Search results for ‘Subject term:"ageing"’ Sort:
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Well connected
- Author:
- McCORMACK Helen
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 14.06.07, 2007, pp.26-27.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
The author reports on the Disconnected Mind project. The project is building on the Mental Health Survey, and an IQ test taken in 1947 by every child in Scotland born in 1936. For the project, 1,091 of the original participants were traced and agreed to re-sit the tests. The findings are now being complied on the role of diet, exercise, lifestyle and genetics have on our mental abilities as we age.
Quality of life in old age: international multi-disciplinary perspectives
- Editors:
- MOLLENKOPF Heidrun, WALKER Alan, (eds.)
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 260p.
- Place of publication:
- Heidelberg
This book brings together leading researchers on quality of life in old age to focus on one of the most important issues in both gerontology and quality of life studies. Quality of life is a holistic construct and assessed from many different perspectives and by many disciplines. As the concept of quality of life can be applied to practically all important domains of life, quality of life research has to include social, environmental, structural, and health related aspects and be approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. There are very few texts available on this topic and none of an international and multi-disciplinary nature. Quality of life studies have neglected older people and, given the size and growth of this population, and this book systematically pursues a comprehensive perspective, and includes theoretical approaches and empirical findings with respect to the most important components of quality of life in old age. This book is designed to be a seminal text for both gerontology and quality of life researchers.
World population ageing 2007
- Author:
- UNITED NATIONS. Department of Economic and Social Affairs
- Publisher:
- United Nations
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 517p., tables
- Place of publication:
- New York
Working beyond the state pension age in the United Kingdom: the role of working time flexibility and the effects on the home
- Authors:
- CEBULLA Andreas, BUTT Sarah, LYON Nick
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 27(6), November 2007, pp.849-867.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The present and future security of employee-pension funding remains at the forefront of public debate across Europe and beyond. In the United Kingdom, to finance future pension entitlements it has been suggested that the state pension age be increased. This paper presents the results of analyses of four major national social surveys that have explored the working and living conditions of workers in paid employment after the state pension age. Comparing the circumstances of these workers with workers just below that age illustrates the extent to which it constitutes a break in the working and domestic lives of older people. The findings suggest that, in order to accommodate older workers in the workplace, more attention may need to be placed on informal as well as contractual arrangements of flexible working. Beyond part-time working, older workers rarely take up additional or alternative flexible working arrangements. At the same time, older workers continue to experience housework as burdensome, while in partnered households the gendered division of domestic labour prevails. Research and policy have yet to consider in depth these risks associated with working longer in life.
Lay theories of quality of life in older age
- Authors:
- BOWLING Ann, GABRIEL Zahava
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 27(6), November 2007, pp.827-848.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This paper presents findings from a national survey of quality of life (QoL) in older age. The main aim of the analyses was to examine the definitions of quality of life given by people aged 65 or more years and the underlying reasons. Open-ended questions were used to elicit their perceptions of QoL. These were followed by structured measures of self-rated QoL overall, and of domains of QoL commonly reported in the literature. The main things said by the respondents to give their lives quality were categorised into ‘themes’. These were: social relationships; social roles and activities; leisure activities enjoyed alone; health; psychological outlook and wellbeing; home and neighbourhood; financial circumstances; and independence. The reasons people gave to explain why these things were important to their QoL focused on: the freedom to do the things they wanted to do without restriction (whether in the home or socially); pleasure, enjoyment and satisfaction with life; mental harmony; social attachment and having access to companionship, intimacy, love, social contact and involvement, help; social roles; and feeling secure. This paper also presents data that demonstrates the ability of theoretically informed, structured survey indicators of QoL to predict respondents' self-rated overall QoL. Logistic regression analyses showed that most of these indicators were strong, independent predictors of self-ratings of QoL, although those that were not significant in the model did not fully incorporate lay reasons of QoL in their measurement scales. In conclusion, the indicators which were not significant in the model did not fully incorporate lay values in their measurement properties. It is also likely that those indicators that were significant could have been improved.
Aging well in an intentional intergenerational community: meaningful relationships and purposeful engagement
- Authors:
- POWER Martha B., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 5(2), 2007, pp.7-25.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia
Major transitions in later life often lead to a degenerative pattern of social isolation, depression and illness. The Hope Meadows intergenerational community of older adults and adoptive families was founded in Illinois on the belief that what makes a community a good place for older people also makes it a good place to bring up children. It is a planned community, with 15 homes for foster and adopted families, 44 for older people, and five buildings used for administrative and community purposes. Families receive free housing in return for providing foster care to children, while the older people benefit from subsidised rents in return for providing at least six hours a week of voluntary help to families. The results of an interpretive ethnographic study illustrate how this model of purposeful intergenerational relationships has helped the older residents to age well despite physical illness and disability. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
Hopes, fears and expectations about the future: what do older people's stories tell us about active ageing?
- Authors:
- CLARKE Amanda, WARREN Lorna
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 27(4), July 2007, pp.465-488.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Active ageing’ is a key concept in current policy and research on ageing and yet is under-analysed or interpreted largely within an economic framework. This paper explores active ageing in the broader context of older people's lives. Drawing on a series of biographical interviews with 23 people aged 60–96 years, the discussion focuses on the theme of future hopes and concerns. Exhortations
Exploring the prevalence of menopause symptoms in midlife women in methadone maintenance treatment
- Author:
- TUCHMAN Ellen
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Health Care, 45(4), 2007, pp.43-62.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Menopause is a natural process that occurs in women's lives as part of normal aging. Many women go through the menopausal transition with few or no symptoms, while some have significant or even disabling symptoms. The purpose of this paper is to describe the menopausal symptom experience of 135 urban methadone-maintained midlife American women between the ages of 40 and 55 years. A cross-sectional survey comprising sample characteristic questions and a 14-item menopause symptom checklist was administered. Ninety-six percent reported one or more symptoms with a mean of 6.2 symptoms. Symptom reporting was found to be relatively high, with more than half of the sample reporting hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, joint pains, and fatigue in the two weeks preceding the survey. However, the psychological symptoms (irritability and depression) were the two most common symptoms in this sample. This study documents a relatively heavy burden of symptoms in an aging cohort of methadone-maintained women. The physical and psychological impact of aging and, in particular, the experience of menopause in these women is rarely studied and poorly understood. This gap in critical knowledge is further complicated by the remarkable similarity of many symptoms associated with menopause and opiate withdrawal. Aging, drug-related health problems, and poor access to health care further complicate the picture and underscore the importance of better integration of health care with social work intervention. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
Staff-averse challenging behaviour in older adults with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- HARTLEY Sigan L., MacLEAN William E.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 20(6), November 2007, pp.519-528.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
People with intellectual disabilities are increasingly reaching older adulthood. Little is known about age-related change in the prevalence of challenging behaviours among older adults with intellectual disabilities. The frequency and severity of staff-averse challenging behaviours of 132 older adults with intellectual disabilities was assessed through informant ratings on the Inventory of Client and Agency Planning at two time points 8–10 years apart. There was an intraindividual decline in the frequency and severity of challenging behaviour using both lenient and more restricted definitions of challenging behaviour. There was a low prevalence but high comorbidity of severe challenging behaviour. Level of mental retardation and adaptive behaviour were related to the frequency and severity of challenging behaviour. An understanding of age-related intraindividual change in challenging behaviour has implications for staff wellbeing and optimizing the care of older adults with intellectual disabilities.
Baby boomers and adult ageing: issues for social and public policy
- Authors:
- BIGGS Simon, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing, 8(3), September 2007, pp.32-40.
- Publisher:
- Pier Professional
- Place of publication:
- Brighton
This article provides a critical assessment of academic and policy approaches to population ageing with an emphasis on the baby boomer cohort and constructions of late-life identity. It is suggested that policy towards an ageing population has shifted in focus, away from particular social hazards and towards an attempt to re-engineer the meaning of legitimate ageing and social participation in later life. Three themes are identified: constructing the baby boomers as a force for social change, a downward drift of the age associated with 'older people' and a shift away from defining ageing identifies through consumption, back towards work and production. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for future social and public policy.