The everyday food practices of community-dwelling Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) older adults
Publication date: April 2017 Source:Journal of Aging Studies, Volume 41 Author(s): Nevin Cohen, Kristen Cribbs Malnutrition during old age is a significant public health issue. Prevailing behavioral and structural senior malnutrition interventions have had marginal success, largely failing to reflect the realities of people's daily lives. This novel study employed Social Practice Theory (SPT) to explore the food practices of an under-researched, yet highly vulnerable, segment of the older adult population—Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) seniors. Four focus groups were conducted with 31 older adult clie...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - May 20, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Rural pension reform in China: A critical analysis
Publication date: April 2017 Source:Journal of Aging Studies, Volume 41 Author(s): John B. Williamson, Lianquan Fang, Esteban Calvo (Source: Journal of Aging Studies)
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - May 6, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Crossing a Line: A narrative of risk-taking by older women serving as caregivers
Conclusion and significance The everyday experiences of older adult caregivers include not only familiar care routines, but also advocacy on behalf of care recipients and negotiations with external authorities, resulting at times in unwelcome risk-taking. Their narrative warrants attention due to the lack of power described by caregivers when acting on behalf of their care recipients and the need for those in authority to recognize their dilemma. (Source: Journal of Aging Studies)
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - April 22, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Epistemological erasure: The subject of abuse in the problematization of ‘elder abuse’
The objective measurement of prevalence, the identification and correlation of psycho-social risk factors and practice-based research oriented to intervention and prevention are identified as privileged sites for scientific investigation. These sites are critically analysed in terms of their underpinning rationalities to reveal the operation of a hegemonic post-positivist epistemological framework. This framework enables an expert professional discourse to structure knowledge and the field of inquiry through constructions of the ‘subject of abuse’ as a statistical figure, a factorial subject of risk and universally vul...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - April 20, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Power and ambivalence in intergenerational communication: Deciding to institutionalize in Shanghai
This study used a phenomenological approach. Twelve dyads of matched elderly residents and their children participated in face-to-face, in-depth interviews (N =24). The format and content of intergenerational communication indicated that both conflicts and compromises took place. Adult children achieved greater decision-making power than their frail parents, which evoked older adults' ambivalent feelings. A discrepancy in perceived filial piety between generations also emerged. These dynamics of caregiving decision-making offer insight in understanding evolving filial piety in urban China. (Source: Journal of Aging Studies)
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - April 12, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
“I had a good time when I was young”: Interpreting descriptions of continuity among older people
Publication date: April 2017 Source:Journal of Aging Studies, Volume 41 Author(s): Mary Breheny, Zoë Griffiths Messages describing how best to age are prominent in gerontological theory, research and the media. These prescriptions for ageing may foster positive experiences in later life; however, they may also obscure the social and situated nature of expectations for ageing well. Continuity Theory proposes ageing well is achieved through continuity of activity and stability of relationships and identity over the life course. Continuity seems adaptive, yet prioritising continuity may not match the expectations, desire...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - March 25, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Age ascription as a resource and a source of resistance – An interactional study of health professionals' castings of patients into the category ‘old’
Publication date: April 2017 Source:Journal of Aging Studies, Volume 41 Author(s): Shirley Näslund This case study aims to give an understanding of what actions health professionals' castings of patients into the category ‘old’ perform on a medical and social level as well as what actions patients' interactional management of these castings perform. Particularly, this study aims to bring to the fore the negotiability of health professionals' perspectivating age ascriptions. This is done with the conversation analytic method (CA) according to which altercasting is a mutual construction performed turn by turn and sha...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - March 18, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
What are we talking about? Constructions of loneliness among older people in the Swedish news-press
Publication date: April 2017 Source:Journal of Aging Studies, Volume 41 Author(s): Axel Agren Loneliness among older people is an issue that engages the general public and various professions and organizations in contemporary Swedish society. One public arena where this engagement is particularly evident is within the Swedish news-press, where articles on loneliness among older people are frequently published. Loneliness is commonly perceived as significantly related to ageing and older people. In addition, the mass media is considered to have a crucial influence in shaping general perceptions of older people. The aim o...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - March 18, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Understanding the experiences of racialized older people through an intersectional life course perspective
This article proposes the development of an intersectional life course perspective that is capable of exploring the links between structural inequalities and the lived experience of aging among racialized older people. Merging key concepts from intersectionality and life course perspectives, the authors suggest an analytic approach to better account for the connections between individual narratives and systems of domination that impinge upon the everyday lives of racialized older people. Our proposed intersectional life course perspective includes four dimensions: 1) identifying key events and their timing, 2) examining lo...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - February 27, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Older widows' perspectives on sexuality: A life course perspective
Conclusion Sexuality among widows in later life includes continuity and change processes. In the context of social construction, sexuality is a subject that should be examined in greater depth. (Source: Journal of Aging Studies)
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - February 19, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
‘In this together’ or ‘Going it alone’: Spousal dyad approaches to Alzheimer's
This study investigated the experiences of dyads taking both approaches. Eleven spousal dyads were divided into I/Me (n =5) and We/Us (n =6) groupings based on qualitative analyses completed as part of a larger project. Diagnosed individuals were given measures of cognitive and functional ability and caregivers completed anxiety, depression, burden, relationship satisfaction, and positive aspects of caregiving measures. We found no significant differences between groups on patient cognitive or functional ability, or caregiver anxiety, depression, burden, or relationship satisfaction. However, We/Us caregivers expressed mor...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - February 9, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
A critique of the Active Ageing Index
Publication date: January 2017 Source:Journal of Aging Studies, Volume 40 Author(s): José Manuel de São José, Virpi Timonen, Carla Alexandra Filipe Amado, Sérgio Pereira Santos Active ageing and successful ageing are ubiquitous concepts in contemporary societies. In the European Union, active ageing is monitored and promoted chiefly by the Active Ageing Index, a policy tool in use since 2012. We acknowledge that the AAI may contribute to sensitizing people, including policymakers, to the multidimensionality and complexity of the process of “ageing well”. However, we note that despite being widely used and pro...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - February 6, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Changing the culture of long-term care through narrative care: Individual, interpersonal, and institutional dimensions
Publication date: January 2017 Source:Journal of Aging Studies, Volume 40 Author(s): Feliciano Villar, Rodrigo Serrat Interest in the practice of narrative care with older adults is continuing to grow (Kenyon & Randall, 2015). Significant attention has been paid thus far to various formal interventions or programs that enhance the narrative development of individuals in later life by helping them to express and explore their unique life story. Comparatively little, however, has been paid to the many informal opportunities for practicing narrative care in long term settings that occur amidst everyday interperson...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - January 10, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
“Healthy to heaven” — Middle-agers looking ahead in the context of wellness consumption
Publication date: January 2017 Source:Journal of Aging Studies, Volume 40 Author(s): Veera Koskinen, Minna Ylilahti, Terhi-Anna Wilska Concentrating on personal health and well-being has become a central objective for people living in wealthy societies. In an age of consumerism, the current health enthusiasm can be observed particularly in the fast-growing wellness industry, the popularity of which has increased, in particular, among mature consumers, a trend also evident in people's individual strategies for aging well. As it is generally assumed that aging people consume wellness mainly to delay signs of aging, this...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - January 5, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Preserving personhood: The strategies of men negotiating the experience of dementia
This article draws upon qualitative research that included joint interviews with 14 men with dementia and their carers. The analytical focus is on the perspectives of the men with dementia and the strategies with which they respond to the condition. These perspectives are organised via four themes: remaining unmoved, fighting back, emphasising social contributions, and redefining services. This enables exploration of how men adopt particular strategies to preserve their own personhood, which include equable resilience, but also more agential measures to counter the influence of the condition. It is concluded that an approa...
Source: Journal of Aging Studies - January 2, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
