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An introduction to a paper published in this issue is presented, in which the editors mention services for older people, well-being in older people, and social care and housing for older people.

Objective: This study investigated the prevalence of food security, and the association of food security with financial hardship and socio-demographic characteristics among the ageing population in Thailand. Methods: The study extracted data on 1,197 persons age 60 years or older from a nationally-representative sample survey of Thai households. The food security data were collected using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the association between financial hardship, socio-demographic characteristics, and food security. Results: Of the total sample, 71% had food security. The least probability of having food security was observed in the respondents who sometimes and often had income problems (p < 0.001), and felt dissatisfied with their financial situation (p < 0.001). The respondents who were female, at oldest-old age, with lower than primary school education and in the Northeast were less likely to have food security. Conclusion: These findings suggest the need for government assistance for those who are experiencing financial hardship to help them manage their finances and food security more effectively, taking into account different socio-demographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) is a common cause for visual impairment in the ageing population. An increasing number of nAMD patients causes significant health burden, although intravitreal anti-VEGF agents have revolutionized nAMD treatment during the past 15 years. We aimed to define incidence and prevalence of nAMD in different age-categories in the anti-VEGF era and to estimate the number of the individuals over 75 years of age in 2050. We conducted an epidemiological study of the nAMD cohort (n = 2121) in a Finnish population of 410,000 inhabitants. Demographic and clinical data were gathered from Oulu University Hospital's database during 2006–2020. The incidence and prevalence rates were calculated using population data from national registers. The three-year moving average of incidence of nAMD per 100,000 person years was estimated. Prevalence figures were calculated per 100,000 age-specific inhabitants. The average age at the diagnosis of nAMD was 78土8 years, and 62% of the patients were women. The incidence of nAMD was 71 (95% CI 55–90) and 102 (95% CI 88–118) per 100,000 person years in 2006 and 2020, respectively. During 2006–2020, 1.2- and 2.4-fold increases in nAMD incidence were noted in 75–84 and in 85–96 age groups, respectively. In the oldest 75–84 and 85–96 age categories the nAMD prevalence was 2865/100,000 (3%, 95% CI 2665–3079) and 2620/100,000 (3%, 95% CI 2323–2956), respectively. The proportion of the inhabitants >75 years old is estimated to increase from 10% in 2020 to 17% by 2050. Our results indicate constant 1.2- and 2.4-fold increases in nAMD incidence during the past 15 years in age groups of 75–84 and 85–96 years, respectively, and 3% prevalence of nAMD in 2020. An almost two-fold increase in the ageing population by the year 2050 may also predict the trends in nAMD. The results of the current population-based study indicate 1.2- and 2.4-fold increases in the incidence of neovascular AMD (nAMD) during the last 15 years in the Finnish population aged 75–84 and 85–96 years and 3% prevalence of nAMD in 2020. An almost two-fold increase in the number of individuals over 75 years of age by the year 2050 is estimated, which may also predict the trends in nAMD. Intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF)- agents have revolutionized the treatment and prognosis of nAMD. Timely recognition and referral of nAMD patients to ophthalmologist can ensure vision-related functionality especially among the ageing population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper is aimed at studying and discussion on the extent of interest in Islam to looking after the ageing population as enshrined in the Qur’an and Sunnah. The ageing population nowadays is facing number of human rights problems including: problem of ʿAqīdah (religious belief), social, educational and economic as a result of the mistreatments mainly from family members of different communities towards this vulnerable group. The research paper seeks to find out the backgrounds of these problems, and to provide the appropriate solutions from the Quran and Sunnah perspectives. This will be done by explaining the Sharīʿah principles and ethical values prescribed by Islam in attending the welfare of the ageing population, and thus suggesting solutions that can be put into practice by our community order to reduce the problems facing the ageing population.

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]

Background: As the effects of demographic transition are realised around the world, many industrial societies are facing the effects of a baby boom generation, increased life expectancies, decreased birth rates and recent changes to retirement legislation with the result that older workers are set to comprise a greater proportion of the labour force. Methods: This paper reviews the evidence for the physical and cognitive factors that characterise an ageing workforce in manufacturing. From an ergonomics and human factors (E/HF) perspective, characteristics of manufacturing tasks and the effects of ageing provide an insight into how the industry will have to adapt to support the user needs of the older worker in the future. The approach taken is drawn from Ilmarinen's framework of age, experience, and work performance, from which specific E/HF issues are explored. Results: There would appear to potential to support physical decline in older workers within manufacturing jobs through increased mechanisation and automation; however, those factors associated with cognitive human factors are less clear. Increased mechanisation and automation can place greater loads and demands on the older worker where cognitive decline is more subtle and varied between workers. Conclusion: Using historical and contemporary findings and the relationship between age, experience, and work performance is redrawn to include both cognitive skills and physical attributes to provide recommendations for future job design and worker needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atypically warm summers such as 2003 and 2018 are predicted to become normal by 2050. If current climate projections are accurate, this could cause heat-related mortality to rise by 257% by 2050, the majority of which will be in vulnerable groups such as the elderly. However, little is known about the temperatures achieved in the homes of the elderly even in typical summers, and even less on whether these are comfortable. This study examines, for the first time, the validity of current thermal comfort models in predicting summer comfort levels in the 65+ demographic over a typical and an atypically warm summer. This was achieved through the first longitudinal study of thermal conditions in homes of the elderly in the South West UK, utilising repeated standardised monthly thermal comfort and health surveys with continuous temperature monitoring in both living and bed rooms. Results show that neither the PMV/PPD model (ISO 7730) nor the adaptive model (ISO 15251) accurately predict true thermal comfort in our sample. Overheating analysis using CIBSE TM59 (based on ISO 15251) suggests significantly more homes (50% living room, 94% bed room = 94% overall) overheated during the atypically warm summer, compared to the typical summer (3% living room, 57% bed room = 57% overall). These are worrying results, especially for the elderly, given the projected increases in both the severity and the frequency of extreme summers in a future, changed, climate. Practical application : This paper provides new data on the performance of the homes of the elderly in both a typical and atypically warm summer. Our results could be considered for building performance evaluation in homes with elderly occupants to mitigate overheating risk. Crucially, we not only examine the impact of CIBSE criteria on these homes but also look at thermal acceptance, which is important to understand the true impact of elevated temperatures in this demographic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lisenkova K., McGregor P. G., Pappas N., Swales J. K., Turner K. and Wright R. E. Scotland the grey: a linked demographic-computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis of the impact of population ageing and decline, Regional Studies. This paper links a multi-period economic computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling framework with a demographic model to analyse the economic impact on Scotland of its projected ageing and declining population. The model quantifies the effect on aggregate economic variables, such as gross domestic product (GDP), employment and competitiveness, and also on individual sectors. With the principal demographic projections, the fall in population, and particularly working-age population, has a depressing impact on economic activity. By changing the demographic parameters, the impact of increasing net migration, a policy actively being pursued by the Scottish Government, is tracked. However, the required size of the annual net-migration needed to neutralize the adverse natural demographic changes is far higher than the current trends. [image omitted] Lisenkova K., McGregor P. G., Pappas N., Swales J. K., Turner K. et Wright R. E. 'Ecosse la Grise': une analyse de l'impact du vieillissement et de la baisse de la population liant demographie et EGC, Regional Studies. Cet article etablit un lien entre un cadre economique multiperiodique de modelisation d'Equilibre General Calculable (EGC) et un modele demographique pour analyser l'impact economique sur l'Ecosse du vieillissement et de la baisse prevus de sa population. Le modele en quantifie l'effet sur les variables economiques agregees, telles que le PIB, l'emploi et la competitivite, ainsi que sur des secteurs particuliers. Compte tenu des principales previsions demographiques, la baisse de la population, et en particulier de la population en age de travailler, a un effet de depression de l'activite economique. En modifiant les parametres demographiques, nous suivons l'impact de l'augmentation de la migration nette, une politique qui est activement menee par l'Executif ecossais. Cependant, l'ampleur de la migration nette annuelle necessaire pour neutraliser les changements demographiques naturels prejudiciables est bien superieure aux tendances actuelles. Ecosse Modelisation EGC regionale Population vieillissante Migration Lisenkova K., McGregor P. G., Pappas N., Swales J. K., Turner K. und Wright R. E. Graues Schottland: eine kombinierte demografische und CGE-Analyse der Auswirkungen von Alterung und Bevolkerungsruckgang, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag verbinden wir einen periodenubergreifenden okonomischen Modellierrahmen des berechenbaren allgemeinen Gleichgewichts (CGE) mit einem demografischen Modell, um die wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen der prognostizierten Alterung und des Bevolkerungsruckgangs in Schottland zu analysieren. In dem Modell wird die Auswirkung auf kombinierte okonomische Variable wie Bruttoinlandsprodukt, Beschaftigungsniveau und Konkurrenzfahigkeit sowie auch auf einzelne Sektoren quantifiziert. Bei den wichtigsten demografischen Prognosen wirken sich der Bevolkerungsruckgang - insbesondere bei der Bevolkerung im arbeitsfahigen Alter - dampfend auf die Wirtschaftsaktivitat aus. Durch eine Anderung der demografischen Parameter untersuchen wir die Auswirkung einer erhohten Nettomigration, die als politisches Ziel von der schottischen Regierung aktiv verfolgt wird. Allerdings ist zur Neutralisierung der ungunstigen naturlichen Veranderungen in der Demografie eine weitaus umfangreichere jahrliche Nettomigration erforderlich als die der derzeitigen Trends. Schottland Regionalmodell des berechenbaren allgemeinen Gleichgewichts Alternde Bevolkerung Migration Lisenkova K., McGregor P. G., Pappas N., Swales J. K., Turner K. y Wright R. E. La anciana Escocia: analisis demografico segun el modelo CGE del impacto del envejecimiento y disminucion de la poblacion, Regional Studies. En este articulo vinculamos una estructura de un modelo de equilibrio general computable (CGE) de varios periodos con un modelo demografico para analizar el efecto economico en Escocia de su poblacion cada vez mas anciana y cada vez menos numerosa. Este modelo cuantifica el efecto en las variables economicas agregadas, tales como el PIB, el empleo y la competitividad asi como los sectores individuales. Con las principales proyecciones demograficas, la disminucion de poblacion, y especialmente de la poblacion en edad de trabajar, tiene un efecto depresivo en la actividad comercial. Al cambiar los parametros demograficos, hacemos un seguimiento del impacto de una creciente migracion neta, una politica que busca activamente el Gobierno escoces. Sin embargo, el tamano requerido de la migracion neta anual necesaria para neutralizar estos adversos cambios demograficos naturales es muy superior a las tendencias actuales. Escocia Modelo CGE regional Poblacion envejecida Migracion [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to ageing populations and a future shortage of labour active people, there is a political ambition to prolong people's work force activities in Europe. The question of this paper is to what degree policy changes aimed at prolonging people's working lives have been successful in influencing peoples' commitment to paid work during the studied period of time? The age patterns of non-financial employment commitment (EC) and organisational Commitment (OC) are examined from the perspective of policy changes in four European countries, using ISSP-data collected in 1997 and 2005 from Denmark, Great Britain, Hungary and Sweden. Because of hypothesised country and group differences in visibility and proximity of policy measures taken to increase labour market participation among older workers, Danish and Swedish people were expected to display some degree of general and intended attitudinal response to the policy changes and that the British and Hungarian response would be more gender divided. The results showed that policy changes overall had little intended effect on people's attitudes to work. Instead, EC dropped dramatically in Hungary for all men from the age of 30 and over, and for Swedish men and Danish women in the 45-53 age group. OC decreased for Swedish men in the age 54 and over, and for Danish women in the 45-53 age group. The main exceptions were British and Hungarian women that displayed unchanged or even an increase in EC in the age group 54 and over. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the middle of this century, Asia's elderly population is projected to reach 922.7 million, and its share of population 17.5 per cent from just 4.1 per cent in 1950. Within the next few decades, Asia is poised to become the oldest region in the world; reforming policies and creating new structures and institutions to address this challenge is a huge and complex undertaking that requires a big head start. This paper analyses the impact that ageing is having in Asia; examines the policy options for dealing with the problems it is causing, and outlines how different subregions may require different responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world's population is ageing at unprecedented rates. Given the growth of the older adult population, it is not surprising that governments and policy makers in many regions throughout the world have been turning their attention to the implications of population ageing on social and economic development. More specifically, there has been much concern about the consequences of an ageing population on health care systems and costs and an emphasis on finding ways to help older adults age well. Leisure can play an important role in the ageing well process but, to a large extent, its role in healthy ageing is often overlooked by policy makers. This paper focuses on leisure in later life, particularly as it is related to notions of healthy ageing and ageing well. It summarises what we currently know about the role of leisure in later life. Although the relationship between leisure and ageing well is complex, the existing evidence is clear that leisure can provide meaningful opportunities for continued engagement in life -- for being, becoming, and belonging (Renwick & Brown, 1996) -- and is essential for ageing well. However, not all have equal access to leisure in later life, which can threaten the well-being of those who are marginalised in society. The paper also identifies some of the gaps in our understanding and concludes with a list of recommendations for future research on the role leisure can play in the ageing well process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Intensive follow-up post surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC) is thought to improve long-term survival principally through the earlier detection of recurrent disease. This paper aims to calculate the additional resource and cost implications of intensive follow up post-CRC resection, examine the possibility of risk-stratifying this follow up to those at highest risk of recurrence and investigating the impact that population screening might have on the future cost and outcomes of follow up. Method Two follow-up regimens were constructed: the ‘standard’ follow-up protocol used the principles of the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) guidelines whilst the ‘intensive’ follow-up protocol used the most intensive arm of the follow up after colorectal surgery (FACS) trial. Using ONS data, the number of CRC diagnosed in a given year was calculated for 2003 and projected for 2016 based on the population of England and Wales. The resource requirements and costs of follow up over a 5-year period were then calculated for the two time periods. Risk stratifying entry to follow up and the introduction of population CRC screening were then considered. Results For the 2003 cohort, an intensive follow-up program would detect 853 additional resectable recurrences over 5 years with 795 fewer subjects requiring palliative care. An additional 26 302 outpatient appointments, 181 352 CEA tests and 79 695 CT scans over 5 years would be required to achieve this. The cost of investigating subjects who would never develop detectable recurrences was £15.6 million. The cost per additional resectable recurrence was £18 077, a figure also found for a nonscreened population in 2016. An identical intensive follow-up policy with biennial FOBT screening in 2016 saw the cost per additional resectable recurrence rise to £36 255. Conclusion Intensive follow up will detect considerably more resectable recurrences but at considerable cost and it is unclear if such follow up will be achievable in an already over-stretched NHS. If population-based CRC screening increases the number of Dukes A cancers this may offer the possibility of risk-stratifying future follow up to those at highest risk of recurrence; minimizing tests on those who will never have recurrent disease and better utilizing our scarce resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift fur Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Management of critically ill patients is changing due a rise in population age, comorbidity and complexity. To accommodate these changes, the demand is increasing for advanced practice nurses. More knowledge is needed regarding the role of advanced practice critical care nurses in European countries. The aim of the study was to review the literature describing skills and competencies required for advanced practice critical care nursing in Europe and to investigate related policy. We performed a scoping review including papers published in 1992–2019 targeting policy and the intersection of advanced practice nursing (level of practice), critical care nursing (specialty area) and Europe (geographical origin). Main sources of evidence were PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, SweMed+, Scopus, ERIC and Social Sciences Citation Index. We also searched grey literature, webpages, reference lists and performed hand-search. The search identified 11,478 papers/references of which 42 were included. Four levels of practice were identified with unclear boundaries: professional nurse, specialized nurse, advanced practice nurse and advanced critical care practitioner (nurse or other). Most skills and competencies described in the literature were generic to advanced practice and only few were area specific to critical care. Advanced practice critical care nurses were often unable to fulfil their role because education, supportive policy and legislation were lacking. This scoping review informs the policy makers and the INACTIC study of existing advanced practice in critical care nursing in Europe. The advanced role in critical care nursing is characterized by inconsistency regarding policy, education, titles, roles, scope of practice, skills and competencies. Levels of practice and areas of specialization need to be clarified. Most skills and competencies identified were generic for advanced practice nursing and many were generic for any profession. Task-shifting from physician to nurse needs to be more clearly defined and patient outcomes described. Given the scarcity of papers in our target area, we believe it might be too early to conduct a systematic review at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative research examines the perceived walkability of different neighbourhood built-form patterns and their implications for the social life of older people. The findings suggest that both transport and leisure/exercise walking are more frequent within master-planned communities (MPC) as opposed to conventional suburbs. The main reasons for this are the proximity of destinations, the provision of aesthetically attractive areas, and residents’ feelings of being safe from crime and risk of injury within MPCs. The research reveals that walking within MPCs significantly contributes to more frequent social interactions and the establishment of weak and absent ties among older age residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing comes with several discomforts such as a decline in mobility and losses in social networks as well as societal roles. Therefore, improving the life satisfaction of older adults has become a significant policy focus for delivering age-friendliness in national and international movements in the living environment. The hypothesis of the current study is that older people, who live in urban neighbourhoods that provide safe, aesthetic and accessible environments, experience greater life satisfaction. Accessibility, attractiveness and attachment as the three key dimensions of life satisfaction were used to understand the key aspects of the life satisfaction of older people in the neighbourhoods and how the urban environment serves as an indicator. This research consists of two steps. The first step involved in-depth interviews with the older adults aged over 65 in different urban areas, the district of Fatih and Şişli in the city of Istanbul, Turkey, with sampling based on the diversity, heterogeneity and urban functions. Second, these urban areas were analysed using space syntax to understand the street network and connectivity to reveal the urban structure. The qualitative and quantitative findings were analysed comparatively. The study concluded that when attachment to the place is supported by walkability and psychical enticing, the older adults experience a higher level of life satisfaction. Additionally, financial independence serves as a backup solution to access a better environment. This comparative analysis also highlights a mixed method for policymakers to analyse the urban environment and makes room for older adults to raise their voices and participate in the policy and planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction frailty is common in older adults and is associated with increased health and social care use. Longitudinal information is needed on population-level incidence, prevalence and frailty progression to plan services to meet future population needs. Methods retrospective open cohort study using electronic health records of adults aged ≥50 from primary care in England, 2006–2017. Frailty was calculated annually using the electronic Frailty Index (eFI). Multistate models estimated transition rates between each frailty category, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. Prevalence overall for each eFI category (fit, mild, moderate and severe) was calculated. Results the cohort included 2,171,497 patients and 15,514,734 person-years. Frailty prevalence increased from 26.5 (2006) to 38.9% (2017). The average age of frailty onset was 69; however, 10.8% of people aged 50–64 were already frail in 2006. Estimated transitions from fit to any level of frailty were 48/1,000 person-years aged 50–64, 130/1,000 person-years aged 65–74, 214/1,000 person-years aged 75–84 and 380/1,000 person-years aged ≥ 85. Transitions were independently associated with older age, higher deprivation, female sex, Asian ethnicity and urban dwelling. Mean time spent in each frailty category decreased with age, with the longest period spent in severe frailty at all ages. Conclusions frailty is prevalent in adults aged ≥50 and time spent in successive frailty states is longer as frailty progresses, resulting in extended healthcare burden. Larger population numbers and fewer transitions in adults aged 50–64 present an opportunity for earlier identification and intervention. A large increase in frailty over 12 years highlights the urgency of informed service planning in ageing populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frailty is a new concept in rheumatology that can help identify people more likely to have less favorable outcomes. Sarcopenia and inflammaging can be regarded as the biological foundations of physical frailty. Frailty is becoming more widely accepted as an indicator of ageing and is linked to an increased risk of negative outcomes such as falls, injuries, and mortality. Frailty identifies a group of older adults that seem poorer and more fragile than their age-matched counterparts, despite sharing similar comorbidities, demography, sex, and age. Several studies suggest that inflammation affects immune-mediated pathways, multimorbidity, and frailty by inhibiting growth factors, increasing catabolism, and by disrupting homeostatic signaling. Frailty is more common in the community-dwelling population as people get older, ranging from 7 to 10% in those over 65 years up to 40% in those who are octogenarians. Different parameters have been validated to identify frailty. These primarily relate to two conceptual models: Fried's physical frailty phenotype and Rockwood's cumulative deficit method. Immune-mediated rheumatic diseases (IMRDs), such as rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, and vasculitis, are leading causes of frailty in developing countries. The aim of this review was to quantitatively synthesize published literature on the prevalence of frailty in IMRDs and to summarize current evidence on the relevance and applicability of the most widely used frailty screening tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population ageing and its influence on the economic growth has long been the focus of major concern. Using bibliometric techniques we found that: (1) although ageing has increasingly attracted more researchers within economics literature, the relative weight of ageing and economic growth related papers does not evidence a clear positive trend; (2) recent studies reveal the willingness of researchers to evaluate less immediate mechanisms relating ageing and economic growth; (3) the increase in the use of empirical methods reflects a trend to test economic phenomena with real-world data against the theory; (4) very few studies focus on developing and less developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successive interventions designed to curb the spread of COVID-19 have all served to exacerbate the demands placed upon informal carers, a population indispensable to health care systems. The need for breaks from caring has never been so pronounced. This paper adopts, and extends, the theory of hierarchical leisure constraints to better understand barriers to tourism respite participation. Lived experiences are collected via story-telling techniques (n = 157) from carers taking trips of one night or more away during times of palliative and end-of-life care. Three cross-cutting constraints are emergent in the data: awareness (knowing); access (doing); and anxiety (feeling). Negotiation strategies are suggested, hierarchical implications questioned and the opportunity to explore a temporal dimension to tourism constraints in future research signalled. An extension to constraints negotiation theory: respite care. [Display omitted] • COVID-19 has exacerbated the demands placed upon informal carers. • Awareness, access and anxiety limit carer participation in respite breaks • Tourism offers salutogenic benefits at a time of critical need. • Pathographies, stories of illness, offer tourism insights too [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades the need for a financially literate population has grown in importance. Hence in Australia, it is imperative that individuals possess both the financial knowledge and capability to make sound financial decisions. In contrast, the results of the Australian & New Zealand Bank (ANZ) surveys from 2003 to 2010 have demonstrated that there is a substantial deficiency in the level of financial literacy amongst many of the Australian population. Both the government and the private sector have encouraged the development of financial education programs as an important tool in remedying the detected low levels of financial literacy as reported in the ANZ research. The Australian Security and Investment Commission (ASIC), the government regulator, has strongly promoted the need to develop confident and informed consumers and investors through the provision of quality financial education. ASIC’s focus was reiterated in its Report 229, the National Financial Literacy Strategy. This report which was announced in March 2011 set out the strategy for the development and delivery of initiatives to improve financial literacy levels in Australia (ASIC 2011). In particular, the National Strategy has been developed to improve the level of financial literacy among Australian students. The focus is on incorporating financial education through the existing school curriculum, beginning in kindergarten through to year 12 students. The aim of this research paper is to challenge and ask questions relating to the Australian Government’s financial literacy strategy directed at schools. This direction would appear to have limited support of success, given the evidence published in the USA, and to a limited extent in the United Kingdom and Europe. This study reviews the current evidence available in both Australia and the USA in relation to financial literacy projects in schools. In respect of the international experience this paper explores the possible reasons for their limited success, and in some cases failure, to deliver the desired outcomes. In Australia there has been no academic research as to the possible effectiveness of teaching financial literacy at a school level. Given the USA research into such initiatives, this paper seeks to question the policy direction of the government in Australia. This paper also challenges the validity of the current Australian approach. The emphasis placed upon school financial literacy programs defies the wealth of evidence overseas which has failed to identify any measurable improvement in financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviour as a result of embedding financial literacy in school education curriculum.

Aims: Polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) are risk factors for negative health outcomes among older people. This study aimed to investigate socio-demographic differences in polypharmacy and PIM use among older people with different care needs in a standard versus an integrated care setting. Methods: Population-based register data on residents aged ⩾65 years in Stockholm County based on socio-demographic background and social care use in 2014 was linked to prescription drug use in 2015. A logistic regression analysis was used to estimate socio-demographic differences in polypharmacy and PIM, adjusting for education, age group, sex, country of birth, living alone, morbidity and dementia by care setting based on area and by care need (i.e. independent, home help or institutionalised). Results: The prevalence of polypharmacy and PIM was greater among home-help users (60.4% and 11.5% respectively) and institutional residents (74.4% and 11.9%, respectively). However, there were greater socio-demographic differences among the independent, with those with lower education, older age and females having higher odds of polypharmacy and PIM. Morbidity was a driver of polypharmacy (odds ratio (OR)=1.19, confidence interval (CI) 1.16–1.22) among home-help users. Dementia diagnosis was associated with reduced odds of polypharmacy and PIM among those in institutions (OR=0.78, CI 0.71–0.87 and OR 0.52, CI 0.45–0.59, respectively) and of PIM among home-help users (OR=0.53, 95% CI 0.42–0.67). Conclusions: Polypharmacy and PIM were associated with care needs, most prevalent among home-help users and institutional residents, but socio-demographic differences were most prominent among those living independently, suggesting that municipal care might reduce differences between socio-demographic groups. Care setting had little effect on inappropriate drug use, indicating that national guidelines are followed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The workplace is evolving towards scenarios where humans are acquiring a more active and dynamic role alongside increasingly intelligent machines. Moreover, the active population is ageing and consequently emerging risks could appear due to health disorders of workers, which requires intelligent intervention both for production management and workers' support. In this sense, the innovative and smart systems oriented towards monitoring and regulating workers' well-being will become essential. This work presents HUMANISE, a novel proposal of an intelligent system for risk management, oriented to workers suffering from disease conditions. The developed support system is based on Computer Vision, Machine Learning and Intelligent Agents. Results: The system was applied to a two-arm Cobot scenario during a Learning from Demonstration task for collaborative parts transportation, where risk management is critical. In this environment with a worker suffering from a mental disorder, safety is successfully controlled by means of human/robot coordination, and risk levels are managed through the integration of human/robot behaviour models and worker's models based on the workplace model of the World Health Organization. The results show a promising real-time support tool to coordinate and monitoring these scenarios by integrating workers' health information towards a successful risk management strategy for safe industrial Cobot environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health promotion services need to be developed to respond to the needs of an ageing population. Lifestyle Redesign® (LR®) is an occupational therapy intervention that has been addressed as cost-effective in the USA. This scoping review aimed to identify how the LR® has been implemented and what the results have been with older adults living independently in countries other than the USA. Sixteen studies were included. Quantitative results were interpreted through the numeric data and qualitative results through inductive thematic analysis. The delivery of the LR® shared both similarities and differences with the original LR®, and the variations concerned interventions length, facilitators, and the outcome measures used. In the quantitative results, there was often a positive trend in intervention groups' health-related quality of life, mental health, and occupational performance; in qualitative results, there was improvement in self-esteem and possibilities in building new communities. The original LR® was often transferrable into cultural settings other than the USA and many positive outcomes in the health and well-being of older adults were addressed. However, to understand the feasibility and effectiveness of the LR®, scientific research and publications need to be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades there has been robust discussion by many governments and financial communityleaders generally, that financial security can only be achieved when a country’s population is considered to befinancially literate. Hence individuals need to be financially literate if they are to make informed decisionsabout savings, investments, debt and most importantly when considering retirement issues. No longer canthere be a reliance on social security in retirement due to the ever increasing ageing population and adeclining tax base worldwide.In both Australia and New Zealand, governments have put structures in place as a result of external evidencesuggesting both populations have questionable levels of financial literacy. Both governments have formulatedpolicies and embarked upon initiatives to address this issue. The strategies and structures used, whilst similar,encompassed some unique elements which makes a comparative investigation and discussion interesting.The outcomes of this research paper highlight that even with similar desired outcomes there can be multiplepathways.The rationale for this paper was the lack of any published academic literature in both Australia and NewZealand that reported on the stated government policies and there subsequent initiatives that related to theimprovement of financial literacy. Whilst structures to address government concerns have been put in place,the ability to assess the effectiveness of these initiatives has proven difficult, due to the sparse nature ofpublicly available information and the lack of access to the survey design, development and analysis. It shouldbe noted that this is an exploratory paper primarily to raise questions rather that provide a critical assessmentof either countries policies.While this research paper primarily seeks to describe and review both the policies and strategies implementedby the Australian and New Zealand governments in respect of financial literacy, additionally, it briefly makesmention of the existing education programs currently on offer.

The aging of population in Vojvodina Province is one of the main political, national and economical issues. This paper presents the demographic situation in municipality of Kanjiza, researching the age structure. The aging is one of the most important demographic characteristics, which analyses the stage of development of a certain population. The consequence of low birthrate and emigrations in municipality of Kanjiza during the last 30- 40 years, is that the population in 1971. was in fourth stage of demographic development. The age structure in this paper is presented through the ageing of population, ageing index, age ratio, age group up to 20 year (young population) and age groups over 60 (old population), part of fertile and active population. .

This article assesses the issues concerning the ageing population in Takeo province and Kampot province, Cambodia, and the implications of the Cambodia National Ageing Policy (NAP) 2017-2030 in addressing those issues. By interviewing fifty randomly selected participants aged 60 and older, the findings revealed that the NAP 2017-2030 has not positively impacted the elderly population in Cambodia as it promised. The current generation of elderly Cambodians are Khmer Rouge conflict survivors and are financially insecure and rely on their adult children for financial support and caretaking. By closely examining the NAP 2017-2030 action plan, this study found many implications that led to slow progress and ineffectiveness. The paper concludes with a discussion on the significant issues concerning the ageing population in Cambodia today and the need for the Cambodian government to commit to implementing this ageing policy effectively.

AI systems in medicine and healthcare are being extensively explored in prevention, diagnosis, novel drug designs and after-care. The application of AI technology in healthcare systems promises impressive outcomes such as equalising healthcare, reducing mortality rate and human error, reducing medical costs, as well as reducing reliance on social services. In the light of the WHO “Decade of Healthy Ageing”, AI applications are designed as digital innovations to support the quality of life for older persons. However, the emergence of evidence of different types of algorithmic bias in AI applications, ageism in the use of digital devices and platforms, as well as age bias in digital data suggests that the use of AI might have discriminatory effects on older population or even cause harm. This paper addresses the issue of age biases and age discrimination in AI applications in medicine and healthcare systems and try to identify main challenges in this area. It will reflect on the potential of AI applications to amplify the already existing health inequalities by discussing two levels where potential negative impact of AI on age inequalities might be observed. Firstly, we will address the technical level of age bias in algorithms and digital datasets (especially health data). Secondly, we will discuss the potential disparate outcomes of automatic decision-making systems (ADMs) used in healthcare on the older population. These examples will demonstrate, although only partially, how AI systems may create new structures of age inequalities and novel dimensions of exclusion in healthcare and medicine.

Australia's prosperity in the twentieth century relied on economic growth to lift incomes, and a tax and welfare state to share the wealth. Australians became rich, and social expenditures equalised wealth and income. This success also relied fundamentally on a gender-unequal care economy, primarily focused on care of children by women. Wage growth accrued to men, while women bore the economic cost of care. Since the 1960s, prosperity led to increased longevity and a population boom. Fertility gradually declined as women pursued education and work during second wave feminism, yet gender inequality in income and wealth persists. Today, in Australia's long-lived and ageing population, economic growth has slowed, wages have stagnated and wealth inequality has increased. As demographic and economic conditions become increasingly unlike the conditions of the mid-twentieth century, tensions in the gendered distribution of wealth and care have come to the fore. This article explores Australia's gendered wealth inequality and considers what should be done to re-orient policies to ensure a gender-equal and sustainable sharing of the wealth in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a novel look at the links between salutogenesis, health promotion, and urban design supported by the findings of recent research on local high streets and their benefits for the well-being of older people. Salutogenesis and the related explanatory concept of sense of coherence (SOC) have provided a theoretical framework for developing healthy settings interventions, shifting the focus from exploring barriers and deficits to assets and resources in promoting people's health and well-being. While these concepts have informed policies and programmes at the level of regions and cities, no attempt has been made to establish more direct links with the disciplines devoted to the organization and design of the built environment at the scale of public spaces and streets. This article advances the idea that the main categories of SOC—comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness—have found application in urban design theory. Linking these categories with urban design concepts in a comprehensive framework, it is possible to guide interventions aimed at strenghtening well-being resources available in the public realm. This is corroborated by the findings resulting from a study of the well-being experiences of older people (n = 84) across a range of local high streets in the city of Edinburgh (UK) applying an innovative multi-methods approach. The discussion establishes the links between well-being benefits, SOC constructs and urban design concepts, and underscores the potential of the proposed framework to guide a design-oriented salutogenic approach to the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the multiple urban–rural interactions that make up the territorial dynamics, this article addresses and identifies how mobility relations are produced between neighbouring municipalities that share services. The aim of this research is to carry out a diagnosis of the current mobility situation in an area of low population density in order to identify the needs and possible shortcomings in this area. The initial identification of weaknesses is essential in order to propose solutions for rural mobility. The methodology adopted is based on two distinct lines of work: (1) analysis of information in open data from public repositories using geographic information system tools (GIS), and (2) surveys of citizens living in the study area. The results allude to the fact that the most transcendental problem in the study area is the lack of a quality collective public transport service that meets minimum utility requirements for users, a fact that generates a transfer towards the use of private vehicles. No serious parking, noise, pollution or road safety problems are observed; however, similar dynamics to other rural areas with low demographic density are confirmed, such as the age of the mobile fleet and an aging population with accessibility problems. The presence of new modes of transport (electric bicycles, personal mobility vehicles, and even electric vehicles) is practically insignificant. Both teleworking and the new consumer habits associated with online shopping have not yet had a strong impact. Political decision making by public administrations is identified as a direct application of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the year 2060 Australians aged 65 and over will account for one quarter of the population, one in six Australians will be aged 75 or more, and the 'very old' (over 80 years of age) will also become more numerous. These statistics indicate that there will be increased demands on the residential aged care workforce in the future and associated labour shortages given the consequent increases in demand for personal care worker services. Moreover, personal care workers (PCWs) are reportedly older than the average age of workers in other fields, further exacerbating these problems. Consequently, this study focuses on both the policy and human resource changes required in the residential aged care sector related to both current and future challenges experienced in attracting and retaining Australia's ageing aged care workforce. Proposed changes include far-reaching policy development required to underpin improved employment conditions, salaries, training and career pathways as an imperative to care for elderly Australian citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyse and map the distribution of the ageing population, by sociodemographic profiling, in private and public dental practices in Australia. Background: The rapid increase in the aged population in Australia requires a comprehensive approach to ensure accessibility to geriatric dental services. However, the availability of dental services for the older people requires further investigation of the demographic distribution of need. Materials and Methods: Dental practices were located and mapped against the ageing population data. The address for each dental practice in Australia was compiled from online access sources. Australian socioeconomic data were integrated with dental practices, clinic locations and older populations using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. Results: There was an uneven distribution of dental practices across Australia's States and Territories (NT and ACT). Tasmania had the highest ratio of private practices to the older population (1:1000) and the highest percentages of this ageing cohort (32%, 61%) that lived more than 5 km from private and public dental practices respectively. Higher percentages of dental practices were located in areas of lower socioeconomic status in Tasmania, Queensland and South Australia (47%, 42% and 38%) respectively, however, these areas were associated with higher ageing population densities. Conclusion: There is a geographic maldistribution of dental practices in relation to the spatial distribution of Australia's older population, with the inequity most pronounced in the most disadvantaged areas. This inequality requires a National approach to match dental services to the population that they serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]