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Socialising place attachment: place, social memory and embodied affordances
- Author:
- DEGNEN Cathrine
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 36(8), 2016, pp.1645-1667.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The significance of place attachment for later life has been convincingly demonstrated. Scholars have offered useful models that help account for the depth of feeling bound up in place attachment in later life, how this attachment is achieved, and its relevance for belonging and identity. To date, however, this focus has largely been on the individual level of experience. This article draws on sociological and anthropological perspectives to consider how place attachment is forged and experienced in dynamic interaction with other entities and other processes: how place attachment is also a collective, relational and embodied process, caught up and experienced via social memory practices and sensorial, bodily knowledge. This resonates with and contributes to the ‘relational turn’ which has attracted burgeoning interest in the larger home disciplines of sociology, human geography and anthropology, and reciprocally helps them extend and build their interaction with critical ageing studies. In making this argument, The author draws on two periods of anthropological, ethnographic participant-observation that she conducted in a semi-rural village in the former coalfields in South Yorkshire, England. (Publisher abstract)
Self-compassion, attitudes to ageing and indicators of health and well-being among midlife women
- Authors:
- BROWN Lydia, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 20(10), 2016, pp.1035-1043.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: Attitudes to ageing exert a powerful influence on health and well-being, yet surprisingly little research has examined factors that contribute to the formation of these attitudes. The aim of this study was to consider the potential role of self-compassion in predicting attitudes to ageing, which in turn contribute to positive and negative mental well-being and self-reported health. Method: This was a cross-sectional study using data from 517 midlife women aged between 40 and 60. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationships between self-compassion, three facets of attitudes to ageing and well-being outcomes. Results: Together, self-compassion and attitudes to ageing explained between 36% and 67% of the variance in well-being. Self-compassion was a strong predictor of attitudes towards psychosocial loss, physical change and psychological growth (β range: .22–.51). Furthermore, the relationship between self-compassion and well-being outcomes was partially mediated by attitudes to physical change. Conclusion: Self-compassion may be a modifiable internal resource to promote healthy attitudes to ageing in midlife, when ageing becomes personally relevant. Moreover, attitudes towards physical change may help explain how self-compassion promotes well-being among midlife women. (Publisher abstract)
Processes of identity development and behaviour change in later life: exploring self-talk during physical activity uptake
- Authors:
- OLIVER E.J., HUDSON J., THOMAS L.
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 36(7), 2016, pp.1388-1406.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The benefits of exercise are well documented, nevertheless, physical activity decreases progressively with age, a trend exacerbated in those who have fallen. An important predictor of exercise behaviour is the extent to which motivation for exercise has been internalised into one's identity, however, we know little about changing health behaviours in older people, with calls for longitudinal studies to aid understanding. Grounded in self-determination theory, the present study explored the role of self-talk in the process of identity change during the initial ten weeks of an exercise referral falls prevention programme. Six participants identified at risk of falling completed weekly measures of their physical activity-related cognition and identity; in-depth interviews were completed at course commencement and ten weeks later. During this initial phase of the behaviour change programme, participants developed stronger physical activity identities, with themes reflecting a transition from a physically impaired and negative self to a more future-orientated, capable and integrated self-identity. Concurrently, autonomy-supportive and competence-reinforcing self-talk significantly increased, with non-significant increases and decreases in controlling and amotivational self-talk, respectively. The data suggest that self-talk may be usefully conceptualised as a process through which social messages are interpreted and internalised to integrate a new behaviour into one's existing self-concept. (Publisher abstract)
‘Thinking you're old and frail’: a qualitative study of frailty in older adults
- Authors:
- WARMOTH Krystal, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 36(7), 2016, pp.1483-1500.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Many older adults experience what is clinically recognised as frailty but little is known about the perceptions of, and attitudes regarding, being frail. This qualitative study explored adults' perceptions of frailty and their beliefs concerning its progression and consequences. Twenty-nine participants aged 66–98 with varying degrees of frailty, residing either in their homes or institutional settings, participated in semi-structured interviews. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using a Grounded Theory approach. Self-identifying as ‘frail’ was perceived by participants to be strongly related to their own levels of health and engagement in social and physical activity. Being labelled by others as ‘old and frail’ contributed to the development of a frailty identity by encouraging attitudinal and behavioural confirmation of it, including a loss of interest in participating in social and physical activities, poor physical health and increased stigmatisation. Using both individual and social context, different strategies were used to resist self-identification. The study provides insights into older adults' perceptions and attitudes regarding frailty, including the development of a frailty identity and its relationship with activity levels and health. The implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed. (Publisher abstract)
Materialising memories: exploring the stories of people with dementia through dress
- Authors:
- BUSE Christina E., TWIGG Julia
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 36(6), 2016, pp.1115-1135.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
In this article, the authors use clothes as a tool for exploring the life stories and narratives of people with dementia, eliciting memories through the sensory and material dimensions of dress. The article draws on an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study, ‘Dementia and Dress’, which explored everyday experiences of clothing for carers, care workers and people with dementia, using qualitative and ethnographic methods including: ‘wardrobe interviews’, observations, and visual and sensory approaches. In this analysis, the authors use three dimensions of dress as a device for exploring the experiences of people with dementia: kept clothes, as a way of retaining connections to memories and identity; discarded clothes, and their implications for understanding change and loss in relation to the ‘dementia journey’; and absent clothes, invoked through the sensory imagination, recalling images of former selves, and carrying identity forward into the context of care. The article contributes to understandings of narrative, identity and dementia, drawing attention to the potential of material objects for evoking narratives, and maintaining biographical continuity for both men and women. The paper has larger implications for understandings of ageing and care practice; as well as contributing to the wider Material Turn in gerontology, showing how cultural analyses can be applied even to frail older groups who are often excluded from such approaches. (Edited publisher abstract)
The task of time in retirement
- Authors:
- EKERDT David J., KOSS Catheryn
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 36(6), 2016, pp.1295-1311.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Retirees' encounter with time has long interested social scientists, especially the negotiation of such an open-ended status. Pursuing theoretical suggestions that daily activities anchor a narrative of self-identity, this project examined the coherence of retirees' representations of their time use. Information is drawn from interviews with 30 retirees in the Midwestern United States of America who were invited to discuss their daily lives and activities. The retirees valued time sovereignty and accounted for their time use by describing schedules of activities in some detail. Daily time was not presented as improvised but rather as structured into routines. Recurring behaviours flowed from situations and structures in which people were implicated, such as body care and living with others. Even in replies to a specific question about the preceding day, people slipped into language about what they typically do. Retirees' ready narratives about routines were also accounts of who they are not. The findings suggest, first, that daily routines are instrumental for retirees in economising thought and behaviour. Second, the assertion of a routine is an assurance that one's life is ordered and proceeds with purpose, thus solving the task of time. Third, routines can be a means to signal conformity with ideals of active ageing. (Edited publisher abstract)
Interrogating personhood and dementia
- Authors:
- HIGGS Paul, GILLEARD Chris
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 20(8), 2016, pp.773-780.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: To interrogate the concept of personhood and its application to care practices for people with dementia. Method: The authors outline the work of Tom Kitwood on personhood and relate this to conceptualisations of personhood in metaphysics and in moral philosophy. Results: The philosophical concept of personhood has a long history. The metaphysical tradition examines the necessary and sufficient qualities that make up personhood such as agency, consciousness, identity, rationality and second-order reflexivity. Alternative viewpoints treat personhood as a matter of degree rather than as a superordinate category. Within moral philosophy personhood is treated as a moral status applicable to some or to all human beings. Conclusion: In the light of the multiple meanings attached to the term in both metaphysics and moral philosophy, personhood is a relatively unhelpful concept to act as the foundation for developing models and standards of care for people with dementia. Care, the author suggest, should concentrate less on ambiguous and somewhat abstract terms such as personhood and focus instead on supporting people's existing capabilities, while minimising the harmful consequences of their incapacities. (Edited publisher abstract)
Self-awareness of memory impairment in Parkinson’s disease: a review of the literature
- Authors:
- BLOOMFIELD Jacqueline, WOODS Damith Thushara, LUDINGTON Jason
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 20(1), 2016, pp.57-64.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review and provide information on the small but growing body of literature that demonstrates that some people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are unaware of the memory impairment, and this has clinical implications for how family members care for their loved one, and how clinical staff and others may interact with them on a day-to-day perspective. Design/methodology/approach: The approach takes the form of a general review. Findings: People with PD experience a variety of cognitive impairment including deficits in memory and higher level executive processes. Impairment in these areas can occur early in the disease course and result in adverse consequences including distractibility, trouble recalling information, and problems remembering to execute planned actions like adhering to medication regimes. The literature also suggests heterogeneity in both the memory performance of people with PD and in the definition of awareness used to investigate this phenomenon. Practical implications: Strategies for remembering may be of practical importance for people with PD, and/or caregivers should be introduced and educated to the nature of memory impairment in PD, as well as its likely course and natural progression in a non-threatening way before they are later instructed on “tips” for maximising daily functioning as more severe cognitive deficits begin to appear. Originality/value: This paper adds to the small body of literature that investigates patients’ awareness of memory impairment in PD and advocates for ongoing research within the area. (Publisher abstract)
Seniors' narratives of asking (and not asking) for help after a fall: implications for identity
- Authors:
- MILLER Patricia A., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 36(2), 2016, pp.240-258.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Falls among community-dwelling seniors constitute a major public health concern because of the potential morbidity and mortality associated with the fall. This study examined the informal care networks accessed by Canadian seniors who had visited the Emergency Department as a result of a fall, and considered the implications of the processes of asking for and receiving help on the senior's identity. Four themes were identified. The first was valuing independence. The remaining three themes concerned threats to the participants' identities linked to the need to ask for or receive help from family and friends. They were: becoming indebted, feeling devalued and becoming a burden to others. Seniors were noted to excuse family members from the expectation of helping because of work and family commitments, and illness. Participants described a mutually beneficial relationship with friends wherein both parties valued their independence and provided assistance to the other when needed. Their comments suggested that assistance was viewed as a good to be traded among peers. The findings indicate that seniors value their independence and may not seek help even when it appears to be available, if asking threatens valued identities. Health and social care practitioners and policy makers responsible for planning and delivery of services should take this into account in order to ensure the best possible care for injured community-dwelling seniors. (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)