Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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Sixty years on: women talk about old age
- Authors:
- FORD Janet, SINCLAIR Ruth
- Publisher:
- Women's Press
- Publication year:
- 1987
- Pagination:
- 168p.
- Place of publication:
- London
The changing career of "elder abuse and neglect" as a social problem in Canada: Learning from feminist frameworks?
- Author:
- HARBISON Joan
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 11(4), 1999, pp.59-80.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
"Elder abuse and neglect" was constructed as a social problem by experts and has largely been a product of "expert" knowledge building and intervention. The idea of women abuse as a social problem, on the other hand, originated with women themselves. The paper examines the changing social context in which some older people are currently seeking ownership of responses to mistreatment. It explores emerging criticisms of present constructions of "elder abuse and neglect" and the needs they imply, and links these to feminist frameworks. It then considers the appeal and utility of these frameworks for older women active in the fight against mistreatment.
Crafting communities: promoting inclusion, empowerment, and learning between older women
- Authors:
- MAIDMENT Jane, MACFARLANE Selma
- Journal article citation:
- Australian Social Work, 64(3), September 2011, pp.283-298.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Social planning documents are filled with warnings about the cost of an ageing population. This article portrays an alternative view about the productive and self-sustaining networks that exist among older women in the community engaging in craftwork. Based on research conducted in Victoria, Australia during 2007-2008, the article shows a resilient and committed group of older women contributing to community fundraising, building social networks, and providing learning opportunities to each other in diverse ways. Vignettes from nine craftswomen demonstrate clear links between the theory and models commonly espoused in the community development literature and the life-enriching practices used in organising informal community craft group activities. The stories reveal evidence of sustained participation, the generation of social capital, and the fostering of life-long learning. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for social work practice.
‘No matter what I did I would still end up in the same position’: age as a factor defining older women’s experience of labour market participation
- Author:
- MOORE Sian
- Journal article citation:
- Work Employment and Society, 23(4), December 2009, pp.655-671.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This research considers age as a factor defining the labour market experiences of older women. It is based on 33 interviews with women aged over 50 in three UK labour markets: London, Coventry and Oxford. Drawing upon their work histories it argues that direct discrimination on the grounds of age is difficult to disentangle from discrimination by gender, race and class. Older women’s accounts of entering work in the 1960s and 1970s demonstrated early gender segregation, influenced by school, family, gender role and class, the latter largely defined by access to higher education. The women described their perceptions of the changing nature of work and the way age can both be an advantage and disadvantage within specific occupations and sectors that are already defined in terms of race and gender. Overall they perceived age as a real impediment to entry or re-entry into the labour market, to training, and to career progression. But defining this as a discrete experience was difficult. It is suggested that intersectionality (the "intersection" of multiple forms of discrimination) enables the ways that older workers are variously situated across a number of social locations at one or more points in their life course to be captured. The authors conclude that age discrimination requires a more complex approach to and understanding of the structural nature of disadvantage than can be offered by anti-discrimination legislation alone.
A feminist approach to practice in working With midlife and older women with HIV/AIDS
- Authors:
- EMLET Charles A., TANGENBERG Katy, SIVERSON Claire
- Journal article citation:
- Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 17(2), Summer 2002, pp.167-190.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Older women with HIV/AIDS constitute an invisible population that is often ignored by organisers of HIV prevention efforts as well as by HIV and aging organisations. This article explores the importance of a feminist approach to practice with a population affected by the intersection of ageism, sexism, and AIDS phobia. Describes a support group for midlife and older women with HIV/AIDS is, and discusses four themes that were identified by the group participants.
Muted lives: older battered women
- Author:
- SEAVER Carol
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 8(2), 1996, pp.3-21.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Battered older women are a silenced and invisible group. They are silenced by ageist assumptions about them as too resistant and hopeless to change or made invisible by the notion that very frail elders are the only victims of elder abuse. Women over 50, abused by partners or adult children, are not accurately perceived and consequently not adequately helped by current domestic violence or elder abuse intervention systems. A new programme serving this group shows some important similarities and differences between younger and older battered women. Although barriers differ across the life cycle, even women of advanced age can be free of abuse or develop coping skills to minimize its damage. This article explores the unique factors affecting older women victimized by domestic abuse. The author concludes with questions and suggestion for helpers interested in better serving older battered women.
HIV-related stigma in midlife and older women
- Authors:
- JACOBS Robin J., KANE Michael N.
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Health Care, 49(1), January 2010, pp.68-89.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Stereotyped attitudes to HIV AIDS are acknowledged as a barrier to testing and prevention efforts worldwide. The prevalence of HIV AIDS is rising in women aged 50 and older and this study looks at the influence of self-esteem, sensation seeking, self silencing and sexual assertiveness on the HIV AIDS stigmatising behaviours of 573 Florida women aged between 50 and 93, in 2005 and 2006. Following various analyses, a regression model is presented by the authors, including self esteem, care as self sacrifice, silencing the self, initiation of sexual activities and behaviours and refusal to engage in some sexual activities and behaviours as predictive variables. Midlife and older women face the double stigma of ageism and the idea that older people should not be having sex, which has a bearing on, for example, the questions of condom negotiation and testing necessity, key to the practice of safe sex. The authors report that HIV-related stigma scores were highest in women who possessed lower self esteem, exhibited more self silencing (when with their partner) and were less sexually assertive. Implications for social work practice include a need, say the authors, to development age and gender appropriate strategies and education to assist midlife and older women in addressing HIV AIDS stigma. Further research is called for as older people become infected later in life and more young people age with HIV AIDS.
Equalities in mental health
- Author:
- NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH DEVELOPMENT UNIT
- Publisher:
- National Mental Health Development Unit
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 9p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This fact sheet outlines some relevant facts and figures relating to inequality in mental health. It discusses race issues, age and sex discrimination, and inequalities with those with learning disabilities. It also highlights how these inequalities affect children and young people.
Stoic heroines or collaborators: ageism, feminism and the provision of assistance to abused old women
- Author:
- HARBISON Joan.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work Practice, 22(2), July 2008, pp.221-234.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This paper uses findings of a study in rural Canada to discuss issues surrounding the assistance offered to old women living with abuse. Assistance providers, some of whom were women in their mid-seventies and beyond, suggested that most women in these age groups are of the opinion that "having made their [marriage] bed they should lie in it". Said to be associated with a strong desire to retain a positive identity as a good wife, protective feelings towards their husbands, and a wish to remain in place in their rural homes, these views would seem to conflict with the responses offered to younger generations of women - that they should leave the abusive relationship. While old women's diverse needs and wishes are acknowledged by their peers, they receive little attention from professionals, scholars and the shelter movement. This paper examines the tensions between the older women's decisions to stay and younger women's emphasis on leaving the relationship. The argument is made that the failure to address differences between older and younger women's needs overlooks the effects of the ageism and age-based oppression embedded in age relations with old people. The implications of these findings for service provision and social work practice are discussed.
Past it at 40?: a grassroots view of ageism and discrimination in employment
- Author:
- GASTER Lucy
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- Publication year:
- 2002
- Pagination:
- 61p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
This report provides new evidence that ageism and discrimination are having devastating effects on the lives of people as young as forty, with a cost to the economy of up to £31 billion per year. It explores, in detail, the experiences of people over forty trying to enter the labour market, including: people who have been made redundant; the longterm unemployed; women returners; people with disabilities; and people still in a job but needing new skills to keep going. Employers’ attitudes, policies and practices are examined, revealing a worrying lack of awareness of national and European legislation in relation to the employment of older people.