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Caught between two fronts: successful aging in the time of COVID-19
- Authors:
- RICHTER Lukas, HEIDINGER Theresa
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 24(4), 2020, pp.273-280.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic poses a great challenge for older people both in terms of the severity of the disease and the negative consequences of social distancing. Assumptions about negative effects on the lives of the elderly, affecting dimensions of successful aging (such as the preservation of social relationships), have thus far been hypothetical and have lacked empirical evidence. The aim of this paper is to shed empirical light on the effects of COVID-19 on the everyday life of older people against the background of the concept of successful aging. Design/methodology/approach: Data of a standardized, representative telephone survey with residents of Lower Austria, a county of Austria, were used for this secondary analysis. The sample included 521 persons of 60 years of age and older. For this paper, contingency analyses (χ² coefficients, z-tests using Bonferroni correction) and unidimensional correlational analyses were calculated. Findings: The empirical data show that successful aging along the three dimensions of successful aging is a challenge in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic – leaving the elderly caught between two fronts. Originality/value: The present work focusses on a unique moment in time, describing the changes to the lives of Austrian elderly because of the social distancing measures imposed to protect against the spread of COVID-19. These changes are discussed in the theoretical framework of successful aging. (Edited publisher abstract)
Active ageing and prevention in the context of long-term care: rethinking concepts and practices
- Author:
- RUPPE Georg
- Publisher:
- European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 16p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Vienna
Relating prevention with long-term care is often thought of as something contradictory. In many countries “long-term care” and “prevention” are terms strongly associated with the ideologies of “being taken care of” and “avoidance” and are thus also often related to passivity. It generally provokes the question whether preventive or activating measures are still feasible or even existent for a person already in need of long-term care. Occasionally it is even considered sarcastic to speak of prevention or rehabilitation when long-term care has already entered the stage. The introduction to this Policy Brief explores conceptual meanings of prevention and long-term care in relation to active ageing. Some general European trends and national developments in Austria concerning long-term care as well as related measures of prevention and activation for older people are outlined in the first part of the Policy Brief. The following section critically discusses general social and health policy approaches as well as practice examples in different long-term care settings in Austria. The Policy Brief concludes with a number of recommendations for prevention and active ageing policies targeted specifically for those older people with existing long-term care needs.
Ageing and health status in adults with intellectual disabilities: results of the European Pomona II study
- Authors:
- HAVEMAN Meindert, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 36(1), March 2011, pp.49-60.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
POMONA II was a European Commission funded public health project collecting information from 14 countries using a set of key health indicators specifically relevant for people with intellectual disabilities. This research focused on age-specific differences relating to environmental and lifestyle factors and the 17 medical conditions measured by the POMONA Checklist of Health Indicators. The article describes how information was collected using the POMONA Health Interview Survey and Evaluation Form from a sample of 1,253 participants in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It then presents the results of the analysis, with tables showing characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities in the study, frequency of social contacts with relatives or friends according to age, lifestyle risk factors in people with intellectual disabilities according to age, and general and age-specific prevalence rates of health problems. The authors discuss how healthy older adults with intellectual disabilities are with regard to lifestyle factors, and whether there are health disparities between older adults with and without intellectual disabilities. They note that some evidence of health disparities was found for older people with intellectual disabilities, particularly in terms of under diagnosed or inadequately managed preventable health conditions.
Transnational families and aged care: the mobility of care and the migrancy of ageing
- Author:
- BALDASSAR Loretta
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33(2), March 2007, pp.275-297.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper is an ethnographic exploration of a seldom-discussed 'micro' dimension of transnational studies, the practices of long-distance family relations and aged care. The importance of time as a key variable in transnational research is demonstrated through comparisons of the care exchanges of three cohorts of Italian migrants in Australia and their kin in Italy. A focus on 'transnationalism from below', the more quotidian and domestic features of transmigrant experience, highlights the importance of considering the role of homeland kin and communities in discussions of migration. The analysis of transnational care-giving practices illustrates that migrancy is sometimes triggered by the need to give or receive care rather than the more commonly assumed 'rational' economic motivations. Transnational lives are thus shaped by the 'economies of kinship', which develop across changing state ('macro'), community ('meso') and family migration ('micro') histories, including, in particular, culturally constructed notions of 'ideal' family relations and obligations, as well as notions of 'successful' migration and 'licence to leave'.
Whose empowerment and independence?: a cross-national perspective on ‘cash for care’ schemes
- Author:
- UNGERSON Clare
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 24(2), March 2004, pp.189-212.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Uses qualitative data from a cross-national study of ‘cash for care’ schemes in five European countries (Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) to consider the concepts of empowerment and independence in relation to both care-users and care-givers. Locates the schemes along two axes, one of regulation/non-regulation, the other whether relatives can be paid or not. Each of the schemes has a different impact both on the care relationship and on the labour market for care. In the Netherlands where relatives can be paid, for example, a fully commodified form of informal care emerges; but in Austria and Italy with low regulation, a mix of informal and formal care-givers/workers has emerged with many international migrant workers. In the UK, direct payments allow care-users to employ local care-workers who deliver care for various lengths of time; while in France a credentialised system means that care-work is delivered by qualified workers but for very short intervals. Concludes that none of these schemes have a simple outcome or advantage, and that the contexts in which they occur and the nature of their regulation has to be understood before drawing conclusions about their impact on empowerment and independence on both sides of the care relationship.