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Perspectives on life, wellbeing, and ageing by older women with intellectual disability
- Authors:
- STRNADOVA Iva, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 40(3), 2015, pp.275-285.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Background: The lifespan of women with intellectual disability (ID) has been steadily increasing, bringing new and unique challenges to these individuals and those who support them. Understanding these issues will help to improve support services for this population. Methods: Using inclusive research methods, 15 older women with ID were interviewed about their wellbeing and their views on growing older. Results: Interview data were analysed using the grounded theory approach. The core phenomenon identified through data analysis was “changes in life.” Conclusion: The women reported a growing loss of independence as well as changes in their health and activities. Analyses revealed factors important for wellbeing as well as different coping strategies used by the women to deal with the age-related changes in their lives. (Publisher abstract)
Independence in old age: the route to social exclusion?
- Author:
- PLATH Debbie
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 38(7), October 2008, pp.1353-1369.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The promotion of independence is a dominant theme in policy on old age and is also a principle used to guide social work practice with older people. This qualitative study of older people’s experiences of independence reveals that independence is a complex notion with a variety of meanings. In-depth interviews with older Australians elicited five main discourses on independence: doing things alone; making one’s own decisions; physical and mental capacity; having resources; social standing and self-esteem. Whilst the goal of independence was strongly upheld by the older people, negative experiences associated with independence were also revealed. Based on the experiences of these older people, the findings of this study offer insights for social workers prepared to move beyond individualistic interpretations of independence and promote socially inclusive independence.
Do assessment tools shape policy preferences? Analysing policy framing effects on older adults’ conceptualisation of autonomy
- Authors:
- DICKSON Daniel, MARIER Patrik, DUBE Anne-Sophie
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Policy, 51(1), 2022, pp.114-131.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Place of publication:
- Cambridge
The concept of autonomy is essential in the practice and study of gerontology and in long-term care policies. For older adults with expanding care needs, scores from tightly specified assessment instruments, which aim to measure the autonomy of service users, usually determine access to social services. These instruments emphasise functional independence in the performance of activities of daily living. In an effort to broaden the understanding of autonomy into needs assessment practice, the province of Québec (Canada) added social and relational elements into the assessment tool. In the wake of these changes, this article studies the interaction between the use of assessment instruments and the extent to which they alter how older adults define their autonomy as service users. This matters since the conceptualisation of autonomy shapes the formulation of long-term care policy problems, influencing both the demand and supply of services and the types of services that ought to be prioritised by governments. Relying on focus groups, this study shows that the functional autonomy frame dominates problem definitions, while social/relational framings are marginal. This reflects the more authoritative weight of functional autonomy within the assessment tool and contributes to the biomedicalisation of aging. (Edited publisher abstract)
The meaning of confidence from the perspective of older people living with frailty: a conceptual void within intermediate care services
- Authors:
- UNDERWOOD Frazer, LATOUR Jos M, KENT Bridie
- Journal article citation:
- Age and Ageing, 50(5), 2021, pp.1802-1810.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Background: Confidence is a cornerstone concept within health and social care’s intermediate care policy in the UK for a population of older people living with frailty. However, these intermediate care services delivering the policy, tasked to promote and build confidence, do so within an evidence vacuum. Objectives: To explore the meaning of confidence as seen through the lens of older people living with frailty and to re-evaluate current literature-based conceptual understanding. Design: A phenomenological study was undertaken to bring real world lived-experience meaning to the concept of confidence. Methods: Seventeen individual face-to-face interviews with older people living with frailty were undertaken and the data analysed using van Manen's approach to phenomenology. Results: Four themes are identified, informing a new conceptual model of confidence. This concept consists of four unique but interdependent dimensions. The four dimensions are: social connections, fear, independence and control. Each is ever-present in the confidence experience of the older person living with frailty. For each dimension, identifiable confidence eroding and enabling factors were recognised and are presented to promote aging well and personal resilience opportunities, giving chance to reduce the impact of vulnerability and frailty. Conclusions: This new and unique understanding of confidence provides a much needed evidence-base for services commissioned to promote and build confidence. It provides greater understanding and clarity to deliver these ambitions to an older population, progressing along the heath-frailty continuum. Empirical referents are required to quantify the concept’s impact in future interventional studies. (Edited publisher abstract)
Measuring active and healthy ageing in Europe
- Authors:
- ZAIDI Asghar, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 27(2), 2017, pp.138-157.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The active and healthy ageing measure reported here is calculated for the 28 European Union countries, with a specific focus on the current generation of older people and by using the latest data from multiple surveys. It covers diverse aspects of active and healthy ageing, by measuring older people’s contribution in relation to: employment, their unpaid familial, social and cultural contributions and their independent, healthy and secure living. An important contribution of this measure, referred to as the Active Ageing Index (‘AAI’), is that it also captures how countries differ with respect to capacity and enabling environments for active and healthy ageing. The AAI offers a breakdown by four domains of active and healthy ageing, and also by gender. Key findings are that Sweden comes at the top of the country ranking, followed closely by Denmark, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands and Ireland. The four southern European countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain and Malta) are middle-ranked countries. Greece and many of the Central European countries are at the bottom, highlighting much greater untapped potentials of active and healthy ageing among older people in these countries and a need for greater policy efforts. Women fare worse than men in most countries, identifying a need for an emphasis on reducing gender disparity in experiences of active and healthy ageing. The AAI tool developed has the potential to identify the social policy mechanisms behind the differential achievements of active and healthy ageing. (Edited publisher abstract)
‘At home it's just so much easier to be yourself’: older adults' perceptions of ageing in place
- Authors:
- STONES Damien, GULLIFER Judith
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 36(3), 2016, pp.449-481.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
By 2050, the number of people in Australia aged over 85 is expected to quadruple. Yet, from a socio-psychological research perspective, little is known about the experiences of people who continue to live at home during late old age (85 years and over), a period when challenging problems associated with ageing escalate and threaten to compromise independence. Utilising a qualitative methodology, the subjective lived experience of 23 very old adults (19 women, four men, with a mean age of 90.7 years, range 85–101 years) who live independently in rural Australia were elicited. The aims of the research were to understand their thoughts and feelings about ageing in place at home, and what psychological, social and practical adaptive strategies they employ to cope with difficulties encountered during very old age. In-depth interviews were analysed in an interpretive phenomenological tradition of thematic analysis, interpretation of paradigm cases and interpretation of exemplars. Participants described how historical, cultural and environmental contexts shaped their everyday thoughts, activities and what was meaningful for them. The findings add to our understanding of the largely unnarrated lives of the very old, suggest a need for person-centred home-care assessment processes and aid significant others (family, friends and neighbours) to understand better what very old adults need to live independently. (Publisher abstract)
A life course approach to promoting positive ageing
- Author:
- WEALLEANS Lynne
- Publisher:
- Beth Johnson Foundation
- Publication year:
- 2014
- Pagination:
- 25
- Place of publication:
- Stoke-on-Trent
This report explores a model of working with individuals and communities that embeds ageing as a natural part of the life course and supports quality of life into later age. The model is based on the learning and evidence from the Beth Johnson Foundation’s practical work and on the findings from a consultation with older people, to gain an in-depth understanding of their thoughts and actions on ageing. The life course model outlined in this report comprises five core elements; place, transitions, catalyst for change, personal resilience and control and enhancing future life choices. This reflects the importance of interventions to support positive ageing taking place in a range of settings. They need to concentrate on life events and transition times rather than chronological age and provide a catalyst and support for change that will encourage the strengthening of coping skills and have a positive impact into the future. The life course model takes a proactive approach to promoting positive ageing by identifying life events and transition times when people will be most receptive to receiving information and taking action. By targeting interventions at those particular stages it promotes a process of change that can encourage individuals to take more control as they are ageing and includes: awareness raising, engaging, motivating, providing a catalyst (or an incentive) to change, providing support and ensuring sustainability. (Edited publisher abstract)
Receiving support when older: what makes it OK?
- Authors:
- ALLEN Ruth E.S., WILES Janine L.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 54(4), 2014, pp.670-682.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Community-dwelling childless older people (n = 38, aged 63–93) were interviewed about their experiences and expectations of support, as they comprise a group “at risk” of lack of support. Responses were analyzed within a narrative gerontology framework of positioning theory as to how receiving support was “positioned” and how it related to growing older. Participants defined support in widely diverse ways; it was not a straightforward concept. Receiving support could be warranted by particular circumstances such as illness, made acceptable by the qualities of the support giver, and/or by being part of reciprocal exchanges across time. Support receiving was resisted when associated with difficult interpersonal dynamics or assumptions of incapacity. It was also in tension with preferred positions of being “independent” or of needing “no support.” Participants positioned “oldness” negatively and as both equivalent to the need for support and as a potential outcome of being a support receiver. The research shows that support can be hard to define and hard to receive. Needs assessors and researchers asking “Do you have enough support?” need to consider how support is positioned to better target appropriate help. Assumptions about at-risk groups can be misleading; many childless participants had a lifetime of self-support or an intentionally developed “web of contacts” at a size that suited them, even if they looked unsupported to others. (Edited publisher abstract)
Self-determination among frail older persons: a desirable goal older persons’ conceptions of self-determination
- Authors:
- MARTENSSON Lena, EKLUND Kajsa
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 15(2), 2014, pp.90-101.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: Self-determination is governed by ethical and legal rights in western society. In spite of that, older people are still restricted by others in their decision-making processes. The purpose of this paper is to explore older persons’ different conceptions of self-determination. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative phenomenographic interview study on frail older persons (n=15). Findings: Three categories emerged, showing the variations of conception of self-determination as experienced by frail older people: first, self-determination changes throughout life; second, self-determination is being an agent in one's own life; and third, self-determination is conditional. In summary, while self-determination is changeable throughout life, and older persons want to be their own agents, and struggle to be that, certain conditions must be met to make it possible for them to be able to exercise self-determination. Practical implications: Suggestions for supporting and strengthening frail older persons’ self-determination, and indirectly their well-being and health: to have a person-centered approach, treat them with dignity and respect and give them opportunities to influence and to feel involved; to improve their health literacy by, for example, supporting them with enough knowledge to be able to exercise self-determination; to make them feel safe and secure in relationships, such as with family and caregivers. Originality/value: This study explores frail older persons’ own conceptions of self-determination to be able to gain knowledge of how professionals can support them so that they may experience self-determination in life
A better life: valuing our later years
- Author:
- BLOOD Imogen
- Publisher:
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Publication year:
- 2013
- Pagination:
- 91
- Place of publication:
- York
In 2009, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation launched the five-year programme A Better Life, to explore what can help older people with high support needs to improve their quality of life (and what ‘quality of life’ means for them) now and in the future. This book was commissioned by JRF to draw out and reflect on the key messages from this body of work. A recurring theme in the programme is that ageing is about all of us; it is everyone’s business, not just those working in care homes, commissioning health and care services, or developing government policies and programmes. The book quotes the personal experiences of individual older people, and asks why it is that personal identity risks getting overlooked at this stage of life. It looks specifically at how they can contribute to the development of the supportive relationships, which older people with high support needs value. It considers the messages about what ‘choice’, ‘control’ and ‘independence’ mean to people as they get older. A concluding chapter summarises key messages and draws together the practical ideas for change that were introduce throughout the report, starting with old age is not about ‘them’: it is about all of us. Older people are individuals, and as a group, they are becoming more diverse. Relationships matter to us whatever our age: we have a fundamental human need to connect with others meaningfully. Older people with high support needs have many assets, strengths and resources; and whatever our age or support needs, we should all be treated as citizens: the individual and collective voices of older people with high support needs should be heard and given power. A short paper is also available that summarises the key messages from JRF’s ‘A better life’ programme of work. (Edited publisher abstract)