Ikääntyminen maalaiskylässä

Aging in a country village This dissertation examines what kind of environment of aging a small country village is, who elderly villagers are and what kind of everyday life they have. The qualitative material gathered through ethnographic field work at a village situated in Southern Finland consists of a field work diary and 34 interviews of elderly villagers. The dissertation is based on social gerontology and village research. The key concepts are: the environment of aging; locality and local identity; and way of life. The village is examined as a social and physical environment of aging. Difficulties regarding mobility are the biggest challenges for elderly villagers in their everyday life. The social environment of aging is constructed by historical, cultural and local factors. The village community is formed by many small sub-communities. An elderly villager s status in a village community and her/his social competence affect the formation of her/his social network and the quality of her/his environment of aging. The dissertation examines the local identities of older villagers and their relationships to the village. The local identities can be based on the village, memories or on many places, or a place and places may not be of great importance for a person s identity. The local identity of an older villager affects her/his experiences of living in the village and her/his future plans to move away from the village. The everyday life of an older villager is constructed by rhythms, routines and repetitions. However, there are differences between how everyday lives are arranged among elderly villagers, which are explained by the concept of a way of life. Four ways of life were found. Nature and its importance are a background to all four ways of life. A traditional way of life is based on continuity and hard work, a family-oriented way of life on family members and relatives. A mobile way of life is characterized by symbolic and concrete mobility. An original way of life is marked by independent loneliness . In practice, a person s way of life is always constructed by two or many ways of life.

Kahdestaan kotona : Tutkimus vanhoista pariskunnista

In this study, which pertains to the field of social gerontology and family research, I analyse the meaning of everyday life as perceived by elderly couples living at home. I use the ethnographic approach, with the aim of interpreting meanings from the elderly people s personal point of view and to increase understanding of their way of life. The study deepens our conception of what gives purpose to the everyday life of elderly people. The number of elderly couples is growing and, to an increasing extent, a couple will live and cope together to a ripe old age. Such coping can also be viewed as an important resource for society. Ethnography tries to get close to people's life practices. I examine the day-to-day life of elderly couples based on textual data, which I obtained by visiting the homes of 16 couples in a total of five small municipalities in Southern Finland. The couples had married soon after the war or in the early 1950s. I found that the aspiration towards continuity, which unites the concepts of place and home, housework and a long marriage, is the most important notion connecting the discussion themes. The results show that in the opinion of the elderly, the concept of a good life is intertwined with a long marriage spent at home, as well as its values. Old people find that they lead an independent life if they feel that they can hold on to the key features of their way of life. Elderly couples ability to cope with everyday life involves taking care of housework and other tasks around the home together. This means that they support one another and have common goals and aspirations. Daily tasks provide substance in the lives of elderly couples. Each day has its rhythm, and the pace of this rhythm is set by routine and habits. Satisfaction stems from the fact that you can do something you are good at. The couples have also revised the division of housework. Men have learned to perform new tasks around the house when their wives can no longer manage them by themselves. Some tasks are given up. Day-to-day life at home and around the house provides room for men s participation. Mutual support and care between husband and wife can also protect them from having to resort to outside or official help. Old couples integrate their life experiences and memories, as well as present and future risks and opportunities. They wish to carry on their lives as before, and still think that their present life corresponds with their idea of a good life. Key words: elderly couples, continuity theory of aging, everyday life, social gerontology, family research

Community Engagement in Ireland's Developmental Welfare State: a study of the life cycle approach

The idea that people matter in modern democracies, often referred to as 'civic engagement' is recognised at the highest international level (United Nations 2008: 9). Civic or community engagement is essential to how budgets are decided, policy is developed and public services delivered. Significantly, community engagement is crucial in developing policy for sustained economic and social development. In Ireland the idea of the Developmental Welfare State (DWS) is based on the premise that the social policy system should support citizens so as to reach their full potential. Such a system comprises three overlapping elements: tax and welfare transfer, the provision of services and activist initiatives (National Economic and Social Council, 2005: ix-xviii). Civil Society Organisations have been challenged to 'operationalise the DWS' using a 'life cycle framework' as part of Ireland's corporatist partnership model (Department of Taoiseach, 2006: 40).

Women (Re)Negotiating Care across Family Generations: Intersections of Gender and Socioeconomic Status

Changing Generations, a study of intergenerational relations in Ireland undertaken between 2011 and 2013 by the Social Policy and Ageing Research Centre (SPARC), Trinity College, Dublin, and the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG), NUI Galway, used the Constructivist Grounded Theory method to interrogate support and care provision between generations. This article draws on interviews with 52 women ages 18 to 102, allowing for simultaneous analysis of older and younger women’s perspectives. The intersectionality of gender and class emerged as central to the analysis. Socioeconomic positions shape contrasting forms of interdependency among family generations, ranging from “enmeshed” lives among lower socioeconomic groups to “freed” lives among higher socioeconomic groups. Women are initiating changes in how care and support flow across generations. Older women in higher socioeconomic groups are attuned to how emotional capital women expend across family generations can constrain (young) women’s lives. In an expression of solidarity, older women are renegotiating the place of care labor in their own lives and in the lives of younger women. A new reciprocity emerges that amounts to women “undoing gender.” This process is, however, deeply classed as it is women in higher socioeconomic groups whose resources best place them to renegotiate care.

Envelhecimento de Idosos Institucionalizados : Formação de Auxiliares de Ação Direta na Associação Casapiana de Solidariedade

Esta tese que agora se apresenta sob a forma de projeto profissional tem como objetivo reforçar o processo de formação e qualificação em exercício de auxiliares de ação direta da Associação Casapiana de Solidariedade (ACS) reportando-se a uma prática nela levada a cabo. Esta é uma questão de extrema pertinência no âmbito do envelhecimento e do envelhecimento com dependência de idosos institucionalizados. Atualmente os lares de idosos são espaços de convivência, das mais variadas proveniências culturais e com necessidades múltiplas. Estes idosos necessitam de apoio para as atividades da vida diária. As auxiliares de ação direta são os profissionais mais aptos à realização desta função, as mesmas prestam cuidados básicos e pessoais aos idosos, essenciais à sua qualidade de vida diária. A ACS preocupa-se com a melhoria dos cuidados e por isso promove o acesso a formações, inclusive prestadas em contexto de trabalho. Neste projeto profissional evidenciamos o trabalho exercido por estas profissionais e a necessidade de formação das mesmas. Analisamos a formação em exercício realizada na ACS considerando-a como uma boa prática a ser desenvolvida pelas IPSS. Verificamos que esta prática é um dos meios para melhorar as competências destes profissionais e promover a qualidade de serviços aos mais velhos.

Ålderism – ett fruktbart begrepp?

Ageism – A useful concept? Ageism has gained growing attention in Sweden the last decade. Age is even discussed to be included in the discrimination legislation. Still, the concept has not been of much sociological interest. This article is an overview of the concept ageism and how it has been discussed in social gerontology. In the article it is argued that the overall focus has been on overtly expressions such as stereotypes and discriminating behavior while underlying structures and processes of power and power relations have not got enough attention. As a result the concept of ageism has become limited as an analytical tool. Thus, in order to develop the potential of the concept it seems crucial to explicate and theorise power relations. To accomplish this goal, i.e. to focus on how age-based power relations are negotiated, challenged and reproduced in processes and institutionalised practises it is suggested that ageism might have to be complemented with other concepts, such as age coding.

Positive ageing, neoliberalism and Australian sociology

Australian sociology has wrestled with most of the big issues facing this society; however, when it comes to one of the most significant changes to face Australia in the next 30 years, it has suddenly lost its capacity to engage with the nexus between demography, social processes and political structures. While governments have forged ahead with responsibilization agendas in health, welfare and unemployment, sociology has voiced its concern about the implications for Australia’s most disadvantaged. Yet, when it comes to population ageing, sociology has been, in large part, silent in the face of neoliberal policies of positive ageing, which have framed the ‘problem’ as a deficit that must be managed primarily by individuals and their families. This article maps the field of positive ageing, identifies key social concerns with this policy approach and asks, where is Australian sociology?

Edna Chavis

As an advocate for the elderly, Edna Chavis has made many improvements for matured people. She worked for the Social Security Administration for eleven years, where she recognized that “older people are the same as anyone else with the same wants and desires.” Since then, she gained educational experience to assist her in understanding the self-concept of older people. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Science and a teaching certificate from Eastern Michigan University in 1972, a Master of Science Degree in Adult Education from Tuskegee Institute in 1975, and a PhD Degree in Social Gerontology and Adult Education from the University of Missouri in 1979. Some of her accomplishments include her position as the head of the Missouri Delegates to the White House Conference on Aging and her lobbying efforts toward Missouri’s first Governor’s Conference on Aging. She was also awarded the Lt. Governor’s Nursing Home Task Force Certificate of Appreciation. As an adjunct instructor at Lincoln University, Chavis emphasizes to her students that aging is a natural process. She has had a great impact on her students, several of whom have continued on related career paths. Following her own advice that “Aging successfully is to never sit down and do nothing,” Chavis continues to teach, work as a gerontologist, and serve on committees within the Department of Health and Senior Services.

Contributos do teatro para o envelhecimento cri(ativo)

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gerontologia Social, Escola Superior de Educação e Comunicação, Escola Superior de Saúde, Universidade do Algarve, 2016

A utilização das aplicações digitais «Peak & Neuronation» no envelhecimento ativo : um estudo de caso na USALBI

Trabalho de Projeto apresentado à Escola Superior de Educação do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Gerontologia Social.

Social networks and lifelong learning in older people

Various socio-demographic factors are causing our society to coexist every day with a group of elderly population that remains active and inserted into the daily dynamics. However, it is believed that there are certain barriers that make this group of people to not adequately address the technologies and even social networks. The creation of the University Programs for the Elderly (PUM), however, is leading to a new stage, since older people who participate come into contact with all kinds of content and rigor, updating own university education, thus changing the way to tackle the most innovative and different situations. In this study, we analyze what is the knowledge and use of older people, PUM, attending the University of Jaen have of the social networks and the assessment made of the need for these programs. To achieve this, we used a methodology in which qualitative and quantitative processes were articulated, through the analysis of data obtained from interviews and a focus groups with program Aquad 7. The data collected show that there is still some ignorance about social networks by older people, but everyone values their usefulness and necessity. Participants believe that they will be least affected of the risks of these technologies and demand a greater training in these contained within the PUM.

Social Participation and Maintaining Recommended Waist Circumference: Prospective Evidence From the English Longitudinal Study of Aging

Objectives: To investigate whether older adults participating in social activities are more likely to maintain or achieve recommended waist circumference (WC) levels. Method: A total of 4,280 older adults who participated in Wave 2 (baseline) and Wave 4 (follow-up) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. WC was measured by a nurse in both study waves. Results: Participation in education, arts, music groups, evening classes, and in charitable associations was associated with maintaining recommended WC only in those men whose WC was in the recommended range at baseline. Participation in social activities was not associated with achieving recommended WC in women or men with initially large waist. Discussion: Participation in cultural and charitable activities may help in maintaining a recommended level of WC in older men with WC originally in the recommended range.