bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Policies to Promote Informal Social Care: Some Reflections on Voluntary Action, Neighbourhood Involvement, and Neighbourhood Care
Authors: Abrams Philip , Bulmer Martin 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTPolicies to promote informal social care have particular importance for elderly people, since a substantial minority of them are in receipt of informal care from kin, neighbours and friends, and the majority of those living in their own homes who receive informal care are themselves elderly. Yet informal care has not had the attention it deserves, compared to care provided by statutory, commercial or organised voluntary effort. This paper focuses on neighbourhood care, drawing on the results of a five-year research programme. Three types of neighbourhood care are examined: voluntary action for neighbourhood involvement, voluntary action for informal care, and voluntary action for neighbourhood care. Neighbourhood involvement is increasingly a political matter, with local organisation tied to specific local issues. Informal care has little directly to do with local involvement. Nine-tenths of such care is provided by kin, though there is scope for greater local action. Voluntary action for neighbourhood care is encouraged particularly by pressure-group activism, self-help organisations and support for carers. Effective informal care requires a higher degree of competence and the establishment of contexts for reciprocity. Policies in this area need to provide modest financial resources, greater information exchange and support for carers.
Elderly People and Social Welfare in Zimbabwe
Authors: Hampson Joe 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe ageing of Third World populations and its implications for planning in social welfare has received little attention in the literature until now. This article explores the need radically to alter Western models of care for elderly people in an African context, arguing that in situations of mass poverty and gross economic differentiation a concentration on social welfare for urban formal sector employees is inappropriate. Zimbabwe is used as a case study. The situation of the aged in Zimbabwe is analysed from existing but scanty data, and sets of policy proposals that have relevance to the national economy and to the rural, urban and commercial farming sectors are discussed.
‘Going Up’ or ‘Going Down’: The Status of Old People in an Australian Aboriginal Society
Authors: Reid Janice 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTMost statements about the treatment and fortunes of elderly Australian Aborigines have emphasised their wisdom and sanctity and the respect and affection due to elderly relatives. Ethnographic research among the Yolngu (Murngin) of Arnhem Land suggests that the actual situation of an old person depends on an interplay of structural, situational and individual factors, including personal qualities, family support, seniority, sex, ecology and land use patterns and the effects of white colonisation and social change. Cases are presented and discussed to illustrate the variable fortunes of old Aborigines and their determinants.
Issues Concerning Regimen Management in the Home
Authors: Corbin Juliet M. , Strauss Anselm L. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTOlder people, who have the major share of chronic illness, are also especially likely to encounter problems in carrying out regimens. The regimens themselves may be exhausting or complex. In addition, regimen management in the home takes place within a context characterised by personal and environmental, as well as illness related conditions. There is an interplay between this context and the illness management, giving rise often to problems of ‘overload’ and a ‘contest for control of management’. These may interfere not only with the management of regimens but have consequences for couples' personal lives and their marital relationships as well.
Belligerent Legends: Bickering and Feuding among Outport Octogenarians
Authors: Davis Donna Lee 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTIn a southwest coast Newfoundland fishing village elderly outporters are accorded special licence to behave in ways considered inappropriate for younger generations. Capitalising on their status as folk heroes and heroines of traditional outport culture, older people challenge each other to redress old wrongs or actively create new issues for dispute. The entire family may reluctantly become involved in these imbroglios. This case study of a land feud between an elderly woman and man demonstrates how aggression is mediated by the structural confines of local sex roles and outport egalitarianism, which severely limit the potential of octogenarians' altercations to disrupt village life.
Parenthood and Marital Role Performance among Retired Workers: Comparison between Pre- and Post-retirement Period
Authors: Kremer Yael 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTIn this study, Israeli parent, grandparent and marital role activities after retirement were compared with the retrospective evaluation of pre-retirement period. Data collected from 310 former industrial and service workers were examined within the context of family functioning after retirement. The findings reveal either an increase in or continuity of the family role activities under study, on the part of the retiree. There was no decline in involvement in parenthood and/or marital functioning.
Retirement Migration and its Consequences in England and Wales
Authors: Grundy Emily 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTAnalyses are presented of data from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) Longitudinal Study; a record linkage study in which one per cent of the 1971 Census population has been followed up using routinely collected demographic data. The data set includes the 1981 Census records of sample members. The results show that between 1970–1 and 1980–1 there was a fall in migration in the retirement age groups. In both periods there were differentials in rates of migration, particularly between counties, according to variables such as tenure, economic position and Social Class. Tenure, marital status and economic position were together good predictors of male retirement migration 1970–1 but not of 1980–1 migration. The drop in migration rates between the two periods was greatest among the younger retired and owner occupiers.
The Emergence of the Third Age
Authors: Laslett Peter 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article is based upon a chapter in a book to be called Britain! Be Your Age! It begins with a discussion of schemes for dividing the life-course, describes the fresh division to which the title the Third Age belongs and refers briefly to a general theory of the Third Age. It is claimed that the Third Age as thus defined did not emerge in Britain and other Western countries until the 1950s, nor did it become a settled feature of their social structures until the 1980s. Expectation of life in a number of countries, developed and developing, is contrasted, and a comparison is undertaken between life expectation in the contemporary Third World and that in England in the historical past, that is since the early 16th century. It is concluded that contemporary developing societies have much longer life expectation than that in the English past, but markedly fewer elderly people. The implications of this for the modernisation theory in relation to ageing are drawn out, and the concept of modernisation shown to be unacceptable to historical sociologists. A Third Age Indicator (3AI) is then suggested, expressing the probability of a person of 25 years attaining 70 years. The Third Age is defined demographically in a two-fold way, as a condition of a population in which the general expectation of living from 25 to 70 is 0.5 or over for men, and so more for women, and of 10% or more of the whole population being over age 65. 3AIs for a number of contemporary countries are then presented, along with those for England since the 1540s. A list of countries demographically qualified on the two counts is then drawn up, along with the appropriate dates of their attaining that status.
Residential Care of Elderly People: The Consumers' Views
Authors: Wilkin David , Hughes Beverley 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe characteristic features of institutional life can be found in all types of long-term hospitals and homes for old people. They occur in all countries despite radical differences in the structure of health and social care provision. This paper draws upon data from a study of British residential homes to present an account of institutional life from the consumers' perspective. Residents' views are drawn from open-ended interviews with 60 residents. They convey a complex mixture of feelings: gratitude, resentment, resignation, powerlessness, acceptance and dependence. The common expressions of boredom and loneliness reflect a poor quality of life for many residents. A surprising degree of tolerance was shown by lucid people towards those who had become confused. The authors argue that elderly residents are faced with a choice between an unpleasant battle to survive in their own homes and an equally unpleasant enforced dependence in the institution. The views of residents ought to be an important factor in the evaluation of institutional care.
The Kinship Network of the Rural Aged: A Comparison of the Indigenous Elderly and the Retired Inmigrant
Authors: Harper Sarah 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTAnalysis of the kin support networks of rural elderly, resident in Staffordshire and Hampshire, indicated that the most important factor affecting both the patterns and relationships of the kin network is the residential mobility of the nuclear family and its members. The study revealed the importance of recognising three broad groupings of elderly: the indigenous aged, who typically possess an extended local kin network; the retired inmigrants who had relocated their households to be near kin; and the retired inmigrants without nearby kin. When these groupings are introduced the importance of the dichotomy between local/non-local kin and between former kin-separation/non-kin-separation becomes apparent. These dichotomies hold important implications for the family relationships of the rural elderly, for their use of the kin network and of the formal support system, and for their interaction with the wider community.
Physical Care and Quality of Life in Residential Homes
Authors: Hughes Beverley , Wilkin David 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article proposes that the quality of physical care is an important determinant of quality of life for dependent people. It begins by reporting the findings of a qualitative analysis of physical care in six local authority homes and suggests a framework for understanding the ways in which physical care practices evolved. The paper concludes by illustrating how the same framework can be used as a basis for improving the quality of physical care.
Early Retirement in Denmark
Authors: Møler Iver Hornemann 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe Danish Early Retirement Pension Scheme (ERPS) introduced in 1979 was intended to contribute to the reproduction of the social order and to the legitimation of the welfare state. The first objective was not achieved. Nevertheless ERPS reduced total unemployment by about 20% and thereby contributed to the positive image of the welfare state.Survey data show that the poorer the working conditions the stronger the probability that the eligible take early retirement. High rates of unemployment in industries with physically and psychologically onerous work increase the probability of early retirement. Taken together with employers' wishes for as large as possible a labour reserve and their ambivalent attitude to the total withdrawal of marginal workers, these findings render the debate about voluntary versus compulsory withdrawal from the labour market at best insignificant and at worse misleading.At the same time, ERPS has brought some unintended but quite considerable improvements to the lives of many recipients. These include better self-assessed health, increased contacts with family and friends and new leisure activities. Recently, however, there is evidence of an increase in economic deprivation among recipients, and early retirement pension levels have not kept pace with rises in industrial earnings or the cost of living.
The Social Service Utilisation Behaviour of USA Mainland Puerto Rican Elderly: A Causal Model
Authors: Starrett Richard A. , Decker James T. , Araujo Adelina , Walters Gary 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis study develops and tests a causal model of social service use by USA Puerto Rican elderly. Andersen and Newman's Health Framework was employed to classify and test a model of social service use by a national random sample of mainland USA Puerto Rican elderly. The findings indicate that 7 of the original 27 variables (i.e. need for social services, awareness, functional literacy, functional ability, mobility, income and contact with friends and neighbours) accounted for 43% of the variance in use. Counter to our theoretical assumption the need factor accounted for more variance than the enabling factor. Moreover, the predisposing factor and informal support variables were important predictors of utilisation.
Escaping Financial Dependency in Old Age
Authors: Walker Robert , Huby Meg 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTOne of the principal motives behind pension reform in Britain in the post-war era has been to reduce dependence on means-tested assistance. Alternating attempts have been made to attain this objective through State and occupational collectivism but with only partial success. The present Government has shifted the emphasis away from collective provision towards individual saving promoted in the form of portable pensions. However, recent research has underlined the importance of structural determinants of dependency on means-tested assistance in retirement and of other factors over which individuals have little if any control. In the light of these findings questions are raised about the potential effectiveness of portable and occupational pensions as mechanisms for reducing future dependency on means-tested supplementation.
Professional Helpers and Resistances to Work with Older People
Authors: Biggs Simon 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTResistances to empathy with older service users are outlined, drawn primarily from Jungian psychology. It is suggested that lack of a helper's personal experience of old age allows disproportionate influence to be played by archetypal intrapsychic processes. These are augmented by helpers perceptions of a negative personal future and a tendency either to ignore the age appropriate projects of older persons or replace them with those appropriate for the helper. Consequences for helper training are briefly explored.
Missionary Zeal and the Scholarly Stance: Policy and Commitment in Research on Old Age
Authors: Smith Gilbert 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThere is a danger that the ‘missionary zeal’ exhibited by some social gerontologists in the interests of those members of society who are older than others, may endanger the subject's ‘scholarly stance’ and the potential contribution to social policy of research on old age. This paper discusses four facets of the matter: (1) the anticipated values underpinning policies of state welfare (2) personal feelings and values in the business of research (3) values and the kind of data we value and (4) the question of whose side we are on. The paper concludes with a theoretical model of the relationship between the social policy process and the social research process as framework for understanding exactly how values about ageing impact both research about ageing and the relationship between that research and relevant social policies.
Observational Study of Quality of Life in NHS Nursing Homes and a Long-stay Ward for the Elderly
Authors: Clark Patricia , Bowling Ann 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTAn observational study was carried out in order to measure the quality of life of elderly people in two different types of long-stay care (two NHS nursing homes and a hospital ward). This formed part of a wider evaluation study of these two forms of institutional care. Qualitative techniques provided insights into the behaviours, moods, interactions and atmospheres in the settings, which were difficult to measure using traditional survey approaches. The observational study showed that it is.essential not to rely solely on interview material, and assessments of mental and physical functioning, when evaluating long-stay care. Characteristics of ‘total institutions’ clearly emerged from the analyses of the hospital ward, although the inclusion of the hospital patients' Club in the study revealed that these need not be inevitable, and that both the ward and the homes could be improved if modelled on the more autonomous and flexible philosophy of the Club.
The Application of Modern Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques to Aged Patients
Authors: Kapila Helen , Coni Nicholas 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe availability of high technology designed to preserve human life, places medical practitioners in a set of ethical dilemmas. In particular the use of Intensive Care Units to sustain acutely seriously ill elderly people is a matter of widespread debate. An examination of the medical research literature suggests that such interventions are largely successful and wished for by the patient, but the quality of surviving life is for some, unacceptable. It is concluded that the maintance of life should remain the predominant rule, but that where patient and clinical judgement indicates it, death should be accepted as the natural course.
Between Family and State: Ageing in Poland and Norway
Authors: Midre Georges , Synak Brunon 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTA comparative analysis of the life circumstances of older people in Poland and Norway is presented. It examines differences and similarities in attitudes to both family- and state-provided care, for those living in their own homes. In more prosperous Norway, public services are more frequent, elderly people are more independent and play a more active role in the labour market. In Poland formal care is seen as the last resort, with the responsibility for supporting elderly people placed firmly with the family. State services are directed towards those without families. The Norwegian system places no legal obligation on families, which results in a higher proportion living in institutions.
Evaluation of an Innovation in the Continuing Care of Very Frail Elderly People
Authors: Bond John , Bond Senga , Donaldson Cam , Gregson Barbara , Atkinson Ann 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis paper describes the theoretical and methodological perspectives adopted by a multidisciplinary research group undertaking a government-funded evaluation of a United Kingdom innovation in the continuing care of elderly people. In 1983 three experimental National Health Service (NHS) nursing homes were set up to care for patients usually cared for in NHS geriatric hospitals. Drawing on different approaches to the evaluation of health-care innovations, this paper delineates an evaluation model which identifies four types of variables: structure, process, intermediate outcome and final outcome. The relationship of this model to the design of an evaluation comprising seven complementary research activities is described, emphasising the need for multiple perspectives and multiple methods in policy-oriented health-care evaluations.
Paupers and Pensioners: Past and Present
Authors: Hunt E. H. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article compares treatment of the elderly today and in the mid-nineteenth century. The starting point is David Thomson's recent claim (Ageing and Society, 4, 1984) that welfare-state pension benefits are not as valuable, relative to the incomes of non-pensioners, as were the poor-law pensions of Dickensian England. Thomson's calculations of incomes and of the value and availability of pensions in the mid-nineteenth century are critically reassessed. It is argued that welfare-state pensions are superior to poor-law pensions not only in absolute terms but also as a proportion of average working-class incomes. The paper concludes with some comments on long-term trends in pensioners' living standards and the implications for pension policy.
The Structured Dependency of the Elderly: A Creation of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Authors: Townsend Peter 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTIf we are to develop better methods of integrating elderly people into society then above all we need a better sociology of the ageing and the aged. In this paper I wish to put forward the thesis that the dependency of the elderly in the twentieth century is being manufactured socially and that its severity is unnecessary. The process can therefore be revised or at least modified. Certain major influences, which will be discussed below, are steadily deepening, or widening that dependency. There is the imposition, and acceptance, of earlier retirement; the legitimation of low income; the denial of rights to self-determination in institutions; and the construction of community services for recipients assumed to be predominantly passive.
Objective and Subjective Perspectives of Life Span Research
Authors: Rosenmayr Leopold 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe paper argues for a theoretical renewal of basic perspectives for ageing research. A longitudinal, ‘historical’ view of the personality is advocated as it is expected to permit a deeper understanding of needs as well as chances for renewal, re-training, prophylactic and rehabilitative measures of and for persons in later life. A psychosocial theory of cumulation of general life conditions and special events, interpreted and reacted to by the subjects, will supposedly enlarge the more static conceptions of ‘social factors of ageing’.
Towards a Political Economy of Old Age
Authors: Walker Alan 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTAlthough widespread poverty in old age has been recognized in Britain for at least 100 years, research on age and ageing has tended to concentrate on individual adjustment to old age and in turn, on narrow functionalist explanations of depressed social status. The elderly have been treated as a homogeneous group facing common problems. In contrast, an approach to ageing based on political economy will examine the relative social and economic status of different groups of elderly people as well as the relationship between the elderly and younger generations. Thus it is argued that poverty in old age is primarily a function of low economic and social status prior to retirement and the depressed social status of the retired, and secondarily, of the relatively low level of state benefits. Social policies which have failed to recognize inequality in old age and the causes of low economic and social status have therefore failed to tackle the problem of poverty and low incomes. The starting point for policy-makers should be the labour market and the social relationship between age and the labour market.