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This paper develops knowledge of the logistics of moving house amongst older people living in insecure housing. These people typically do not move once and settle into a new house, but face ongoing moves driven by factors including housing affordability, tenure conditions and eviction. The paper identifies four domains of experience faced by people undergoing cumulative, involuntary residential moves: the material (process of relocating oneself and possessions), economic (costs of moving house), embodied (physical experience) and affective (how relocation is experienced and felt). The logistics of relocation are examined through the experiences of single older women living in insecure housing in the greater Sydney region of Australia. The accounts of these women foreground the costs and challenges of insecure housing that are a consequence of relocation. Conceptually this work contributes to understandings of mobility-based disadvantage in older age through drawing out the ways that the logistics of moving house – of relocating oneself and possessions – contribute in distinct ways to mobility-based disadvantage through risks to identity and senses of home. Empirically it addresses gaps in gerontological and housing scholarship through developing knowledge of the logistics and experiences of ongoing, involuntary residential moves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older people have increasingly been using the new information and communication technologies (ICTs), namely the internet. Seeking to contribute with substantive information on their digital inclusion, this paper focuses on the adoption and use of ICTs by older adults, highlighting their experiences and considering their plurality. Taking a qualitative approach, the core goal of the empirical research underlying this paper was to understand what mechanisms and modalities configure the relationship of older internet users with the new ICTs. With that objective in mind, interviews were conducted with 20 internet users over the age of 60. Those interviews, which included a biographical element, were subjected to multi-categorical analysis. Results suggest a typology of modes of relating to the new ICTs among older internet users that reflects different trajectories, practices, skills, significances and impacts. The analysis shows how life trajectories and differentiated uses are reflected in equally differentiated impacts for older adults, contributing to their quality of life in different ways and to different degrees. Digital skills play a fundamental role in enhancing or limiting those effects. The results of this research help break down the stereotypes associated with the older generations and may have relevant implications for the design of digital inclusion policies and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Independent mobility is an important component of healthy ageing. Public transit may be an affordable way to achieve independent mobility, and yet little is known about older adults' transition to public transit. This paper addresses this research gap by providing an exploration of older adults' experiences transitioning to public transit use, and by comparing these experiences to those of older people who have always travelled using transit. Twenty-four older adults (65+) living in Hamilton, Canada, who use public transit completed semi-structured interviews during which they discussed their experiences when they first began to use transit. These experiences are framed herein with the concept self-efficacy, i.e. how one's belief in their ability to complete a task shapes their ability to complete said task. Results indicate that most older adults acquire skills to transition to public transit, such as trip planning, boarding, knowing where to sit and exiting the bus. These skills are developed through practice. As one gains experience, one becomes more confident in their ability to meet their daily travel needs using transit. Therefore, the transition to public transit as an older adult can be more challenging for those with little experience using public transit. This paper highlights the danger of assuming all older adults will effortlessly take up transit and stresses the importance of older adults gaining experience using public transit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has affected living standards around the world, and pandemic anxiety has changed social habits. In this context, this paper investigates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and quality of life, and assesses the mediating effect of loneliness on this relationship among a sample of older adults in Turkey. The study considers data from approximately 400 people, all of whom completed the CASP-19 Quality of Life Scale in Older People, the Loneliness Scale for the Elderly and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed to confirm a one-factor structure for each instrument. Subsequently, mediation analysis, correcting for age as a continuous covariate, was performed to assess the nature of the relationship between fear and quality of life, and the extent to which that relationship is mediated by loneliness. Our study showed that there is a negative and direct relationship between loneliness and quality of life. Another important finding of our research is that fear of COVID-19 has a significant effect on loneliness. Finally, loneliness mediates the relation between fear of COVID-19 and quality of life. This finding strongly suggests that fear of COVID-19 influences quality of life via loneliness. This result is noteworthy, as we could not find any similar finding in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the numerous challenges of ageing in a foreign land, many older immigrants are fairly resilient and report experiencing good wellbeing. The key question that the present paper addresses is how this is achieved. Drawing on frameworks from cross-cultural and social identity literatures, the present study proposes and tests a model of serial multiple mediation that identifies possible mechanisms supporting the wellbeing of older immigrants who have resided in the host country for some time. In this model, it is predicted that new group memberships acquired post-migration enable access to social support that in turn provides the basis for perceived integration, which enhances wellbeing. This model was tested in a survey study with 102 older people, whose mean age was 80.3 years and who had migrated to Australia from Asian, European, and Central and South American countries on average 36 years previously. The survey assessed cultural identity, social group memberships acquired post-migration, perceived social support, perceived integration and wellbeing. Results supported the hypothesised model, indicating that joining new heritage culture and wider groups in Australia post-migration provided a platform for social support and integration, which enhanced life satisfaction and reduced loneliness. The implications of these findings for theory and adapting successfully to both migration and ageing are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how care home managers in England conceptualised the approach to delivering personalised care in the homes they managed. We conducted interviews with care home managers and mapped the approaches they described on two distinct characterisations of personalised care prominent in the research and practitioner literature: the importance of close care relationships and the degree of resident choice and decision-making promoted by the care home. We derived three 'types' of personalised care in care homes. These conceptualise the care home as an 'institution', a 'family' and a 'hotel'. We have added a fourth type, the 'co-operative', to propose a type that merges proximate care relationships with an emphasis on resident choice and decision-making. We conclude that each approach involves trade-offs and that the 'family' model may be more suitable for people with advanced dementia, given its emphasis on relationships. While the presence of a range of diverse approaches to personalising care in a care home market may be desirable as a matter of choice, access to care homes in England is likely to be constrained by availability and cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen a growth in research on retirement/lifestyle migration to Spain, however this has tended to focus on the reasons for moving, as well as the lifestyles adopted as part of a healthy and active retirement. However, ageing in Spain can bring challenges as a person's resources for independent living diminish. This paper draws on narrative interviews with vulnerable older British people in Spain, focusing on those who have encountered a severe decline in health, are frail and in need of care. It looks at the formal and informal networks and agencies that support these individuals, in particular the resources and strategies they employ to access care. Drawing on a framework of care provision developed by Glucksmann and Lyons, four broad modes of provision for old age care used by older British people in Spain are identified: state/public, family/community, voluntary/not-for-profit and market/for-profit. The paper argues that there are language, cultural, spatial and financial barriers when accessing care in Spain as an older British citizen. It is concluded that there are some frail, vulnerable people that may fall through a support gap, whereby they are no longer the responsibility of UK welfare services, yet not fully recognised in their new country of residence, and asks if more should be done to support this population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

If interviews are to be considered embodied experiences, than the potential influence of the embodied researcher must be explored. A focus on specific attributes such as age or ethnicity belies the complex and negotiated space that both researcher and participant inhabit simultaneously. Drawing on empirical research with stroke survivors in an ethnically mixed area of Indonesia, this paper highlights the importance of considering embodiment as a specific methodological concern. Three specific interactions are described and analysed, illustrating the active nature of the embodied researcher in narrative production and development. The intersectionality of embodied features is evident, alongside their fluctuating influence in time and place. These interactions draw attention to the need to consider the researcher within the interview process and the subsequent analysis and presentation of narrative findings. The paper concludes with a reinforcement of the importance of ongoing and meaningful reflexivity in research, a need to consider the researcher as the other participant, and specifically a call to engage with and present the dynamic nature of embodiment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Relying on two unique data-sets on Chinese older immigrants (N = 3,157) and younger immigrants with ageing parents (N = 469) in Chicago, this study compared the level of filial expectation among the two groups and examined the predictors and mental health implications of having high filial expectation among each group. Results of t-tests, logistic regression and negative binominal analyses showed that, regardless of socio-demographic variables, acculturation, physical health and family relations, Chinese adult children had higher filial expectations on themselves than older immigrants' filial expectation on the younger generation. Chinese older immigrants who had less education, lower levels of acculturation, poorer health and closer relationships with children reported higher filial expectation. In the cohort of younger immigrants, high filial expectation was associated with lower income, better health and closer relations with their parents. In addition, having high filial expectation was associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety among the older immigrants, but not among the younger cohort. The results indicated that, whereas Chinese older immigrants seemed to adapt their filial expectation in the new society, the younger cohort still strongly adhere to this traditional family norm. Maintaining strong filial expectation might be a protective factor for older immigrants' mental health. Practice and policy implications of these findings are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ways in which older people's residential and nursing homes can constitute heteronormative environments – social spaces in which the same-sex attractions and desires of residents are disregarded in the provision of everyday care. The aim of this discussion is to examine the synergies and differences between older lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adults' expectations for future care home provision and the expectations of care staff and managers in providing residential services to older people with diverse sexual backgrounds. We present qualitative evidence from research into the provision of care environments in Wales. In this paper, we present findings from two cohorts: first, from five focus groups with care and nursing staff and managers; and second, from 29 semi-structured interviews with older LGB adults (50–76 years) residing in urban and rural locations across Wales. We argue that residential care environments can constitute heterosexualised spaces in which LGB identities are neglected in comparison to the needs and preferences of other residents. To this extent, we discuss how care staff and managers can be more attentive and responsive to the sexual biographies of all residents and argue against the separation of care and sexual orientation in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As populations age, increased focus is given to the importance of enabling older people to age in place. The study reported in this paper explored the extent to which older people considered their homes and neighbourhoods to be ‘supportive’, and sought to increase understanding of the needs and experiences of older people and their expectations of future housing needs. This paper reports qualitative data from the Housing and Independent Living (HAIL) study carried out in Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 202 community-dwelling people aged 75–79 years. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed using computer-assisted qualitative analysis and a narrative approach to identify broad themes. Thematic analysis was used to examine and understand how occupants subjectively viewed their homes, and how they planned to adapt/modify either their activities or homes to accommodate changing needs. Six key themes emerged, namely housing choice, attachment to place, financial issues, changes to the home over time, transport, and anticipating the future. In this study, people who most strongly identified with and felt connected to their neighbours/communities had more positive perceptions of their homes and communities, and may be better able to remain in their home despite increasing disability or frailty. Housing policies and home and urban design should ensure home and neighbourhood environments are safe, accessible, promote positive associations, and are adaptable to facilitate independence and accommodate change as people age. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Access to economic resources influences the material conditions of life for older people, as well as the freedoms and capacities of older people to achieve the kind of lives they value. Security is one aspect of later life valued by older people. Ontological security provides a sense of order and continuity and needs to be understood in terms of the situated life experiences and circumstances of older people. The study reported in this paper analysed 145 qualitative interviews with New Zealanders aged 63–93 in order to explore how participants understand ontological security. Varying levels of access to economic resources were associated with differing abilities of participants to manage the unpredictability of everyday life. Among the wealthy, security was strongly connected to the freedoms provided by ample financial resources. Contrary to what might be expected, those with the lowest levels of economic resources did not express higher levels of insecurity, but instead drew upon life experiences of managing and making do to construct a trajectory of security. Those with mid-range levels of economic resources expressed most insecurity, including anxiety over changing economic conditions and concerns over their ability to manage reductions in economic resources. In discussing the implications of this, the paper highlights the need to recognise ways in which access to economic resources intersect with life circumstances, past experiences and future social expectations to provide opportunities for all older people to pursue security as they strive to age well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many older women experience the loss of a spouse or partner in later life. This paper explores older women's experiences of Christmas in order to locate process and meaning in relation to the transition of later life widowhood. Drawing on longitudinal data, derived from three in-depth interviews conducted over 18 months with 26 older widows, this paper presents a number of themes from the women's accounts of their Christmas celebrations and their Christmas cards. The importance of continuity, social relations and autonomy is situated in three emergent themes: ‘Family, intergenerational ties and tradition’, ‘Friendships, organisational ties and reciprocity’ and ‘Personal continuity and activation’. The significance of discontinuity, change and mediation is illustrated through three emergent themes: ‘Christmas as a catalyst for change’, ‘We are all widows’ and ‘Negotiating change with others’. The findings, including the positive aspects of continuity and discontinuity, demonstrate that Christmas is a potent symbol of both personal and social transformation during later life widowhood, and that the management of transition incorporates not only social relations, but also personal agency and flexibility. This paper further challenges the predominantly negative stereotype of older widows and illustrates their resilience and growth in the later stages of life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The promotion of choice and control for older people is a policy priority for social care services in the United Kingdom and is at the heart of recent drives to personalise services. Increasingly, we are seeing a move away from institutionalised care (e.g. in care homes) towards enablement, with more services being delivered in community-based settings. Extra care housing has been promoted as a purpose-built, community-based alternative to residential care for older people. However, whilst accounts of users' experiences in particular service types are plentiful, the use of different instrumentation and measures makes comparison between settings difficult. We combined data from four studies where participants were older people either living in care homes or extra care housing or receiving care at home. All of these studies asked participants to rate their control over daily life, using the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT). This paper presents the results of an ordinal logistic regression analysis indicating that, after controlling for differences in age, ability to perform activities of daily living and self-rated health, setting had a significant effect on older people's sense of control. Residents in care homes and extra care housing report similar levels of control over daily life but consistently report feeling more in control than older people receiving care at home. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dignity is a universally important issue for all people, and particularly vital for older adults who face multiple losses associated with ageing. In the United States of America and beyond, the maintenance of dignity is a key aim of policy and service provision for older people. Yet surprisingly little research has been conducted into the meaning of dignity to community-based older adults in the context of everyday life. As life expectancy continues to increase worldwide, unprecedented numbers of people are living longer than ever before. The majority of older adults will face declining health and other factors that may impact dignity in the course of ageing in their communities. This paper reports on a study that explored older people's understandings and experiences of dignity through focus groups and a survey. Three key components of dignity are identified: autonomy, relational and self-identity. In addition, the paper discusses a range of factors that can facilitate or inhibit a sense of dignity for older people, including long-term health issues, sensory deficits and resilience to life events. Finally, the implications of these findings for policy and practice are considered in the context of American social structures and values. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The concept of social capital is widely used in the social sciences and has, to an extent, been applied to the lives and social networks of older lesbian, gay and bisexual (hereafter LGB) adults. Developing existing research, this paper argues that while not without its problems, the concept of social capital enriches our understanding of these networks, whilst simultaneously deconstructing the negative stereotypes surrounding homosexuality in later life. However, little attention has been paid to the social factors that mediate access and participation in lesbian and gay communities and the implications of this on the quality and experience of later life. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in the United Kingdom, this paper illustrates how biography, gender and socio-economic status are significant mediators in the development and maintenance of social capital by older LGB adults. It concludes with a set of recommendations aimed at improving the social capital of older LGB adults, together with the importance of ‘queering’ the concept itself. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Migrant care workers make a substantial contribution to older adult care in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK). However, little is known about the relational aspects of care involving migrant care workers and older people. Given that the care relationship is closely linked to quality of care, and that the Irish and UK sectors are increasingly restricted by economic austerity measures, this lack of information is a concern for care practice and policy. Our paper explores the relationship between migrant care workers and older people in Ireland and the UK and draws on data collected in both countries, including focus groups with older people (N = 41), interviews with migrant care workers (N = 90) and data from a survey of and interviews with employers. The findings illustrate the complexity of the migrant care worker–older person relationship; the prevalence of need orientated, friendship and familial-like, reciprocal, and discriminatory interlinking themes; and the role of individual, structural and temporal factors in shaping these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper assesses provision for older people affected by homelessness in England, giving regard to research findings, such as those developed through a pathways model, which show that the experiences of this group are qualitatively distinct when compared to younger households. Current conceptualisations of older age held by Local Authority Housing Option Service professionals are considered, alongside factors relating to government policy and resource issues. It was found that some practitioners adopted an age-blind approach when assessing older groups, despite this being contrary to policy guidance on assessing vulnerability in England. Further, services and housing options aimed at older groups were viewed as inadequate due to a mixture of lack of awareness, targeting and resources. It is concluded that assessment of vulnerability based on older age is complex, as whilst gerontological discourse may discourage viewing age as a number, homelessness scholars stress that rooflessness causes poor health conditions consistent with premature ageing. It is therefore asserted that policy makers must focus greater attention to developing suitable provision for older service users and look to incorporate a richer conceptualisation of how older age may impact upon the homelessness experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines some demographic and medical factors associated with the likelihood of residing in a care home during the last month of life for persons aged 70 and over in France and, if so, of remaining in the care home throughout or being transferred to hospital. The data are from the Fin de vie en France (End of Life in France) survey undertaken in 2010. During the last month of life, very old people are more likely to be living in a care home but are not less likely to be transferred to hospital. Medical conditions and residential trajectories are closely related. People with dementia or mental disorders are more likely to live in a care home and, if so, to stay there until they die. Compared to care homes, a more technical and medication-based approach is taken in hospitals and care home residents who are transferred to hospital more often receive medication while those remaining in care homes more often receive support from a psychologist. In hospitals as in care homes, few older persons had recourse to advance directives and hospice programmes were not widespread. Promoting these two factors may help to increase the quality of end of life and facilitate an ethical approach to end-of-life care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With demographic changes and the growing numbers of older people living alone, concerns have been raised about the care of the ageing population. Increasingly, developments in technology are being seen as the solution to these concerns. For those who do not see themselves as old or frail enough to require personal care provision, and who prefer to maintain their identity as autonomous and independent individuals, the development of assistive technologies such as ambient home monitoring systems is one answer. However, this involves careful negotiations with older people's understandings of safety and privacy, and their experiences and relationships with technology, their carers and relevant service-providers. In two trials of a home monitoring system funded by the United Kingdom Technology Strategy Board, older people were interviewed pre-trial and post-trial about their perspectives on these issues. This paper presents a conceptual analysis of the qualitative data using a sociological framework of trust that considers habitual action, and relationships with kin and with wider institutions. The research found that older people's habits and norms do not need to be disrupted by the ambient system. What was of more importance was relationships between the older person and her or his ‘monitor’ based on trust, as well as institutional providers who need to instil or earn trust. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contemporary Western social policy encourages older adults to maintain independence in the community. Socio-cultural norms of independence have recently become associated with successful ageing. Personal autonomy and self-responsibility are cultural markers by which older adults increasingly define their lives and identity. Many older adults seek to remain independent within their communities, while coping with age-related decline, and living alone with decreased social connectedness. These characteristics have also been associated with personal and social vulnerability and explain why older adults are at higher risk of experiencing disproportionate negative outcomes during disasters. This paper describes findings from narrative interviews with a sample of independent community-dwelling New Zealand older adults. The interviews sought to explore their views about disaster preparedness. However, within their accounts was a collective and bigger story about personal preparedness, and social relationships in later life, which extended beyond the context of preparing for a future disaster event. Older adults identified age-specific preparedness as a way to maintain independence in the everyday context of their lives. Concerns about health influenced their choices and actions as they evaluated and prioritised goals and strategies to maintain independence and wellbeing. Social relationships were also considered an important resource to support independence. Understanding the role of preparedness in the everyday lives of older adults has implications for improving the disproportionate negative outcomes this vulnerable age group can experience during a disaster. Therefore, health, gerontology and emergency management have much in common when considering older adults' preparedness during non-disaster times. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Worldwide, populations are ageing and consequently so are the consumer profiles for most organisations. Understanding how best to ensure satisfaction in interactions with older customers, patients, members of organisations, and so on is therefore increasingly important. This paper examines two research questions: (a) How satisfied or dissatisfied are older people with their customer service experience, and what are the factors associated with dissatisfaction? and (b) What prompts older people to want to change service providers? The research questions are addressed using a mixed-methods approach – quantitative analysis of observation logs, supported by illustrative quotes from focus groups. We find that on the whole older people are generally satisfied with their interactions with organisations, although a substantial minority of interactions lead to dissatisfaction or lower-than-expected satisfaction. Dissatisfaction with interactions is mostly associated with impersonal communications, including interactions that are not conducted face to face, and those that are one-off interactions rather than repeated interactions. Media and communications firms prompted the greatest levels of dissatisfaction among older consumers. Dissatisfied older consumers from our sample are more than 12 times more likely to report an intention to switch providers than satisfied consumers. This highlights the potential costs to organisations of poor customer interactions with older people. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The impact of disparities in socio-economic status on the health of older people is an important issue for policy makers in the context of population ageing. As older people live in different types of economic circumstances and because, as people age, their desires and needs are different to those of younger generations, measures of living standards need to be appropriate for older people. This paper reports on the validation of a measure of living standards for older people based on Sen's Capability Approach. Using this approach, living standards are conceptualised as varying from constraint to freedom rather than from hardship to comfort. Using the New Zealand Longitudinal Study of Ageing omnibus survey of 3,923 adults aged 50–87 years, the validity of the measure was assessed. The results indicate that this measure assesses what older people are able to achieve. In addition, this measure discriminates better at the higher end of the living standards spectrum than an existing measure that assesses living standards from hardship to comfort in terms of what people possess. From this, a short form of the measure has been developed which offers a conceptually based and valid measure useful for survey research with older people. This measure of living standards provides future avenues for improved understandings of socio-economic position in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Organisational culture of institutions providing care for older people is increasingly recognised as influential in the quality of care provided. There is little research, however, that specifically examines the processes of care home culture and how these may be associated with quality of care. In this paper we draw from an empirical study carried out in the United Kingdom (UK) investigating the relationship between care home culture and residents' experience of care. Eleven UK care homes were included in an in-depth comparative case study design using extensive observation and interviews. Our analysis indicates how organisational cultures of care homes impact on the quality of care residents receive. Seven inter-related cultural elements were of key importance to quality of care. Applying Schein's conceptualisation of organisational culture, we examine the dynamic relationship between these elements to show how organisational culture is locally produced and shifting. A particular organisational culture in a care home cannot be achieved simply by importing a set of organisational values or the ‘right’ leader or staff. Rather, it is necessary to find ways of resolving the everyday demands of practice in ways that are consistent with espoused values. It is through this everyday practice that assumptions continuously evolve, either consistent with or divergent from, espoused values. Implications for policy makers, providers and practitioners are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Improving responsiveness to the needs of older people from minority ethnic communities has been emphasised as a goal in England since the publication of the National Service Framework for Older People in 2001. Despite this, people from minority ethnic groups consistently give poorer ratings of their health services than ‘majority’ populations, both in England and across many other health-care systems. Language barriers have been shown to play a particularly important role, and appear to be a stronger predictor of perceived quality of care than ethnic origin per se. This paper reports findings from a larger study exploring older people's experiences of care transitions, focusing on the findings from one case study area which explored the hospital and discharge experiences of older people from minority ethnic communities. A participatory approach was adopted, with older people from the local area collaborating in the design, delivery and analysis of the research as ‘co-researchers’. Twenty-four in-depth narrative interviews were carried out with people who had experienced a recent hospital stay as a patient or a family member providing care and support. Our findings show that many aspects of the hospital experience, including the desire for personalised and humanistic approaches to care, are important to older people irrespective of ethnic background. However, older people from minority ethnic communities can also face language and cultural barriers which negatively affect the quality and experience of care. People who had limited English proficiency struggled to understand, communicate and participate in their care. Where professional services were not available or requested, interpreting was provided informally by other patients, family members, hospital staff in clinical and domestic roles, or not at all. We conclude that targeted strategies are required to ensure appropriate and effective hospital services for a multicultural population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Second couplehood in old age is a growing phenomenon alongside increases in life expectancy. Lately, a shift has occurred in that individual diversity of ageing is perceived to depend on the physical and social contexts in which older persons experience change. Thus, the purpose of the study on which this paper reports was to examine second couplehood in the context of old age and old age in the context of second couplehood using an existential-phenomenological theoretical orientation. Twenty couples were recruited using criterion-sampling: men aged 65+ and women aged 60+, with children and grandchildren from a lifelong marriage that had ended in widowhood or divorce, living in second couplehood – married or not – in separate houses or co-habitating. Forty individual semi-structured interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed according to phenomenological tradition. Five sub-themes emerged, demonstrating couplehood and old age intertwining: (a) enjoying life while still possible; (b) living with health-related issues; (c) relationships with adult children: autonomy versus dependency; (d) loneliness: living as a couple is better than living alone; (e) self-image: feeling young–feeling old. Findings support the existence of positive and negative aspects of old age. Our discussion suggests the need to replace perceptions of old age as either a negative burden or a positive asset towards a period of balancing between gains and losses. Furthermore, we acknowledge the role of second couplehood in older peoples’ wellbeing on the personal–micro level through love, the familial–mezzo level through care-giving and the social–macro level by reducing prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ageing is going to be a major problem in Bangladesh given its population size, scarce resources, existing poverty, insufficient health facilities and lack of a social security system. This paper examines how many years older people expect to be in good health, and what are the correlates of self-rated health (SRH). The data used in this study come from 896 older people aged 60 years and above from Rajshahi district in Bangladesh and from United Nations’ projected population figures. Results show that individuals at age 60 expected about 41 per cent of their remaining life to be in good health, while individuals at age 80 expected only 21 per cent of their remaining life to be in good health. Having exercised during the six months prior to the survey was the single most important correlate of SRH (odds ratio=5.49; confidence interval 4.03–7.47; without any adjustment). While rural–urban differentials and some health decline in old age are inevitable, four factors (exercise behaviour, sufficiency of income, physical limitations and facing abusive behaviour) are to a certain extent modifiable and therefore provide the potential for improving SRH and healthy life expectancy in Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the relationships between self-reported loneliness and living arrangements. A structured questionnaire with some open-ended questions was administered face-to-face in English, Hindi or Punjabi to a sample of 161 elderly South Asian immigrants 60 or more years of age living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2003. The majority of respondents said that they never felt lonely. More than one in three (37.3%) respondents indicated that they felt lonely occasionally, frequently or all of the time. Those living alone were significantly more likely to report feeling lonely at least occasionally than were those living with others, especially those living with their spouse in an extended family. The fact that South Asian immigrant seniors typically lived with others, often in an extended family with or without their spouse, and rarely lived alone protected them to some extent from loneliness. However, our findings showed that among those living with others, it was the amount of waking time spent alone at home and the quality of family relationships rather than living arrangement per se that significantly predicted self-reported loneliness. Nevertheless, living in a larger household was associated with spending less time alone. We discuss plausible influences of culture on expectations regarding family and social relationships and on the meaning of being alone, as well as practical implications for addressing loneliness in a multi-cultural society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the World Health Organization introduced the concept of ‘age-friendly’ communities in 2006, there has been rapidly growing interest in making communities more age-friendly on the part of policy makers world-wide. There is a paucity of research to date, however, that has examined age-friendliness in diverse communities, particularly in rural communities. The main objective of the study reported in this paper was to examine whether age-friendliness varies across community characteristics, such as a population size. The study was based on surveys administered in 56 communities throughout Manitoba, a mid-Western Canadian province, in the context of a needs assessment process for communities that are part of the Age-Friendly Manitoba Initiative. A total of 1,373 individuals completed a survey developed to measure age-friendliness. Domains included the physical environment; housing options; the social environment; opportunities for participation; community supports and health-care services; transportation options; and communication and information. Community characteristics were derived from census data. Multi-level regression analysis indicated that the higher the percentage of residents aged 65 or older, the higher the ratings of age-friendliness overall and, specifically, ratings of the social environment, opportunities for participation, and communication and information. Moreover, small communities located within a census metropolitan area and remote communities in the far north of the province emerged as having the lowest age-friendliness ratings. These findings suggest that communities are generally responsive to the needs of their older residents. That different results were obtained for the various age-friendly domains underscores the importance of considering age-friendliness in a holistic way and measuring it in terms of a range of community features. Our study further highlights the importance of differentiating between degrees of rurality, as different patterns emerged for communities of different sizes and proximity to a larger urban centre. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines how care-giving to adults and/or children and care-receiving is associated with the health and wellbeing of older people aged 50+ in rural South Africa. Data used are from a cross-sectional survey adapted from World Health Organization's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in 2009/10 in rural South Africa. Bivariate statistics and multivariate logistical regression were used to assess the relationship between care-giving and/or care-receiving with functional disability, quality of life or emotional wellbeing, and self-rated health status, adjusted for socio-demographic factors. Sixty-three per cent of 422 older people were care-givers to at least one young adult or child; 27 per cent of older people were care-givers due to HIV-related reasons in young adults; 84 per cent of participants were care-recipients mainly from adult children, grandchildren and spouse. In logistic regressions adjusting for sex, age, marital status, education, receipt of grants, household headship, household wealth and HIV status, care-giving was statistically significantly associated with good functional ability as measured by ability to perform activities of daily living. This relationship was stronger for older people providing care-giving to adults than to children. In contrast, care-givers were less likely to report good emotional wellbeing; again the relationship was stronger for care-givers to adults than children. Simultaneous care-giving and -receiving was likewise associated with good functional ability, but about a 47 per cent lower chance of good emotional wellbeing. Participants who were HIV-infected were more likely to be in better health but less likely to be receiving care than those who were HIV-affected. Our findings suggest a strong relationship between care-giving and poor emotional wellbeing via an economic or psychological stressor pathway. Interventions that improve older people's socio-economic circumstances and reduce financial hardship as well as those that provide social support would go some way towards mitigating this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Population ageing occurs in all industrialised societies and is the demographic phenomenon that currently gets the highest attention from scientists, policy makers and the general public. The main aim of this paper is to broaden our understanding of its societal consequences, such as ageism and intergenerational solidarity. Our study is based on the 2008 investigation of attitudes towards population ageing and older people in seven European countries of Schoenmaeckers et al. We replicate their analysis in a specific human subpopulation in which the process of population ageing started earlier and is much more advanced than in the general societies: the members of Catholic orders. The study compares the attitudes of 148 nuns and monks from three Bavarian monasteries to those of the western German general population using descriptive and multivariate analyses in the context of the debate around population ageing in Germany. We discuss the specific characteristics of order members that might influence their attitudes and also take a brief look at their views on possible political strategies to solve the problems connected with the demographic changes. Our results confirm the findings of Schoenmaeckers et al. and reveal that worldly and monastic populations show an identical basic pattern of a positive attitude towards older people while at the same time considering population ageing a worrisome development. However, order members evaluate older people's abilities and their role in society more positively. This result gives rise to the optimistic perspective that in an aged population the younger and older generations can build a well-functioning society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on the study of a subsidy programme that was established in Quebec for alternate housing models (AHMs), which allows private and community organisations to offer housing services within the framework of a partnership with public health-care services. The research objectives were: (a) to compare how facility characteristics and services provided by AHMs and nursing homes (NHs) differ; (b) to examine the personal characteristics of residents living in AHMs; and (c) to compare residents with similar characteristics within AHMs and NHs in terms of unmet needs, quality of care, satisfaction with care and services, and psycho-social adaptation to the residence. A cross-sectional study was undertaken with individually matched groups to assess whether AHMs meet the needs of elders in a way similar to NHs. Overall, residents in both groups had moderate to severe levels of disability and about 60 per cent had mild to severe cognitive problems. While their general features were heterogeneous, the AHMs were more comfortable and homelike than the NHs. The quality of and satisfaction with care was appropriate in both settings, although AHMs performed better. Only one-quarter of residents in both settings, however, evidenced a good level of psycho-social adaptation to their residence. This partnership approach is a good strategy to provide a useful range of housing types in communities that can respond to the needs of elders with moderate to severe disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Retirement is an event that often brings about great changes in a person's personal and social life. For many people, work is not only a way to fill time and earn money, but also important for their identity and meaning in life. After retirement, these benefits of work are lost, and it is expected that people will seek substitutes for this loss. This paper focuses on the effects of retirement on informal civic activities such as the support given to family and friends as well as more formal types such as volunteering and organisational involvement. Using two waves from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, a conditional change model is employed. Two groups are compared: men and women who kept working, and men and women who retired. Results show that following retirement, people appear to change the nature of some relationships by providing more instrumental support. Furthermore, retirees seem to start spending more time volunteering after retirement, and they increase their organisational memberships. Implications, strengths and limitations of the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Maintaining quality of life and wellbeing into advanced age is a major challenge to societies. Driving is one factor contributing to an ageing individual's independence. Understanding antecedents of driving-related self-regulation is important for designing interventions to preserve safe driving in old age. This paper reports on a study that investigated factors associated with two forms of self-regulation in driving (SRD) – avoidance of difficult driving conditions and voluntary cessation of driving – in a sample of 860 Israeli drivers aged 70 and over. We examined roles of health, vision, driving experience, driving-related self-efficacy (DRSE) and global self-esteem in SRD. Health and DRSE had direct effects on SRD, and effects of vision and driving experience were mediated by DRSE. Participants who had ceased driving were older, with poorer vision and health, and less driving confidence and experience than active drivers. Statistical analyses demonstrated that SRD is affected by a reduced sense of confidence due to an initial lower level of driving experience, compounded by deteriorating vision, and that older drivers are sensitive to factors affecting their ability to drive safely. Our results demonstrate that older drivers tend to self-regulate their driving. Programmes for older adults can be introduced for diagnosing driving capabilities, improving skills and confidence, and/or helping to develop self-regulation habits of avoiding driving in difficult conditions, and assisting drivers who must adjust to driving cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines how older adults living in rural Malawi explain and understand their sex lives. We present sex in this setting as a field in which broader understandings of ageing, aged identities, and conceptions of person- or adulthood in older age are played out and constructed. Qualitative data were collected from men (N=20) and women (N=23) aged 50 to around 90 using in-depth multiple dependent interviews (N=135) between 2008 and 2010. The giving and receipt of sexual pleasure was considered natural and God-given. Primarily understood as a matter of ‘power’, sex was on the one hand, beneficial to older bodies, but on the other, not accessible to such bodies. Declining sexual frequency was associated with declining desire for sex, or frustration stemming from continued desire for sex. These discourses emerged from the way the ageing body was constructed as a weakened body, incompatible with understandings of adulthood based on physical productivity. Older men and women used sex to discursively respond to these challenges to their adulthood in two ways. Firstly, sex was used to confirm strength, physical productivity, and therefore, identity as an ‘adult’. Secondly, adulthood itself was redefined as being based on moral, rather than physical productivity, and refraining from sex was used to demonstrate wisdom, self-control and therefore their ‘adult’ identity. Our results provide in-depth understanding of the ways constructions of ageing and sex can influence complex experiences of marital and non-marital sex in older age. We contribute to debates on sexuality in the gerontological literature by moving discussion beyond the presentation of continued sexuality as somehow exceptional or an indicator of successful ageing. Finally, in a setting of considerable HIV prevalence at older ages, our results challenge a preoccupation with fertility and chronological age in the collection of sexual health data in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In an increasingly ageing society, its older members are receiving considerable political and policy attention. However, much remains to be learnt about public perceptions of older age, particularly the views and experiences of older individuals themselves. Drawing on qualitative interviews carried out with members of two British cohorts (N = 60) who have reached the ‘third age’, this paper discusses perceptions of age, focusing particularly on how perceived advantages and disadvantages differ by respondents' self-reported physical capability. The interviews were carried out in 2010 as part of the HALCyon (Healthy Ageing across the Life Course) collaborative research programme. Findings suggest there is some difference in the way older people view aspects of ageing by capability and that although advantages are widely perceived, physical decline and associated health concerns were the overwhelming theme across the conversations. The article concludes by making tentative suggestions to inform the positive ageing agenda and its related policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines differences in work restrictions of midlife family carers of older people in terms of prevalence, gender and explanatory variables, in six European countries: Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A sample of 2,897 carers aged 45–64 was extracted from the EUROFAMCARE (Services for Supporting Family Carers of Older People in Europe: Characteristics, Coverage and Usage) European project database, in order to analyse four possible work restrictions experienced in connection with the activity of care-giving: the reduction of working hours; giving up working; difficulties in career developments and forced occasional work. The results show that work restrictions are experienced differently between countries especially by women: they are reported to a higher degree in the United Kingdom, Germany and Greece, less so in Italy, and seldom in Poland and Sweden. Gender differences within countries are not so marked. Country differences are explained in the light of the different welfare regimes characterising the countries under investigation, in order to elucidate how policy makers may act to improve working carers' conditions through appropriate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines how the relationships between the factors (predisposing, enabling and illness) of the 1973 Andersen framework and service use are influenced by changes in the caring role in older women of the 1921–26 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Outcome variables were the use of three formal community support services: (a) nursing or community health services, (b) home-making services and (c) home maintenance services. Predictor variables were survey wave and the following carer characteristics: level of education, country of birth, age, area of residence, ability to manage on income, need for care, sleep difficulty and changes in caring role. Carer changes were a significant predictor of formal service use. Their inclusion did not attenuate the relationship between the Andersen framework factors and service use, but instead provided a more complete representation of carers' situations. Women were more likely to have used support services if they had changed into or out of co-resident caring or continued to provide co-resident care for a frail, ill or disabled person, needed care themselves, and reported sleep difficulties compared with women who did not provide care. These findings are important because they indicate that support services are particularly relevant to women who are changing their caring role and who are themselves in need of care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Staying socially engaged is known to improve health and longevity in older people. As the population ages, maintaining levels of social engagement among older people becomes increasingly important. Nevertheless, advancing age brings with it many challenges to social engagement, especially in rural areas. A three-year Australian Research Council Linkage Project sought to improve understandings of age-related triggers to social disengagement in six Tasmanian communities that are representative of rural Australian experience, and thus of wider salience. A collaboration between academics and health and social professionals, the project investigated design solutions for service frameworks that may be useful before ageing individuals become isolated and dependent, and that may support those individuals to actively contribute to and benefit from social life. The purpose of this paper is to report on perspectives about diminishing levels of social engagement held by older rural participants and service providers, and to advance a number of key insights on ways in which to nurture social engagement and improve the experience of ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

At any time of the year, and particularly in the colder months of the southern part of the Australian continent, many caravans and mobile homes can be seen on the roads of northern Australia, and Queensland, in particular. Mainly during June, July, August and September, Grey Nomads frequent the northern half of Australia, to escape the colder climate of southern Australia. The term Grey Nomad is applied to the section of the older Australian population who use their retirement years as a time to experience travel once freed from the constraints of work and family commitments. This paper draws on research conducted about the health and social needs of Grey Nomads holidaying in a Central Queensland, Australia, coastal location. Open-ended, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 20 participants. Contingency plans concerning wellness, wellbeing and medical conditions all formed a part of the Grey Nomads’ daily existence while travelling. Many important and lasting friendships and social support networks were formed during the journeying and sojourning phases of the travel. Many of the Grey Nomads interviewed felt the need to keep in contact with home, even though they willingly chose to leave it, and to be ‘away’. Just as the Grey Nomad cohort have concerns and solutions about their health and related issues, so too, they have concerns for social networks and family connectedness while travelling in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Day care centres intend to improve the quality of life of disabled older adults. The aims of the paper are to: (a) examine the extent to which users of day care centres experience higher levels of quality of life compared to their peers who are non-users; and (b) to explore the relationships between the length of use and frequency of weekly attendance at day care centres and quality of life. This is a case-control study with a sample of 817 respondents, of whom 417 were users of day care centres and 400 were non-users, matched by age, gender and family physician. The study was conducted in 12 day care centres in the southern region of Israel. Data collection included face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Quality of life was found to be significantly related to the use of day care centres, but length and frequency of attendance were insignificant in explaining quality of life among users of day care centres. The study demonstrated that users of day care centres have a higher quality of life, but in a cross-sectional study we cannot prove causality. Therefore, more research using quasi-experimental and longitudinal research designs is necessary to assess causality between use and attendance at day care centres on users' quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The tradition of intergenerational care and support exchanges in Indian families is assumed to be disturbed because of changes in family structure brought on by modern life, which is mainly based on studies investigating experiences of older adults regarding the impact of socio-economic change on their care arrangement. However, there is a large gap in understanding the experiences of adult children from a larger relational perspective, more than just care provision to their older relatives. Drawing on 26 in-depth interviews with adult children living in modern and traditional living arrangements from South India, the study explores their experiences with their parents with regard to reciprocity of care and support, the challenges they experience and strategies they adopt to overcome those challenges. The analysis shows adult children perceive the increased demands of modern work life and their older kin's preferences to be heard, lack of flexibility and related extra domestic work and costs, do cause a bigger burden for them in both living arrangements. However, adult children strive to uphold the traditional values of caring for their older kin and sharing emotional bonding with them. This inspiration helps them to employ strategies to accept their older relatives as they are, focus their attention on the benefits they receive from them and distribute care tasks with other relatives to overcome the challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the gerotranscendence process, marital satisfaction becomes especially important in old age. At the same time, researchers emphasise that the effect of seniors' personality on their marital satisfaction depends on many mediators. The analysis of literature suggests that one such variable might be forgiveness. Thus, the aim of the present research was to investigate whether forgiveness mediates the relationship between personality traits and marital satisfaction in late adulthood. The study involved 315 participants aged 60–75. Three psychological methods were used: (a) the Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire for Older Persons; (b) the NEO-Five Factor Inventory; and (c) the Marital Offence-Specific Forgiveness Scale. The analyses that have been undertaken revealed a number of significant associations. Neuroticism was positively related to resentment-avoidance and negatively to benevolence and marital satisfaction, whereas extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness were negatively correlated with resentment and positively with benevolence and satisfaction. The results also showed that both dimensions of dyadic forgiveness mediated the relationships between personality traits and marital satisfaction in ageing persons. They suggest that forgiveness of a spouse, when enhanced, could work as a buffer against the negative impact of neuroticism on marital happiness, as well as allowing the transfer of positive aspects of extraverted, agreeable and conscientious tendencies into marriage. Practical implications of the study for counselling older adults are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amount of financial debt held by older adults has grown substantially over the past two decades in Europe. This study examines the association of objective and subjective debt burden with social and emotional loneliness among 1,606 older adults in the Netherlands. Objective debt burden is based on financial terms, such as debt-to-income ratio; whereas subjective debt burden measures the psychological distress caused by financial debt. Data are from the 2015/2016 wave of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. First, we use means-comparison tests to examine whether older adults who experience social and emotional loneliness differ from older adults who do not experience loneliness regarding their subjective and objective debt burdens. Subsequently, using linear regression models we address two questions: whether social loneliness and emotional loneliness are associated with objective and subjective debt burden; and whether social participation, social network size, anxiety and depression mediate these relationships. We find that subjective debt burden (i.e. the worry related to debt) is a significant predictor of social loneliness, above and beyond the role of social and psychological measures. Objective debt burden, in contrast, is unrelated to social and emotional loneliness. Social participation, social network size, anxiety and depression do not mediate the debt-burden-to-loneliness relationships. The results point to the importance of subjective debt burden in understanding social loneliness and designing interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community mobility using private and public transportation is important for maintaining health, social participation and living well in later life. This international cross-sectional cohort study (N = 246) reported on the health and driving status of older adults from seven countries where the mobility patterns of drivers and non-drivers were compared in terms of city and rural areas, weather, as well as their respective differences in the number of out-of-home places accessed and quality of life. Older adults participated in a semi-structured interview and completed four standardised instruments: the EQ-5D-5L, modified PULSES health profile, modified Transportation Questionnaire, and the Transport – Participation in Activities and Places Outside the Home. Results suggested inclement weather and place of residence negatively impacted out-of-home activities but did not increase use of public transportation. Drivers accessed more out-of-home activities than non-drivers, suggesting higher community participation among this group, and quality of life was generally high among all participants, but slightly higher for drivers. Findings indicate that a complex myriad of factors can influence community mobility in older adults and further investigations are needed to understand patterns of transport in later life, particularly with regard to those factors that promote and maintain transport mobility, and relationships between transport mobility, community participation and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mainland China, as the population ages, Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) is estimated to increase among Chinese older adults. Chinese older adults tend to hold stigmatising beliefs about ADRD that in turn affect their help-seeking behaviour and receipt of prevention and treatment. The Framework Integrating Normative Influences on Stigma provides a rationale for Chinese older adult's stigma about ADRD. Questionnaires were administered in person to 754 older adults (42% male, mean age = 69.54 years) from two urban communities in mainland China. We examined ADRD stigma and the associations with real-life exposure, knowledge of ADRD, health conditions and social networks. This study found that Chinese older adults who had good family quality, lower depression (as measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) and better cognitive health (as measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment) were more likely to have lower perceived stigma. Conversely, those individuals who experienced neglect and had more ADRD knowledge exhibited higher levels of perceived stigma. Social networks moderated the associations between cognitive scores and perceived stigma. This research suggested that the quality of one's social networks is essential to reduce perceived stigma among Chinese older adults. Future research should continue to explore ADRD stigma among Chinese older adults to help guide relevant interventions, services and supports for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that mobility and the ability to leave the home are among the essential aspects of older people's quality of life. However, surveys of older people's access to transport resources and the impact of mobility on welfare and wellbeing are few. Many previous studies are based on small samples or qualitative data. The questions addressed in this paper are how transport resources are distributed among different groups of older people, to which degree the transport needs of these groups are met and how this is related to their wellbeing. The empirical analysis is based on a Norwegian nationwide survey among 4,723 respondents 65 years and older. The respondents were asked about their access to transport resources, both private and public, health problems connected to use of transport modes, their daily activities and mobility, their uncovered transport needs and the importance of different activities for their life quality. The analysis reveals great differences between groups; especially between men and women, but also between different age groups and by different place of living. The special transport offered by the local authorities is seen as insufficient, and with increasing age a great deal of older people have low mobility and an uncovered transport need that reduces their life quality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Previous research shows the benefits of volunteerism to individuals and communities. The purpose of this study was to determine whether lower perceived neighbourhood safety is associated with reduced volunteerism and whether this association differs by sex. Data from the 2008 Health and Retirement Study in the United States of America were used (N = 13,009 adults 60 years and older). Multivariate logistic regression models were estimated to assess the association between perceived neighbourhood safety and volunteerism while controlling for potential confounders. Perceived neighbourhood safety was associated with volunteering. The odds of volunteering were higher for those rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as excellent compared with those rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as fair/poor. Those rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as very good also had greater odds of volunteering than those rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as fair/poor. Results differed somewhat by gender. Men who perceived their neighbourhood safety as excellent had increased odds of volunteering. The association of neighbourhood safety with volunteerism was significant for women rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as excellent or very good. Among men, being married was associated with increased odds of volunteering; being completely or partly retired was associated with increased odds of volunteering among women. Initiatives aimed at improving older adults' perceptions of safety would help improve volunteerism, which is beneficial to both older adults and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subjective age (SA) is a core indicator of the individual ageing experience, with important consequences for successful ageing. The aim of the current study was to investigate the directions of the longitudinal associations between domains of SA and subjective wellbeing and physical functioning in the second half of life. We used three-wave survey data (2002, 2007 and 2017) spanning 15 years from the Norwegian Lifecourse, Ageing and Generation Study, including 6,292 persons born between 1922 and 1961. SA was measured with felt-age and ideal-age discrepancies, wellbeing with the Satisfaction of Life Scale and physical functioning with the Short-Form 12. Three-wave cross-lagged panel models were applied to assess the temporal relationships between the different domains of SA, life satisfaction and physical functioning, adjusted for age, gender and education. Findings indicated that wanting to be younger was negatively associated with life satisfaction and physical functioning over time. Felt-age discrepancies did not predict subsequent wellbeing or physical functioning. The results did not reveal any evidence for reversed effects, i.e. from functioning or life satisfaction to SA. Our findings support the psychological pathway from satisfaction with age(ing) to subjective wellbeing and physical functioning over time. Small ideal-age discrepancies reflect positive self-perceptions of ageing, which may help to accumulate psychological resources, guide behavioural regulation and support health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid demographic shifts and socio-economic changes are fuelling concerns over the inadequate supply of informal care – the most common source of care-giving for older people in China. Unmet long-term care needs, which are believed to cause numerous adverse effects on health, continue to increase. Drawing data from the 2015 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey, this study explores the relationship between informal care provision and unmet long-term care needs among older people in China. We first examine the availability of informal care among older people with disabilities. We then analyse whether a higher intensity of informal care leads to lower unmet needs. Our findings suggest that the majority of older people with disabilities receive a low intensity of care, i.e. less than 80 hours per month. Besides, a higher intensity of informal care received could significantly lower the probabilities of unmet needs for the disabled older adults who have mainly instrumental activities of daily living limitations. Our study points out that informal care cannot address the needs of those who are struggling with multi-dimensional difficulties in their daily living. Our findings highlight a pressing need for the government to buttress the formal care provision and delivery systems to support both informal care-givers and disabled older people in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]