thick concreteness” of place influences later‐life meaning making.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a theoretical paper on ageing.
Findings
The paper draws on Casey's phenomenological conceptualization of places as imprinting themselves on bodies and selves, much as humans shape the places they inhabit. Data from interviews with older rural women in western Canada illustrates how this conceptualization can enhance understanding of ageing well relative to place as a physical, socio‐cultural and temporal phenomenon. In a place that has been depicted as inhospitable, participants have chosen to stay even as practically invisible kin and community “keepers” on the “frontier”.
Originality/value
This original paper suggests that to age well is to age locally and to make sense not only for self about self and one's own ageing but also for ageing in mutually compatible ways in that place.
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Simona Azzali, André Siew Yeong Yew, Caroline Wong and Taha Chaiechi
This paper explores ways in which Singapore adapts its planning policy and practices to meet the needs of its growing silver population, particularly the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores ways in which Singapore adapts its planning policy and practices to meet the needs of its growing silver population, particularly the relationship between ageing related policies and its urban development strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The research assesses Singapore's urban planning policies for the ageing population against the WHO framework for age-friendly cities using Kampung Admiralty (KA) (a pioneering project of integrated housing cum community for the ageing population) as a case study for the analysis. The methodology adopted includes a post-occupancy evaluation and a walking tour of the selected case study (Kampung Admiralty), and an analysis of Singapore's ageing policies in relation to urban planning governance.
Findings
The study examines the role and significance of a multi-agency collaborative governance structure in ageing planning policies with diverse stakeholders in the project. The evaluation carried out on KA reveals the challenges and opportunities in urbanisation planning for the ageing population. This paper concludes by emphasising the potential of multi-collaborative governance and policymaking in creating an inclusive, liveable built environment for the ageing population in Singapore, particularly but also potential implications for other ASEAN tropical cities.
Practical implications
The case study identified key issues in Singapore's urban planning for betterment in ageing and highlighted the requirement for enhancing urban planning strategies.
Originality/value
This article fulfils an identified need for the Singapore government to address the issue of ageing by providing affordable and silver-friendly housing to its ageing population.
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The purpose of this paper is to argue for an archaeological expedition of sorts, to search for and to uncover a host of stories which might assist us in piecing together a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue for an archaeological expedition of sorts, to search for and to uncover a host of stories which might assist us in piecing together a framework worth dedicating our future lives to understanding ageing.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a theoretical paper on ageing.
Findings
An individual's experience of ageing is integrally bound to questions of culture – particularly the systems of meaning within culture – and context. Just as there is not “one true story of aging”, so the paper suggests that we must have multiple narratives to assist us in building our own models of successful ageing.
Originality/value
Narratives of successful ageing, like all narratives, are never told in a vacuum. Rather, there must be those who are able to hear them, often stretching themselves beyond their own experiences, even beyond their own cultural frameworks. This has strong implications for researchers of successful ageing: together, we must try to meet the challenge of listening to diversity.
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Satish Kr Gupta and Anirban Mukherjee
This qualitative research examines the varied reasons for relocation to old age homes (OAHs) in contemporary India. The purpose of this study investigates the acceptance of…
Abstract
Purpose
This qualitative research examines the varied reasons for relocation to old age homes (OAHs) in contemporary India. The purpose of this study investigates the acceptance of institutional living in Lucknow (a Tier II city of India) and whether migration to OAHs is a voluntary decision. This study also examines the lifeworld of the older adult in these OAHs in an attempt to find out whether OAHs are conducive to positive ageing. Derivatively, the authors study their engagement/time use pattern and social networking patterns in the OAHs. Finally, the research seeks to learn whether OAHs are slowly substituting older adult care given within the family by offering the best of the facilities and services.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative research was conducted in two private OAHs in Lucknow, India. The findings of the study are based on 28 qualitative interviews conducted with the inmates, administrative staff and caretakers. The interviews were unstructured and open-ended and were supported by observations. The observation was not only made of the social setting but also the reaction of the participants. The idea was to develop an emic view of the subject by exploring valid narratives. Pseudonyms were used to report the finding so as to maintain the confidentiality of the research subjects.
Findings
This research moves beyond the traditional wisdom that people move to OAH because of the push factors within the family. OAHs in India have evolved over the years and high-end OAHs are equipped with modern amenities to cater to the upper class in their twilight years. Residents were found to lead active lives in OAHs and their common habitus and bonding capital helped them to face the vagaries of old age more confidently. Their active life and membership in various civic organizations challenge the contention of the role theory that the aged are more prone to lose rather than gain roles.
Originality/value
The originality of the research lies in the fact that the authors are extending the arguments made by the role theory of social ageing. The theory proposes that aged people are more likely to lose out roles rather than gain new ones. This study finds that the elderly tend to live a very active life in OAHs and engaged various civic organizations. Although they may lose/voluntarily give up the roles like the head of the household, spouse, etc., they acquire new roles in the context of OAHs.
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Sharon-Marie Gillooley, Sheilagh Mary Resnick, Tony Woodall and Seamus Allison
This study aims to examine the phenomenon of self-perceived age (SPA) identity for Generation X (GenX) women in the UK. Squeezed between the more ubiquitous “boomer” and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the phenomenon of self-perceived age (SPA) identity for Generation X (GenX) women in the UK. Squeezed between the more ubiquitous “boomer” and “millennial” cohorts, and now with both gender and age stigma-related challenges, this study looks to provide insights for understanding this group for marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts an existential phenomenological approach using a hybrid structured/hermeneutic research design. Data is collected using solicited diary research (SDR) that elicits autoethnographic insights into the lived experiences of GenX women, these in the context of SPA.
Findings
For this group, the authors find age a gendered phenomenon represented via seven “age frames”, collectively an “organisation of experience”. Age identity appears not to have unified meaning but is contingent upon individuals and their experiences. These frames then provide further insights into how diarists react to the stigma of gendered ageism.
Research limitations/implications
SDR appeals to participants who like completing diaries and are motivated by the research topic. This limits both diversity of response and sample size, but coincidentally enhances elicitation potential – outweighing, the authors believe, these constraints. The sample comprises UK women only.
Practical implications
This study acknowledges GenX women as socially real, but from an SPA perspective they are heterogeneous, and consequently distributed across many segments. Here, age is a psychographic, not demographic, variable – a subjective rather than chronological condition requiring a nuanced response from marketers.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first formal study into how SPA identity is manifested for GenX women. Methodologically, this study uses e-journals/diaries, an approach not yet fully exploited in marketing research.
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Lesley Cotterill and Diane Taylor
In England health promotion has an important role to play in delivering the aims of the new health and social care modernisation programme. Two health promotion strategies evident…
Abstract
In England health promotion has an important role to play in delivering the aims of the new health and social care modernisation programme. Two health promotion strategies evident in recent policy documents concern the provision of good quality information and encouraging greater social participation. Providing information about health issues is intended to empower people, promote independence and help them to become, and stay, healthy. Encouraging social participation is intended to reduce social isolation and stress, build social capital, and promote mental health and wellbeing. This paper presents findings from a qualitative sociological study of an Ageing Well project for housebound older people relevant to these policy goals. The findings reveal what older people valued about participating in the project, and how it enhanced their sense of wellbeing. It is argued that, for this group of people, ‘feeling happy’ and maintaining a positive sense of wellbeing were transitory experiences involving a range of strategies to ‘manage’ information. The lessons for health promotion from this study suggest that providing health‐related information may conflict with, rather than complement, efforts to promote mental health by compromising the ways in which people in difficult circumstances construct their sense of wellbeing and strive to feel happy.
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Alison Ballantyne, Julianne Cheek, David Gillham and James Quan
Having an ageing population is an issue facing many countries, particularly western nations. With governments and service providers focusing on healthy ageing and ageing in place…
Abstract
Having an ageing population is an issue facing many countries, particularly western nations. With governments and service providers focusing on healthy ageing and ageing in place, notions of choice and active participation for older people in selecting services appropriate to remaining in the community are also emphasised. Central to this is the issue of information navigation: knowing what services are available and how to get that information, for older people and those who support them. Based on a series of qualitative studies of service provision and using perspectives from older people, their families and those who provide services for them, this paper argues that greater attention needs to be paid to the process of information navigation as opposed to providing ever more information content.
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Jill Stewart, Rachel Crockett, Jim Gritton, Brendon Stubbs and Ann Pascoe
The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the range of issues relevant to owner occupiers who age in place and to offer an initial overview of how effective partnerships can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the range of issues relevant to owner occupiers who age in place and to offer an initial overview of how effective partnerships can respond to and meet the changing needs of housing, health and social care of our ageing population.
Design/methodology/approach
Issues affecting older people's changing needs are considered holistically and considered in terms of how partnerships can be enhanced to develop improved services in the future.
Findings
Most owners wish to stay in their own homes for as long as possible and it can be cost-effective to do so; however, we need to look at new and innovative ways of developing and providing front-line services to enhance health and safety in the home, but also quality of life and wellbeing such as combating loneliness and isolation. However, although there are examples of evidence-based good practice, service provision is variable and there is a risk that many older home owners may miss out on services for which they may are eligible. With this in mind, it may be helpful to develop a new framework where one key practitioner holds responsibility to consolidate and coordinate the range of local services available as a package that offers a range of housing, health and social care services.
Originality/value
There are currently many policy and practice gaps in older owner occupier's housing conditions and suitability to meet their changing needs. This paper has a particular starting point in housing, and how other personal or technological services can help support independence for as long as possible and adapt to the owner-occupier's changing health and social care needs as they age in place. The authors emphasise the importance of sharing evidence-based good practice partnerships.
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Patrick Dawson, Christopher Sykes, Peter McLean, Michael Zanko and Heather Marciano
The purpose of this paper is to examine the early stages of change and the way that stories can open up forms of collaborative dialogue and creative thinking among divergent…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the early stages of change and the way that stories can open up forms of collaborative dialogue and creative thinking among divergent stakeholders on known but “intractable” problems by enabling multiple voices to be heard in the co-construction of future possibilities for change. The empirical focus is on a project undertaken by two organizations located in Australia. The organizations – AAC, a large aged care provider and Southern Disability Services, a disability support service – collaborated with the researchers in identifying and re-characterizing the nature of the problem in the process of storying new pathways for tackling the transitioning needs of people with intellectual disabilities into aged care services.
Design/methodology/approach
An action research approach was used in conducting interviews in the case organizations to ascertain the key dimensions of the presenting problem and to identify change options, this was followed by an ethnographic study of a Pilot Project used to trial the provision of disability day service programmes within an aged care setting.
Findings
A key finding of the study centres on the importance of stories at the early stages of change in widening the arena of innovative opportunities, in facilitating collective acceptance of new ideas and in initiating action to resolve problems. The paper demonstrates how stories are used not only in retrospective sensemaking of existing problems but also in giving prospective sense to the possibilities for resolving protracted problems through innovative solutions that in turn facilitates a level of collective acceptance and commitment to opening up new pathways for change.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on problem characterization during the early stages of change and bring to the fore the often hidden notion of time in utilizing concepts from a range of literatures in examining temporality, stories and sensemaking in a context in which future possibilities are made sense of in the present through restorying experiences and events from the past. On a practical and policy front, the paper demonstrates the power of stories to mobilize commitment and action and presents material for rethinking change possibilities in the delivery of aged and disability care.
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Tamar Icekson, Anat Toder Alon, Avichai Shuv-Ami and Yaron Sela
The growing proportion of older fans and their potential economic value have increased the need for an improved understanding of age differences in fan behaviour. Building on…
Abstract
Purpose
The growing proportion of older fans and their potential economic value have increased the need for an improved understanding of age differences in fan behaviour. Building on socioemotional selectivity theory, the current study examines the impact of age differences on fan hatred as well as on the extent to which fans actually engage in aggressive activities and fans' perceptions of the levels of appropriateness of certain physical and verbal acts of aggression.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used an online panel-based survey that offered access to a real-world population of sport fans. The participants were 742 fans of professional football (soccer).
Findings
Results from structural equation modelling indicated that older fans reported lower levels of fan hatred, lower self-reported aggression and lower acceptance of physical and verbal aggression. Moreover, fan hatred partially mediated the relationship between age and levels of aggression and between age and acceptance of verbal aggression. In addition, fan hatred fully mediated the relationship between age and acceptance of physical aggression.
Originality/value
The current study makes two important contributions. First, it demonstrates that sport clubs may particularly benefit from understanding the potential but often neglected importance of older sport fans in relation to the problematic phenomenon of fan aggression. Second, it offers a thorough theoretical account of the manner in which fan hatred plays a significant role in the relationships between age and fan aggressiveness.
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