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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]

The discourse of deservingness has been mobilised against certain groups in the UK society navigating UK labour markets, among them refugees and asylum seekers. These discourses, leading to the stigmatisation of the unemployed are coupled with an emphasis on the importance of individuals taking responsibility to develop their 'employability'. Little attention has been paid to scrutinise the contrast between the deservingness rhetoric and policy making with the actual conditions newcomers, and in particular refugees and asylum seekers, are confronted with when seeking employment. Our paper fills such a gap by indicating key contradictions at the heart of labour market integration in the UK. On the one hand, the emphasis on deservingness is coupled with policy discourses that construct an environment shaped by welfare and labour market chauvinism. On the other hand, the policy architecture is fundamentally flawed in a number of ways in terms of the support mechanisms necessary to ensure that newcomers can successfully integrate into the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on societies and individual lives across the globe. In this paper, we address the impact of the pandemic and the protective measures on empirical social scientific ageing research through the lens of 'ethically important moments'. One of the most crucial measures for preventing the spread of the virus includes social distancing; therefore, empirical research methods based on person-to-person direct contact (as in interviews) and first-hand observation have been scaled back since 2020. For ageing research, the challenges are particularly pronounced due to the ongoing discussion regarding vulnerabilities associated with higher age and age-based discrimination. Hence, many researchers focusing on ageing are facing some difficult questions: How and under what conditions can we carry on with empirical research without putting our research participants and ourselves at risk? Firstly, we systematically identify the key dimensions and challenges that have shaped social scientific research during the lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic: fragmentation, fluidity, ambiguity and uncertainty. Then, using insights from two international research projects, we illustrate and critically reflect on the ethically important moments and practical dilemmas that have resulted from these pandemic challenges when researching with and about older adults. [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]

Inter- and intragenerational relationships are known to be important in maintaining the wellbeing of older people. A key aspect of these relationships is the exchange of both emotional and instrumental social support. However, relatively little is known about how this exchange of support changes in the context of widespread disruption. The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to examine how older people's family relationships are impacted by such social change. The present qualitative study explores how older people in the United Kingdom experienced changes in inter- and intragenerational support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (N = 33) were recruited through a large-scale nationally representative survey (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/psychology-consortium-covid19). We asked how life had been pre-pandemic, how they experienced the first national lockdown and what the future might hold in store. The data were analysed using constructivist grounded theory. This paper focuses on the importance of family relationships and how they changed as a consequence of the pandemic. We found that the family support system had been interrupted, that there were changes in the methods of support and that feelings of belonging were challenged. We argue that families were brought into disequilibrium through changes in the exchange of inter- and intragenerational support. The important role of grandchildren for older adults was striking and challenged by the pandemic. The significance of social connectedness and support within the family had not changed during the pandemic, but it could no longer be lived in the same way. The desire to be close to family members and to support them conflicted with the risk of pandemic infection. Our study found support for the COVID-19 Social Connectivity Paradox: the need for social connectedness whilst maintaining social distance. This challenged family equilibrium, wellbeing and quality of life in older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical legal partnerships address individual legal needs that can create impediments to health. Little is known about outcomes from medical legal partnerships and their relationship to access to justice. This paper reports outcomes from one medical legal partnership from the perspective of the client, with specific emphasis on impact on health and concepts related to access to justice. We suggest a conceptual model for incorporating medical legal partnerships into a broader framework about access to justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the ultimate goal of producing long-lasting quasi-stationary discharges required for future fusion power stations, the numerical study of steady-state solutions of equations describing the particle and energy balance rightfully gets ample attention. Transient states may, however, differ significantly from the steady state ultimately reached and will – in practice – impact on the actual fate of the discharge. Using brutally simple models, the present paper highlights a number of aspects to illustrate this dynamics. It e.g. shows the different signature of wave and beam heating, potentially giving room to transiently trigger desirable effects that may allow us to better steer a discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge about open, co-produced meeting centres for people with dementia, from their own perspective. Services that support people who are newly diagnosed with dementia are often insufficient. Co-produced services have the potential to address the need of people with dementia to be useful and productive, while reducing the stigma. In this study, we applied a qualitative design. Data were collected at a meeting centre for people with newly diagnosed dementia, and consisted of fieldwork (13 days for about two hours at a time), written materials, and semi-structured interviews (mean length 30 minutes) with five attendees with dementia and two staff persons. The analysis was inspired by situational analysis. The findings showed that the meeting centre provided a place for human encounters, a break from everyday life, and a place to share knowledge and develop new skills. Further, challenges were described. Co-production consisted of the attendees being encouraged to take part in the planning of activities, learning from each other and providing mutual support. The study adds to previous knowledge about co-produced services for people with dementia. Future studies can clarify how co-production can be developed in services for people with newly diagnosed dementia in countries and regions where there is a dearth of this kind of support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of dependent older people in England, as elsewhere, is projected to rise substantially, while the number of unpaid carers is not projected to rise by an equivalent amount. Barriers to people caring for older relatives have been theorised, however, there is a lack of understanding of attitudes to providing care in the future among people who are not currently carers. This paper presents qualitative analysis of interviews with 20 people in middle age about their willingness to care for older relatives in the future. Interviewees were asked their general views about who should provide care, then to consider future scenarios in which a close relative developed care needs. Willingness to care was influenced by beliefs about reciprocity, love and identity, beliefs about who was likely to provide the best quality and most appropriate care, and beliefs about how difficult caring would be. Older relatives' care preferences were a key consideration. While some interviewees felt the best care would always be provided by family, others considered that professional skills were needed. Interviewees saw important roles for easily accessible information and advice, sharing care, including respite care, and financial support, in making it easier to provide care. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown had highlighted relevant issues for interviewees, which are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of NPM reforms on two prominent welfare state professions; medical doctors and teachers. The case study context is Sweden, where the impact of NPM led to a series of reforms in health care and education after 1990. The focus in the paper is on professional autonomy, which can be seen as a core trait in professional work. The findings in the article point to both medical doctors and teachers having lost professional autonomy as a result of NPM-reforms, particularly with regards to the dimensions of work organization and evaluation. Autonomy in individual decision-making seems to have been least affected, even if there are indications of this being infringed upon as well. Despite these broad similarities, the loss of autonomy is found to be more pronounced in the case of teachers. One reason behind this difference, which manifests itself in teachers having become subject to higher level of direct administrative control by school managers while at the same time experiencing a more distinct loss of autonomy to evaluate their work, appears to be that medical doctors have been more successful in establishing themselves as experts in relation to new public audit agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]