Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 2 of 2
The welfare state, the individual and the needs for care: older people's views
- Author:
- GUNNARSSON Evy
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 18(3), July 2009, pp.252-259.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The aim of this qualitative study was to study how older people experience aging and reflect on their need for care in the Swedish welfare context. Sixteen people were interviewed, aged between 77 and 92 years. Staying healthy and independent in their everyday lives were prized values for the informants. Some brushed aside thoughts of being in need of home help services in the future and others had a more reflecting attitude. The informants did not want to burden either society or their children. Through mass media and the experiences of their neighbours, they had gained a negative impression of eldercare. They were uncertain if there would be any helping hand of good quality in the future. On the other hand, informants who already had home help thought that it was helping them to maintain independence in everyday life and they were also satisfied with the help they received.
‘I think I have had a good life’: the everyday lives of older women and men from a lifecourse perspective
- Author:
- GUNNARSSON Evy
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 29(1), January 2009, pp.33-48.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Through increased longevity, older people today live for many years in retirement. Research on the everyday lives of older women and men who are not in need of help from elder care is scarce. This paper reports an in-depth study of a small sample of such relatively healthy older people in Sweden. The aim of the study was to describe, analyse and interpret from a lifecourse perspective how older women and men experience everyday life. Twenty informants were recruited through advertisements and they were interviewed twice. They were aged 75 to 90 years at the first interview. The informants belong to the cohort that was born before the Second World War and they have witnessed and benefitted from both unprecedented economic growth and the development of the Swedish welfare state. Both the men and the women had been in paid work outside the home, and once retired they were determined to remain active. Even though many had found that their capacities had reduced, the informants spontaneously stressed the importance of continuing to be physically and mentally active. They saw life as meaningful because they sustained links in different ways with kin, friends and organisations. They wanted to remain active as long as possible, even when a decline in health reduced the range of activities that they could pursue.