bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Retirement and the Lifestyles of Older Women
Authors: Voges Wolfgang , Pongratz Hannelore 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTChange of residence from a private household to a residential care facility, implying the relinquishing of household activities, is as critical a life event for older women as retirement from employment outside the home is for older men. This transition terminates many of the activities that had structured the older women's lives for decades, and implies modification of patterns of lifestyle. Based on interviews with female residents of residential care facilities in the Munich area, a close relative who had observed the transition and an employee at the facility, the impacts of the move on dimensions/aspects of lifestyle were analysed, as well as the success with which adaptation to the new setting was made. The positive relationship posited by the continuity hypothesis between continuity in lifestyle and contentment with life situation were generally upheld, although the compensation for a dimension of lifestyle disrupted by the transition by another dimension often occurred.
Dependency and Old Age: Theoretical Accounts and Practical Understandings
Authors: Dant Tim 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe concept of dependency is involved in two strands of the literature on old age, and is used in each with a different effect. In the literature on ‘structured dependency’ the concept is used to describe and criticise a relationship between elderly people and the state that is determined by social policy. In the literature on ‘dependency scales’ the concept is used as a basis for categorising elderly people for research, planning and service purposes. More recent commentary on the role of the concept in relation to elderly people suggests that dependency needs to be understood in a fuller way if it is to be useful in understanding the situation of elderly people in contemporary society. This paper develops the idea that dependency refers to a form of relationship characterised by an unequal distribution of power.
Continuing care of Old People—A Medical Viewpoint
Authors: Lewis Richard , Wattis John 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTProvision for old people who are in need of continuing care requires close co-operation between informal carers and different agencies and disciplines providing health and social care. In the United Kingdom, the present system of care has evolved from earlier patterns of care centred on the asylums and the poor law with its workhouse institutions. It lacks cohesion. Despite the designation of old people as a priority group, resources are still inadequate to provide a good quality of care. Organisational differences between health and social services can lead to inefficient use of existing resources. More specialised medical, psychiatric and social services for old people enhance the possibilities for co-operation even though they may appear to lead to greater fragmentation. The history of the development of these services in the UK, including the recent expansion of private sector care, is reviewed, with special attention from the medical perspective to the phenomenon of ‘bed blocking’. The recently published Griffiths Report on community care is briefly considered, and some principles for future developments are laid down.
Ageing as a Challenge for Sociological Theory
Authors: Kohli Martin 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe sociology of ageing has often turned to general sociology in search of useful theoretical approaches, but there has been little cognitive influx back into general theory. By this one-sided relation, the sociology of ageing has typically constituted itself as an applied field. It can be argued, however, that the problems of an ageing society bring forth not only a new topical area but also a challenge for some of the foundations of sociological theory, which were largely laid before these problems became visible. The paper deals with some of the systematic issues that arise in this respect. It takes as its point of departure that modern society has been theoretically conceived as a ‘work society’. If social life is structured around work and its organisation, how can we theoretically cope with a situation in which a large (and still growing) part of the population has left the domain of formally organised work? This question is discussed on three levels: (I) the structure of social inequality (e.g. welfare classes instead of production-based classes); (2) cultural meaning structures (e.g. leisure instead of productivity and achievement); and (3) socialisation (e.g. biographical anticipation and reminiscence instead of a ‘situational’ orientation).
Council Housing, Tenure Polarisation and Older People in Two Contrasting Localities
Authors: Means Robin 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article attempts to illustrate the importance of housing issues in old age and to argue for a more sophisticated view of older people than that achieved by much housing research. Tenure relationships in two contrasting localities are explored and it is shown that cruder models of social and tenurial polarisation need to be treated with care because of the tendency for aggregate data to hide important variations in relationships between tenures and within tenures. Many older people wish to enter local authority council housing and they have strong views on what is the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ property on offer.
The Economic ‘Burden’ of Ageing and the Prospect of Intergenerational Conflict
Authors: Walker Alan 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article examines the mounting pessimism of policy-makers concerning the implications of societal ageing. It is argued that underlying this pessimism are primarily macroeconomic worries about the economic ‘burden’ that older people are said to represent to the economy and, specifically, the working population. It is suggested that, in turn, these particular concerns are ideologically inspired; hence it is the public expenditure costs of pensions and health care rather than, for example, the economic costs of ageing for older people and their families, that are the chief causes of anxiety. Thus political ideology has distorted and amplified the macroeconomic consequences of population ageing in order to legitimate anti-welfare state policies.While Britain and the US represent leading examples of this trend, there is a danger that, inspired to some extent by the leading international economic agencies, other countries will follow their lead. An unintended result of doing so may be the growth of inter-generational conflict. This concept has achieved quite wide currency in the US literature and has been influential in some policy circles. It is subjected to close scrutiny and found deficient as a basis for policy-making. In conclusion some lessons are drawn about the failure of orthodox social gerontology to counteract the pessimistic accounts emanating from economic and demographic analyses and the need for a more critical stance by the discipline.
Caring for People who Die: The Experience of Family and Friends
Authors: Seale Clive 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTA survey of relatives, friends and others who knew the deceased in a random national sample of adult deaths in England forms the basis of this report. Comparisons of this 1987 sample are made with a similar study carried out in 1969. The sample of deaths was largely one of elderly people, and changes in the family and household compositions of these people reflect changes in the wider population of elderly people. More lived alone, or in smaller family units, and fewer sources of help during their final illness were available from relatives. Women were particularly disadvantaged, both as dependants and carers, who were then bereaved, often themselves left to live alone. The stress and the mixed feelings of carers are described. Nevertheless, a substantial minority were free of serious levels of dependency in their last year of life. Those dying of cancer formed a somewhat younger group, with shorter periods of dependency and greater availability of relatives to look after them. Many of the medical and nursing innovations in the care of the dying have focused exclusively on cancer. This study demonstrates the value of a broader perspective on death and dying that emphasises the needs of older people.
‘What are Families For?’: On Family Solidarity and Preference for Help
Authors: Daatland Svein Olav 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTNorwegian elderly people today are clearly more aware of public help and services compared to the late 1960s, and a growing number of them prefer public rather than family help. A study in Oslo found that a majority would turn to the public services when in need of long-term help, even when children were living close by. Children or other informal helpers were preferred over the public services only when there was a need for short-term assistance. The growing preference for public help is taken primarily as a response to increased availability of public services, and not as a reflection of weaker inter-generational solidarity.
The Emerging Political Power of the Elderly in Britain 1908–1948
Authors: Blaikie Andrew 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTDespite major shifts in the position of older people in British society during the first half of the twentieth century, accounts of the emergence of retirement pensions have ignored the role of old age pressure groups, preferring arguments which emphasise structured dependency rather than human agency. By contrast, this paper examines the political campaigns mounted by two groups – one claiming to speak on behalf of older people, the other composed of older people themselves. The failure of both groups to influence major policy decisions relates not to the passivity or ‘silent suffering’ of older people, or to ‘generational equity’ criteria which privileged younger, unemployed workers, but to the inadequacies of their different styles of campaigning. While the National Conference, in the decade after 1916, focused their moral invective around notions of thrift which failed to arouse or articulate the needs of all but the most ‘respectable aged Britishers’, the uncompromising, combative approach of the National Federation during the critical years leading up to the Beveridge legislation incurred the disdain of policymakers. In the intervening years, trade union activity was underlain by mixed motives. While the historical specificity of the movements and debates that are discussed is significant, the generationally specific lifetime experiences of the older people in question to some extent determined their character.
Women's Perspectives on Informal Care of the Elderly: Public Ideology and Personal Experience of Giving and Receiving Care
Authors: Aronson Jane 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTDrawing on a qualitative study of thirty-two women aged between 35 and 85, this paper links women's experiences of giving and receiving care in the informal sphere to their wider social and ideological context. While subjects subscribed to cultural assumptions about families, responsibility, gender and old age, they experienced awkwardness in translating them into their own lives. Younger women and women looking back on their middle years experienced contradiction between the cultural expectation that they be responsive to others and their wishes for self-enhancement. Older women experienced contradiction between the cultural imperative to be unburdensome and independent and their wish for security. Feelings of guilt and shame were associated with not living up to these expectations. They rendered subjects' concerns, individual failings and stifled expression of their needs. To facilitate such expression and work towards social policies that enhance women over the life course, it will be necessary to envision alternative types of supportive services and to challenge the ideological barriers to their use that the subjects of this study had so acutely internalised.
The Dialectics of Dementia: With Particular Reference to Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Kitwood Tom 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTA new theory of the dementing process in old age is presented in outline. Its main focus is on the dialectical interplay between neurological and social-psychological factors, with special emphasis on aspects of the latter which deprive a neurologically impaired individual of his or her personhood. The account of dementia so derived is more comprehensive and less deterministic than those which are based on the simpler versions of a ‘medical model’. Also, it opens up the way for a more personal and optimistic view of caregiving.
Elderly Carers: the Need for Appropriate Intervention
Authors: Wenger G. Clare 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe literature on caring and carers has tended to emphasise the care of aged parents by middle-aged daughters. A recent government survey, however, has drawn attention to the fact that a substantial proportion of all carers are themselves elderly. This paper focuses on elderly carers. It shows that at least a third of elderly people can expect to become carers during retirement. Elderly carers differ from younger carers in that they: care for shorter periods; are more likely to provide intimate personal care and heavy nursing tasks associated with terminal care; and to be caring for their most significant other, usually a spouse. It is suggested that elderly carers represent a sub-group of carers with special needs not necessarily met by present service provision. Some more appropriate interventions are suggested.
New Poverty and the Old Poor: Pensioners' Incomes in the European Community
Authors: Laczko Frank 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTAs we approach 1992, it is likely that elderly people in Britain will increasingly compare themselves with elderly Europeans. In Britain, recent government statements suggest that, for most pensioners, old age is no longer associated with being poor. The purpose of this paper is to compare poverty among elderly people in Britain and other European Community countries. The paper draws upon data from an EC-sponsored study on ‘new poverty’ in the European Community. ‘New poverty’ is not a term commonly used in Britain to describe the changes in poverty that have occurred in the last decade. It is suggested that one of the reasons for this could be because poverty in Britain, more so than in many other EC countries, is still strongly associated with the ‘old poor’. The paper shows that elderly people in the UK are much more dependent on means-tested social assistance (income support) than elderly people in other EC countries.
Individual Experiences as Cultural – a Cross-cultural Study on Loneliness Among the Elderly
Authors: Jylhä Marja , Jokela Jukka 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTData from six European regions participating in the Eleven Country Study on Health Care of the Elderly suggested that feelings of loneliness were more prevalent in areas where living alone was rarest and where community bonds were strongest. Individual variables describing life-situation did not explain the differences. The article examines loneliness as an historical and cultural phenomenon. It is argued that loneliness reflects, through complex mediations, the mutual relationship between the individual and the community and the extent to which the ideology of individualism prevails in society. In attempts to understand the differences between the study areas, the article looks more closely into the role of the community and the family in two selected areas: the industrial town Tampere in Finland and rural Greece.
The Significance of Friendship for Women in Later Life
Authors: Jerrome Dorothy 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTAs middle-class women enter retirement, through giving up a job or losing a spouse or dependent relative, they adopt different friendship strategies. Some extend and deepen existing relationships; some make new friends; some develop the role of ‘good neighbour’; some grow closer to siblings. One of the most popular ways of making friends is to join a voluntary association, but this strategy is not always successful. Between them, friends provide a variety of services, supports and company. Old friends contribute something unique to the acceptance of ageing and adjustment to changing circumstances. Middle-class friendships have a hedonistic quality which matches the lifestyle of middle-class women in retirement.
Cost Information and Residential Care of the Elderly
Authors: Knapp Martin 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTA notable feature of most recent policy statements regarding care of the elderly is a reference to the costs of care. Public expenditure cuts at a time when the numbers of old people, and dependent old people, are increasing have heightened the already growing concern about the resources needed for providing care. This paper has two basic aims. The subsidiary aim is to examine this growing concern, with particular reference to the British experience since 1948 and with an especial focus on residential care services. This examination provides an historical and contextual basis for the discussion which is the principle aim of the paper. This aim is to explain how information on costs which is currently available to the policy maker and care provider can be gainfully employed in the planning of care services for the elderly. Again, attention is mainly focussed on residential care, but the approach has more general relevance. The starting point for this discussion is an examination of why costs vary – either between homes or between areas or between providers. A fairly comprehensive review of previous costs studies in this area is provided.
Demographic Statistics and Old Age Ideology
Authors: Bytheway W. R. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTIntroductory descriptions of the contemporary ‘old age phenomenon’ tend to draw heavily upon demographic statistics. An analysis of such descriptions in popular books on retirement show that the ways in which these are presented and interpreted reflect a certain set of beliefs concerning the concept of old age. Critical to this ideology is the dissociation of old age and death. Together with indicators of the unprecedented expansion of old age, this creates an image of old age that has doubtful validity.
Pre-Retirement Education: The British and American Experience
Authors: Phillipson Chris 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTAs a result of the institutionalization of retirement and the development of an ageing population, a keen discussion has emerged concerning the nature of retirement education. Two major research projects (at the Universities of Keele and Surrey) have begun; and the number of books and articles devoted to the theme has expanded enormously over the past two years. However, despite this attention, pre-retirement education (PRE) is still struggling to find a secure foundation within the range of occupational and social policies affecting the older worker. There remains a feeling that it has yet to demonstrate its full value or potential – either to employer or employee. In this paper I shall argue that the reasons for this can be traced partly to the post-war origins of PRE, and the way these origins influenced the trajectory taken by retirement education. I shall go on to examine the effectiveness of PRE; to look at arguments about the adequacy of its present structure; and finally, look at the likely shape of future developments in the area of retirement education.
Professional Practice and Patient Care: Multidisciplinary Teamwork in Geriatric Wards
Authors: Evers Helen 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to examine aspects of the nature of multidisciplinary teamwork in geriatric care. First, some of the medical profession's current views of teamwork in geriatrics will be summarized. Second, case studies from a research project on care of geriatric patients in hospital will be used to illustrate some of the strengths and limitations of the adoption of a teamwork approach by health care professionals. Evidence from research suggests that under only a few circumstances does care of the geriatric patient match the images of teamwork as portrayed in the professional literature. This finding in part reflects piecemeal developments in interprofessional responsibilities and relationships in policy and practice of care of the elderly.
Dominant and Competing Paradigms in Gerontology: Towards a Political Economy of Ageing
Authors: Estes Carroll L. , Swan James H. , Gerard Lenore E. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe origins and influence of social science perspectives have conditioned theoretical and empirical developments in the field of gerontology. Yet little systematic examination has been afforded to the role of social science in the production of gerontological knowledge in providing the underlying rationale for American social policy for the aged. This paper examines the dominant U.S. social science perspectives or paradigms and discusses the reasons for their centrality in American gerontological thought. The paper concludes with a proposal for an alternative line of inquiry — a political economy of ageing — which takes as problematic the effects of social history, the world economy, capitalism and social class on the ageing process and the aged and the policy interventions designed for them.
Cognitive Ageing and Psychological Growth
Authors: Labouvie-Vief Gisela , Blanchard-Fields Fredda 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe present paper argues that some apparent deficits found in cognitive ageing may result from models that focus on youth-centered, formal-logical standards of thinking. An alternative model of adult development is proposed which explains these apparent deficits in terms of progressive reorganizations where decline in performance may be a consequence of the growth of more complex and highly differentiated skills. More specifically, the contextualization of formal logic or the reintegration of logic and affect found in older adult thinking is seen to represent a mature level of cognitive differentiation characterized by an autonomous, socially-oriented, and dialectical mode of reasoning. This theoretical perspective is substantiated by a review of the literature evidencing this kind of progression. Future research implications are discussed.
From Public Assistance Institutions to ‘Sunshine Hotels’
Authors: Means Robin , Smith Randall 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article traces the development of residential care for elderly people in the period 1939 to 1948. It begins by looking at the nature of such institutions in the period just prior to the Second World War and then discusses the complex impact of war upon such provision. Particular attention is paid to how evacuation hostels, run by local authorities and voluntary organisations, changed notions about the role of the state in the care of elderly people. The paper concludes by looking at how such changed notions were incorporated into the 1948 National Assistance Act.
Inequalities in Old Age
Authors: Taylor Rex , Ford Graeme 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the distribution of personal resources - financial, social, health and psychological - between age cohorts, sex groups and social classes in a random sample of community elderly. As expected, the young elderly, males and those from middle-class backgrounds have a disproportionate share of three out of four of these resources, but for social support the balance of advantage is reversed. When age, sex and class are combined to yield eight subgroups, younger working-class males consistently rank high on all resources and older working-class females consistently rank low. Older middle-class females rank low on all resources other than on close friends.