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Background and Objectives Coordination of governmental action is crowded with policies and programs that are highly interdependent, sometimes operating in silos if not contradicting each other. These dilemmas, or administrative quagmires, are heightened for older adults in general, but they are particularly problematic for marginalized older adults because these groups often require public assistance and support. This scoping review studies the coordination of governmental action on aging published in social science journals, focusing on 6 groups of marginalized older adults: those with histories of immigration, individuals with severe mental health problems, those who have had experiences of homelessness, formerly incarcerated individuals, members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community, and individuals living in a rural area. Research Design and Methods A 5-stage scoping review methodology was followed, and 53 articles (published between 2000 and 2022) from 5 social science databases were analyzed. Results The analysis revealed a limited number of contributions with coordination as a primary focus. Understandings of coordination varied but tended to examine structure, organization, and relationships between sectors. When coordination was the primary object of a study, it was often analyzed in 1 specific policy area or within a clinical setting along the lines of facilitating care coordination. Discussion and Implications This scoping review reveals a mutual neglect on the part of public administration and policy scholars toward marginalized older adults and a lack of public administration considerations on the part of scholars studying long-term care and social service programs for these marginalized older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflexivity, which requires the conscious appraisal of how researchers' social positions and subjectivities interact with the research process, has become increasingly popular in qualitative research with participants at heightened risk of marginalization and trauma histories. Despite the documented traumas associated with marginalization, little has been written about the process of integrating a reflexive approach into research with marginalized communities. This methodological paper seeks to redress this gap by illuminating how our research team used the lens of space as a reflexive framework to attend to positionality, transformation, and power in a qualitative study with older persons with experiences of homelessness. These reflections emerged from our work conducting research in one of three sites associated with a pan-Canadian study, on housing, aging, place/space, and homelessness. More specifically, they emerged from our team's observations and de-briefings during and following data collection with 11 participants (aged 50+ years) of a long-term transitional housing site in Montreal, Canada. These reflections illuminate how integrating concepts of space may provide an avenue for attending to reflexivity when conducting research that informs policy and public service initiatives for marginalized communities, and support research processes that disrupt tendencies to overlook trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Frontières is the property of Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Revue Frontieres 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.)

Anna Akhmatova is a Russian poetess who left a significant imprint on the 20th-century literary world. Her poem Requiem is a eulogy to the suffering victims of the Stalinist purges and their loved ones. She dedicated her work to the women who, like her, lined up for months in front of Leningrad Prison hoping to see their relatives before their executions. In this article, we show how a hermeneutical analysis of the poem Requiem relates to major existential issues and facilitates a better understanding of the experience of mourning. We highlight the themes of bereavement, the disruptions of lived time, the lived experience of suffering, and the challenges of transmission that unfold in this context. Our hermeneutic approach brings the existential description of these themes into dialogue with the thinking of anthropology, philosophy, and psychology scholars. Through her rich poetry, Akhmatova provided a lens through which we can develop an increased sensitivity to existential issues that are still contemporary to our time. We discuss how her work provides an opportunity for reflection that is rich for both research and clinical practice in humanistic psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Recherches Feministes is the property of Groupe de Recherche et d'Echange Multidisciplinaires Feministes 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.)

People who become homeless for the first time in late life are a growing but understudied population. This study draws on administrative data from one shelter (N = 1,214 first-time homeless) to assess the extent to which age is related to shelter stay and, to examine psychosocial factors that may be associated with shelter departure. Our bivariate and survival analysis results suggest that older homeless men stay in the shelter 2 weeks longer than younger clients. Older men with pending legal issues and mobility concerns were more likely to leave the shelter than those without such concerns. Findings highlight the impact of age and other psychosocial variables on shelter stay, and provide direction from which to address homelessness among men who are new to homelessness in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explored the adaptation/transformation process in mothers and fathers at the individual, parental, marital and extrafamilial levels, and the similarities and differences in their experience of living with a child with cerebral palsy. Interviews were conducted with 13 mothers and 13 fathers of children with cerebral palsy. The results show that mothers and fathers are more likely to view the situation differently than similarly. For both parents, the situation offers the potential for transformation. Complementarity between mothers and fathers is an important factor in each of the adaptation or transformation subsystems. both parents embark on a journey that changes their beliefs about difference, apply their new knowledge to every aspect of their life, and endeavour to normalize their situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Recherches Feministes is the property of Groupe de Recherche et d'Echange Multidisciplinaires Feministes 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.)

ABSTRACTAlthough interest on older homelessness is gaining momentum, little research has considered the experiences of first-time homelessness from the perspective of older adults themselves. This constructivist grounded-theory study addresses this gap by exploring how societal perceptions of homelessness and aging shape access to housing, services, and perceptions of self for 15 older adults residing in emergency homeless shelters in Montreal, (Quebec, Canada). Findings revealed that homelessness evoked a grief response characterized by shock, despair, anger, and in some cases, relief. Connecting and receiving support from other shelter residents and staff helped participants to acknowledge and grieve their losses. However, difficult shelter conditions, the stigma associated with aging and homelessness, and not having their grief recognized or validated served to disenfranchise grief experiences. Conceptualizing later-life homelessness as disenfranchised grief contributes to the aging and homelessness literature while providing new avenues for understanding and validating the experiences of a growing population of vulnerable older adults.

This study aimed to (1) explore how palliative care in long-term care (LTC) addresses the tensions associated with caring for the living and dying within one care community, and (2) to inform how palliative care practices may be improved to better address the needs of all residents living and dying in LTC as well as those of the families and support staff. This article reports findings from 19 focus groups and 117 participants. Study findings reveal that LTC home staff, resident, and family perspectives of end-of-life comfort applied to those who were actively dying and to their families. Our findings further suggest that eliciting residents' perceptions of end-of-life comfort, sharing information about a fellow resident's death more personally, and ensuring that residents, families, and staff can constructively participate in providing comfort care to dying residents could extend the purview of end-of-life comfort and support expanded integration of palliative principles within LTC.

Homelessness among older people is a growing concern across Canada and is expected to rise with demographic change (Crane & Warnes, 2010; Culhane, Metraux, Byrne, Stino, & Bainbridge, 2013). Yet current knowledge, policies, and practices on homelessness largely focus on younger populations. Likewise, research and policies on aging typically overlook homelessness. Responses to homelessness among older people must address complex needs related to health, income security, and housing. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this article outlines the existing and needed research with regards to homelessness among older people. We clarify the intersections of aging and homelessness; review the relevant statistics, including estimated prevalence; discuss pathways and variations in experience; and identify gaps in knowledge. We conclude with a call for an inclusive research agenda that will help build policies and practices to reduce and ultimately to eliminate homelessness among older people in Canada.