Urbanization and Ageing: Ageism, Inequality, and the Future of “Age-Friendly” Cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-241
Author(s):  
Chris Phillipson ◽  
Amanda Grenier

Two major forces are set to shape the quality of daily life in the twenty- first century: population ageing and urbanization. Both have become major concerns for public policy, with significant implications for all types of communities. Cities are now regarded as central to economic development, attracting waves of migrants and supporting new knowledge-based industries. However, the extent to which the new “urban age” will produce what the World Health Organization have termed “age-friendly” cities and communities, creating opportunities for older people as well as strengthening ties across different age and social groups, remains uncertain. This article examines the relationship between ageing and urbanization through the application of the concept of ageism. It argues that urban development, especially that operating over the course of the 2000s and 2010s, has both consolidated and introduced new inequalities in the lives of older people. This is examined in three main ways: first, in the context of research on urbanization and the field of urban sociology in particular; second, through examining a range of examples where ageism may be said to operate within the urban environment; and third, outlining the basis for promoting an “anti-ageist urbanism” focused upon challenging inequality and spatial injustice.

Author(s):  
Samuèle Rémillard-Boilard ◽  
Tine Buffel ◽  
Chris Phillipson

Developing age-friendly cities and communities has become a key part of policies aimed at improving the quality of life of older people in urban areas. The World Health Organization has been especially important in driving the ‘age-friendly’ agenda, notably through its Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities, connecting 1114 (2020 figure) cities and communities worldwide. Despite the expansion and achievements of the Network over the last decade, little is known about the progress made by cities developing this work around the world. This article addresses this research gap by comparing the experience of eleven cities located in eleven countries. Using a multiple case study approach, the study explores the key goals, achievements, and challenges faced by local age-friendly programs and identifies four priorities the age-friendly movement should consider to further its development: (1) changing the perception of older age; (2) involving key actors in age-friendly efforts; (3) responding to the (diverse) needs of older people; and (4) improving the planning and delivery of age-friendly programs. The article concludes by discussing the research and policy implications of these findings for the age-friendly movement.


Author(s):  
Touraj Shahvand ◽  
Mehdi Reza Sarafraz

Abstract Objective Patients suffering from cancer need to receive care from their family; however, their family caregivers do this without preparation or training, so their involvement in patients’ care results in a caregiving burden that may affect patient’s hope and quality of life (QOL). Methods This study examines the effect of caregiving burden on the QOL of cancer patients (n = 100) with the mediatory role of hope and shame. To achieve this, Persian versions of Zarit Burden Interview, the World Health Organization QOL, Herth Hope Index, and Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale were used. Meanwhile, path regression analysis was implemented to analyze the relationship between caregiving burden and QOL. Results The results implied a relation among caregiver burden, hope, and QOL of patients diagnosed with cancer. It was found that there is a direct and negative relationship between caregiver burden and hope. In addition, there was an indirect and positive relationship between caregiver burden and QOL. Hope and QOL also had a high correlation. Besides, it was shown that there was a negative relationship between the shame experienced by patients and their hope and QOL. Conclusion caregiver burden was proved to be influential and negatively affected the factor for the QOL. Besides, patients’ hope decreases while caregiving burden increases; this will in turn affect patients’ recovery and their physical, mental, and cognitive functions. This study provides a foundation for future research in this critical area for oncology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (Especial 5) ◽  
pp. 55-61
Author(s):  
Beatriz Cristina Bincoleto ◽  
Kemelli Adriana P.B. de Almeida ◽  
Sandra Silva Lustosa ◽  
Meire Aparecida Judai

The present study aimed to verify the relationship between quality of life and respiratory its influence on the physical, emotional and social well-being of individuals who present oral, oronasal and nasal breathing. 30 participants, of both sexes, were investigated: 15 oral and oronasal breathers, 15 nasal breathers, between 13 and 60 years old. A valid quality of life protocol - the World Health Organization quality Life - WHOQOL-BREF (WHOQ) Portuguese version was used. the existence of association between the groups studied in social and physical domains, with values (p <0.05) arbitrated, where mean of oral or nasal breath scores, was nasal respirator has better quality of life between domains. The study revealed that oral and oronasal breathers have worse quality of life than nasal breathers in physical and social aspects.


Author(s):  
Mostafa Tavakol ◽  
Alireza Heidarei

The aim of this current study is to identify the relation of hope and the quality of life with depression in divorced women and those who want to get divorce in Ahvaz City. The population of this study include all of the women who referred to the Family Divorce court Ahvaz City in 2014. The population of the number of divorce cases was 125 people and 191 available widow were selected in available sampling method and the total number of them were 316 person.The tools which were applied in this study consist of miller hope scale (1988), the world health organization quality of life questionnaire summary (1998) and beck depression questionnaire (1978). The study design was correlation that the obtained results based on correlation and regression analysis shows the a=0.001 and there is a relationship.Between Hope life and qualify of life with depression among divorced women and divorce applicant in Ahvaz City.


Author(s):  
Imelda Rahmayunia Kartika ◽  
Lisavina Juwita

Introduction: Patients with Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) cannot survive if they do not do hemodialysis. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the experience, the hope of patients with CRF who undergo hemodialysis in order to continue hemodialysis routinely and can improve the quality of their lives even though their lives depend on hemodialysis. The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of life of patients with CRF in undergoing hemodialysis as an effort to improve the quality of life. Methods: This study was a quantitave study using analytic descriptive approach. There were 66 patients as sample. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistic using World Health Organization Quality of Life Instruments (WHOQoL-Bref) as a quality of life questionnare. Results: This study shows the highest quality of life of research respondents undergoing hemodialysis in the high category (68.2%). This means the quality of life of patients undergoing hemodialysis is good enough. Conclusions: A good quality of life means that the respondent feels satisfied and most of his daily needs can be met, which includes physical, psychological, patient social relations, and the patient's environment. Quality of life is influenced by the physical condition of the individual psychologically, the level of independence, and the relationship of the individual with the environment. Nurses are expected to be able to motivate patients undergoing hemodialysis in improving their quality of life. 


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1651-1656
Author(s):  
Suna Sarikaya ◽  
Musa Toprak

The behavioral and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer's disease impose a significant burden on the patients family and caregiver. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the health of individuals who care for Alzheimers patients by using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQoL-Bref) and the Caregiver Stress Scale, and also to evaluate the relationship between the health and demographic data of these caregivers.


Author(s):  
Marston ◽  
Hoof

The World Health Organization (WHO) strives to assist and inspire cities to become more “age-friendly”, and the fundamentals are included in the Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide. An age-friendly city enables residents to grow older actively within their families, neighbourhoods and civil society, and offers extensive opportunities for the participation of older people in the community. Over the decades, technology has become essential for contemporary and future societies, and even more imperative as the decades move on, given we are nearly in our third decade of the twenty-first century. Yet, technology is not explicitly considered in the 8-domain model by the WHO, which describes an age-friendly city. This paper discusses the gaps in the WHO’s age-friendly cities model in the field of technology and provides insights and recommendations for expansion of the model for application in the context of countries with a high human development index that wish to be fully age-friendly. This work is distinctive because of the proposed new age-friendly framework, and the work presented in this paper contributes to the fields of gerontology, geography urban and development, computer science, and gerontechnology.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Irfan Saleem ◽  
Ahmed Faisal Siddiqi ◽  
Tahir Masood Qureshi ◽  
Faisal Mustafa

Saudi government is struggling to build knowledge based society to encounter social and economic challenges for the year 2030, when oil supply will be just sufficient to meet local Saudi demands. This study embarks upon the importance of the mixed-economy for sustainable growth in the 21st century. This study investigates three objectives. Firstly, it highlights Saudi socio-economic challenges. Secondly, it identifies alternative ways to realize the vision of mixed economic model for oil driven economy. Thirdly, it identifies the relationship between human capital and Saudi economic indicators. This research presents a typology based upon econometric models using secondary data, collected from World-Bank, World Health Organization (2013) and Saudi Monitory Agency annual statistical data-streams. It is recommended that the Saudi youth can play a vital role in economic growth subject to change in their mindset to overcome artificial joblessness among the Saudis.


Author(s):  
José Álvarez-García ◽  
Amador Durán-Sánchez ◽  
María del Río-Rama ◽  
Diego García-Vélez

Population ageing is one of humanity’s greatest achievements with the elderly who offer valuable resources and make an important contribution to the structure of our societies. At the same time, this ageing population poses great challenges, as it requires greater economic and social needs. Institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO) are promoting policies that aim at promoting active ageing, which is understood as the process of optimizing health, participation and security opportunities in order to improve people’s quality of life as they get older. The main objective of this study is to identify scientific production related to the area of Active Ageing. The work methodology used is the bibliometric analysis of the articles indexed in the multidisciplinary databases WoS and Scopus. There were 171 articles in WoS and 234 in Scopus that were selected, with a time limit in 2017. In the analysis carried out it is observed that active ageing is a topic that has aroused interest among researchers in recent years, proof of this is the increase both in the number of articles published in scientific journals and in the citations received. The Scopus database presents a greater coverage of the subject. The Overlap Index shows that Scopus covers 90.06% of the WoS articles and its Single Documents index is 34.19% versus 9.94% of WoS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 196-219
Author(s):  
Victor Manuel Ramos Frausto ◽  
Lucía Caudillo Ortega ◽  
José María de la Roca Chapas ◽  
Martha Alicia Hernández González ◽  
Gloria Barbosa Sabanero ◽  
...  

Introducción: El cáncer es una de las principales causas de morbilidad y mortalidad en el mundo, según la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), en 2012 14 millones de casos nuevos y 8,2 millones de muertes. Se demostró que los pacientes en tratamiento, cirugía, quimioterapia y radioterapia tienen niveles altos de cortisol que influye en su calidad de vida. Objetivo: Identificar la relación entre el estrés, a nivel de cortisol y las estrategias de afrontamiento en pacientes con cáncer sometidos a tratamiento.Material y métodos: Estudio transversal, descriptivo y correlacional realizado junio a diciembre del 2019. Resultados epidemiológicos: 68.2% mujeres 31.8 % hombres, entre 17 y 76 años, con diagnósticos de: Ca mama (30.3%), de próstata (18.3), colon (15.2), pulmón (13.6), cervical (12.1% gástrico (9.1%) cáncer de piel (1.5%). Estadísticos: El 35,3% informaron cortisol a niveles normales y 64.5% niveles altos; el estrés obtuvo un promedio de 13.9 (DE = 4.64). Sobre el nivel de cortisol y el tipo de tratamiento, se observaron diferencias significativas (X2 = 1,546, p = .04), es decir, el paciente que tienen un tratamiento mixto el cortisol es más alto. Conclusiones: Es importante reevaluar las estrategias centradas en el problema, analizar implicaciones y proponer estudios en el contexto en que se desenvuelven, en futuro desarrollar una intervención incluyendo actividades de enfermería en la quimioterapia y radioterapia, apoyando estrategias de afrontamiento efectivas. En este sentido y derivado de la minimización de amenazas centradas en el problema, es importante tener un enfoque integral más profundo. Introduction: Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2012 14 million new cases and 8.2 million deaths. (WHO, 2019). Patients in treatment, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy have been shown to have high levels of cortisol that influence their quality of life. Objective: to identify the relationship between stress, cortisol level and coping strategies in cancer patients undergoing treatment. Material and methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational study conducted June to December 2018. In 65 male and female patients under treatment. Results: 68.2% were women 31.8% men, between 17 and 76 years. With diagnoses Ca breast (30.3%), prostate cancer (18.3), colon (15.2), lung (13.6), cervical (12.1% gastric (9.1%) skin cancer (1.5%). Statistics: 35.3% reported cortisol at normal levels and 64.5% high levels; stress averaged 13.9 (DE s 4.64). On the level of cortisol and the type of treatment, significant differences were observed (X2 x 1,546, p .04), i.e. the patient who has a mixed treatment cortisol is higher. Conclusions: It is important to reevaluate the strategies focused on the problem, analyze implications and propose studies in the context in which they operate, in the future develop an intervention including nursing activities in chemotherapy and radiotherapy, supporting effective coping strategies. minimizing threats focused on the problem, it is important to have a deeper comprehensive approach.


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