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The prevalence of older people who use drugs is increasing in many countries, with evidence that some women continue or begin illicit substance use in midlife and older age. While research on older people who use drugs is limited, evidence of risk behaviours among older women who use drugs is particularly inadequate. Unsafe drug use and sexual practices that are prolonged and sustained over many years increase the possibilities for poorer health, leading to potentially greater morbidity and early mortality among older drug users. This chapter is a timely contribution to the extant literature and explores our current knowledge of the risk behaviours of older women who use drugs.

Although midlife is viewed as a transition period in the life course, the normative role expectations of midlife and older women run parallel to the stereotypes of women who use drugs. Furthermore, drug-using bodies are politically and culturally shaped through control and containment practices centred around notions of difference and risk. Acknowledging the intersection of age, race and gender, this chapter frames its position around the concepts of ‘risk’ and ‘edgework’. Utilising these theoretical concepts, this chapter argues that a shift towards a support-focussed model, rather than control of, older women who use drugs is required. The absence of a focussed, gendered analysis of the lives and experiences of older drug users, and older women who use drugs in particular, limits our understanding. Consequently, the chapter concludes with a call for well-designed studies of this increasing and largely hidden cohort of drug users.

Bus use in later life tends to increase, especially in countries where there is cheaper or free travel on buses for older people. That said, there are still many barriers to bus use. The most major barrier for older people is feeling unsafe on the bus, especially at night. Accessibility issues are also important, with concerns for step-free access and getting a seat. A bus driver driving off before the older person has sat down is another major concern for older people. The presence of a friendly helpful, understanding bus driver is seen as a huge benefit for older people. Training to support bus drivers in providing an age friendly service are therefore highly recommended. In many countries, public transport is supplemented by community transport offering a door-to-door on demand facility to help older people stay mobile where there is a lack of accessible public buses. There are real advantages for older people using such buses, especially creating a safe environment taking older people to important places, such as hospitals or shops. Such services can be supplemented by journeys for days out and these are very popular with users. Older people aren’t large users of railway services. Barriers include concerns over getting a seat, worry about what happens if connections are missed and services are disrupted. Older people are more likely to want staff to help them complete their journey and emphasise the need for seats, cleanliness and facilities over journey length and cost.

The workforce is aging in all industrialized nations and the retention of older workers will become one of the dominant issues in the coming decades. Training is an important component of retention and the availability of training is critical for retaining older workers.

Studies conducted in 2001 and 2003 assessed the extent to which Canadian organizations are adapting their training practices to respond to the aging workforce. Human resource executives were asked the extent to which their organization was currently engaging in training practices targeting older managerial and professional employees.

Organizations were most likely to be providing access to training and retraining, but fewer than 10 percent of the organizations in 2003 were highly engaged in doing this. Organizations were less likely to be adjusting training methods to accommodate the needs of older employees. There was little attempt to provide age awareness training to managers of older employees.

The challenge for organizations will be to close the gaps that currently exist between the practices that are important in retaining older managerial and professional employees and the extent to which organizations are engaging in these practices. Ensuring access to training, customizing training methods, and providing age awareness training require immediate attention.

Little research has been conducted on older workers in Canada. The findings raise some serious concerns about the response of Canadian organizations to the aging workforce and identify areas of training and development that need to be addressed.

The National Service Framework for Older People (DoH, 2001) is a ten‐year plan which aims radically to improve health services for older people. Central to the plan is the belief that older people should be involved as ‘genuine partners’ in the implementation process. In this article we describe how regional and local implementation teams in the North West of England are working in partnership to develop a coherent and sustainable strategy for engaging with older people.

This article reports on a national project being developed by the Royal National Institute of the Blind. It is aimed at improving health and social care for older people with sight problems, by focusing on some of the standards of the National Service Framework for older people and applying them to older people with sight problems. The project will identify, develop and disseminate good practice by establishing two pilot sites and conducting desk research.

The adverse impact of austerity on the available capacity of public bodies to give priority to engagement of older people means self-determination and older people representing the best interests of older people more generally – needs a fresh impetus if the voice of older people is to be heard and not marginalised. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The paper describes how a new direction for Cymru Older People’s Alliance was shaped, the engagement directly with older people that informed changes and key transitions negotiated to become a charity and form a democratically elected membership, with stronger structures and improved means to ensuring the “voice” of older people is heard.

Co-production, increased citizen engagement and promoting well-being are important new concepts in Welsh legislation but it is only through growing the infrastructure that enables older people to represent their own interests, that these new requirements will produce tangible results and progress can be made.

If we are to challenge ageism and recognise that older people need to be empowered and enabled to make their own decisions, then older people’s organisations need to change and adapt to the prevailing financial climate. This is not an easy pathway but it can be achieved through good planning, strong governance and effective engagement, listening carefully to older people’s views.

This paper aims to present findings from a service user controlled research project; essentially it seeks to provide commentary by older people on their experiences as visitors to hospital or as patients receiving visitors.

The method of data collection was to facilitate discussions (focus groups) with diverse older people at eight different locations in North Lancashire and South Cumbria. They were asked about their recent experience of hospital visiting and its value to them, given their individual circumstances and those prevailing at the hospitals.

From verbatim transcripts the authors identified particular concerns or vivid experiences of individuals that were interpreted and classified into common themes such as: getting there and back; on the ward; the value of visiting.

The project maximised the participation of older people at all stages of the research process.

The paper makes recommendations for practice that could improve hospital visiting for older people, and consequently their wellbeing, including: times and rules for visitors; the response they get from staff; the potential of older visitors to help improve the welfare of the older patient; locating older people's wards.

The literature of hospital visiting hardly refers to older people's experience; however some articles of general application suggest that visitors' needs are not always being met. The findings from the perspectives of older people broadly confirm this conclusion.

Elder abuse has come to be recognized as any act of both commission or omission that causes harm or loss to elderly people. This can include active or passive neglect, violence, sexual or emotional abuse, various kinds of theft, and deprivation of the person’s human rights. Elder abuse has many causes. The Hastings and Prince Edward Council on Aging developed an Elder Abuse Community Response Protocol to help address this problem.

The purpose of this paper is to present an econometric analysis of hate crime against older people based on data for England and Wales for 2010-2011 disaggregated by Crown Prosecution Service area – a geographical unit which is co-terminus with local authorities.

The authors ran different specifications of structural regression models including one latent variable and accounting for a number of interactions between the covariates.

The paper suggests that the higher the level of other types of hate crime is in an area, the higher the level of hate crime against older people. Demographics are also significant: a higher concentration of older and young people partially explains hate crime levels against the former. Employment, income and educational deprivation are also associated with biased-crime against older people. Conviction rates seem to reduce hate crime against older people, and one indicator of intergenerational contact is not significant.

Due to data availability and quality, the paper only studies one years worth of data. Consequently, the research results may lack generalisability. Furthermore, the proxy variable for intergenerational contact may not be the most suitable indicator; however, there will not be any other indicators available until Census data come out.

The paper suggests that factors underlying hate crime would also influence hate crime against older people. Besides, the results would not support the “generational clash” view. Tackling income, educational and employment deprivation would help significantly reduce the number of episodes of biased criminal activity against older people. Improving conviction rates of all types of hate crime would also contribute to the reduction of hate crime against older people.

This paper presents the first econometric analysis of hate crime against older people.

This paper seeks to examine the social construction and barriers that older people face and through two case studies from the Northeast of England and London illustrate how older people can be effectively enabled to influence their communities and the services that impact on their lives.

Age Concern Durham County created a ten‐hour introductory level course called “The Confident Consumer”. This includes basic assertiveness skills, advice on how to challenge discrimination, and uses role play to improve communication skills for older people.

The case studies have demonstrated that older people do want to be involved and are enthusiastic participants when given the opportunity to use their voice.

By reaching out to older people and working actively in partnership with service providers, older people can help to shape their own world.