scholarly journals Older People’s Preferences for Housing and Environment Characteristics

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5723
Author(s):  
Emma Mulliner ◽  
Mike Riley ◽  
Vida Maliene
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Ageing In Place ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Key Drivers

Population ageing presents significant challenges for many countries, one of which is the provision of adequate housing. Developing understanding of the needs and preferences of ageing societies will be crucial in order to assist in the provision of suitable housing and communities that are sustainable in the long term. While a preference to ‘age in place’ is clear in the literature, comparatively less academic research is available on older people’s preferences for more specific housing and environment attributes. The aim of this study is to identify the main housing and environment characteristics that are linked to the health and wellbeing of the elderly and determine the preferences for such characteristics via a survey with UK residents aged 55+. The results indicate a strong preference for independent living and an increasing desire for bungalows in later life. Housing conditions, energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and home adaptions to facilitate ageing in place are particularly important housing characteristics to older people. The location and environment are also key drivers of housing preferences; a safe neighbourhood, accessibility to amenities, public transport, and a clean and walkable environment are particularly important. Preferences varied with age, but gender has a less significant impact on the preferences expressed. The findings of this study will be valuable for stakeholders engaged in housing policy and provision for older people.

scholarly journals Implications for health services

1997 ◽  
Vol 352 (1363) ◽  
pp. 1887-1893 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Grimley Evans
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Elderly Population ◽  
Average Duration ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Services Research ◽  
Extrinsic Factors ◽  
Progressive Loss

Health services for older people in the NHS have developed pragmatically, and reflect the nature of disease in later life and the need to agree objectives of care with patients. Although services are likely to be able to cope with the immediate future, the growth of the elderly population anticipated from 2030 calls for long–term planning and research. The issue of funding requires immediate political thought and action. Scientifically the focus needs to be on maximizing the efficiency of services by health services research and reducing the incidence of disability in later life through research on its biological and social determinants. Senescence is a progressive loss of adaptability due to an interaction between intrinsic (genetic) processes with extrinsic factors in environment and lifestyle. There are grounds for postulating that a policy of postponement of the onset of disability, by modifications of lifestyle and environment, could reduce the average duration of disability before death. The new political structures of Europe offer underexploited–unexploited opportunities for the necessary research.

scholarly journals Fourth Ageism: Real and Imaginary Old Age

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Paul Higgs ◽  
Chris Gilleard
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Biological Parameters ◽  
Term Care ◽  
The Impact ◽  
State Responses

This paper is concerned with the issue of ageism and its salience in current debates about the COVID-19 pandemic. In it, we address the question of how best to interpret the impact that the pandemic has had on the older population. While many feel angry at what they see as discriminatory lock-down practices confining older people to their homes, others are equally concerned by the failure of state responses to protect and preserve the health of older people, especially those receiving long-term care. This contrast in framing ageist responses to the pandemic, we suggest, arises from differing social representations of later life, reflecting the selective foregrounding of third versus fourth age imaginaries. Recognising the tension between social and biological parameters of ageing and its social categorisations, we suggest, may offer a more measured, as well as a less discriminatory, approach to addressing the selective use of chronological age as a line of demarcation within society.

scholarly journals Employment at 55+: Do We Want to work Longer in Lithuania?

Ekonomika ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-68
Author(s):  
Kristina Zitikytė
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Older People ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Employment Rate ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Demographic Aging

 The Lithuanian population is aging, and it causes many difficulties for public finances by increasing expenditures on health care, long-term care, and pensions, and also for the labor market by creating labor shortages. One of the ways to cope with demographic aging is to rise the employment rate of older people. According to Eurostat, the employment rate of the elderly aged 55–64 years increased from 49.6 percent in 2005 to 68.5 percent in 2018 in Lithuania and it is higher than the average employment rate of older workers in European Union, which was 58.7 percent in 2018. This paper focuses on older people in Lithuania, aged 55 and over, trying to answer a question whether the elderly in Lithuania willingly work or try to find alternatives such as receiving long-term social insurance benefits. The research findings show that the activity of older people in the labor market grows, and even the share of people with disabilities staying in the labor market increases. However, this analysis also shows that older people are more under risk to lose their job during an economic crisis, and this suggests that trying to find work alternatives can be closely related to one’s economic situation. Moreover, health problems remain one of the main factors limiting the activity of older people in the labor market. It is also noticeable that some labor force reserves exist among people with disabilities and this supposes that creating better adapted working conditions for older and disabled workers in Lithuania could probably contribute to meeting the needs of an aging workforce.

scholarly journals Social Exclusion in Older-Age and the European Pillar of Social Rights

2021 ◽  
pp. 421-431
Author(s):  
Maciej Kucharczyk
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Goods And Services

AbstractThe European Pillar of Social Rights is about delivering new and more effective rights for Europeans. It builds upon 20 key principles, structured around three categories: equal opportunities and access to the labour market; fair working conditions; and social protection and inclusion. Directly relevant to older people, the Pillar has the potential to address the multidimensionality of exclusion in later life from a rights-based perspective – for example, by enhancing the rights to quality and affordable health and long-term care, to adequate pensions to live in dignity, to age-friendly working conditions and an inclusive labour market, or to access goods and services. Despite these valuable elements, there remains significant uncertainly around how the Pillar will achieve this and what kind of implemental actions might emerge across member states. This chapter analyses the potential of the European Pillar to address social exclusion of older people in Europe, the challenges that might impede its efforts, and the measures necessary to overcome such challenges.

Comparative Study of Outcomes for Older People with Long Term Conditions Attending Day Care Services Delivered by Paid Staff or by Volunteers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Lunt ◽  
Chris Shiels ◽  
Christopher Dowrick ◽  
Mari Lloyd-Williams
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Day Care ◽  
Symptom Burden ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Long Term Conditions ◽  
North West ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Care Services

Abstract Background Day care services can support older people living with multiple long term conditions (LTCs), to age in place, but little research on outcomes of Day Care attendance. Aims The aims of this comparative study were to determine outcomes for older people with LTCs attending day care services run entirely by paid staff or predominantly volunteers Methods Newly referred older people with LTCs to nine day care services in North West of England and North Wales were invited to participate in this longitudinal study with data being collected at baseline attendance and at 6 and 12 weeks. Demographic information was collected and the EQ-5D-3L and De Jong Loneliness 6 item questionnaire were completed at each time point.RESULTS 94 older people (64% female),age range 65 - 99 years (mean 82 years) were recruited. The mean number of LTCs was 4.3 (range 2-9) and 52% people lived alone. More than a third (36%) lived in one of the 20% most deprived local authorities in England and Wales. The outcomes in this exploratory study over 12 weeks appeared to be similar for paid, blended (paid staff and volunteers) and for volunteer led service, with those attending volunteer led services were significantly more likely to report fewer health problems in follow-up (OR=3.45, 95% CI 1.01-12.8, P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that Day Care Services for older people with long term conditions provide benefits in terms of self-rated physical and emotional well-being. Older people attending paid staff services were more likely to have greater number of LTCs associated with a higher symptom burden. However, at baseline there was no difference in self-reported health by service type. This study suggests that Day Care Services provided by volunteers can provide comparable outcomes. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, it is increasingly urgent to support older people with long term conditions who have lost physical and cognitive function during lockdown and to maintain and improve their function. Our study suggests that volunteers may be able to complement the care provided by paid staff freeing up resources and enabling increasing numbers of people to be supported.

scholarly journals Ageing and vulnerable elderly people: European perspectives

2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
EMILY GRUNDY
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Psychological Help ◽  
Rigorous Evaluation ◽  
Support Policy ◽  
Vulnerable Elderly

This paper considers the processes and circumstances that create vulnerability among older people, specifically to a very poor quality of life or an untimely or degrading death. Models of ageing processes are used to define vulnerable older people as those whose reserve capacity falls below the threshold needed to cope successfully with the challenges they face. Compensatory supports may intervene to mitigate the effects of challenges and to rebuild reserve. The dimensions of reserve, challenges and compensation are discussed, with emphasis on demographic and other influences on the availability of family and social support. Policy initiatives to reduce vulnerability can focus on each part of the dynamic process that creates vulnerability, namely, ensuring that people reach later life with ‘reserve’, reducing the challenges they face in later life, and providing adequate compensatory supports. The promotion through the lifecourse of healthy lifestyles and the acquisition of coping skills, strong family and social ties, active interests, and savings and assets, will develop reserves and ensure that they are strong in later life. Some of the physical and psychological challenges that people may face as they age cannot be modified, but others can. Interventions to develop compensatory supports include access to good acute care and rehabilitation when needed, substitute professional social and psychological help in times of crisis, long-term help and income support. Our knowledge of which interventions are most effective is however limited by the paucity of rigorous evaluation studies.

Older people and home ownership: the intention to relocate

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-51
Author(s):  
Braam Lowies ◽  
Robert Brenton Whait ◽  
Kurt Lushington
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Home Ownership ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Topic Area ◽  
Ageing In Place ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Telephone Interviews ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Cati Survey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore older people’s intention to relocate from their primary homes. The study also seeks to understand the policy implications that such intentions may have. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a survey-based design via computer-aided telephone interviews (CATI). The CATI survey was employed to gather information on the behaviour of older people and whether differences exist by gender, age, health immigration status and financial knowledge. The survey-based design is triangulated with the literature on this topic area and policy issues. Findings The findings of the study suggest amongst others, that older South Australians overwhelmingly and significantly do not intend to move from their primary home and are content to age in place. This is particularly true as people reach the older stages of life. Originality/value The study enhances the understanding of the decision-making environment that older people are exposed to in contemplating relocation from the primary home. More specifically, it shows that factors stated in the literature that deemed to be of importance in the decision to relocate, has no significance in this study and that ageing in place should be used as a policy base.

scholarly journals Social inclusion through ageing-in-place with care?

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
PATRICK BARRETT ◽  
BEATRICE HALE ◽  
ROBIN GAULD
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Rites Of Passage ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Care Recipient ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Ageing In Place

ABSTRACTThe onset of ill-health and frailty in later life, within the context of the policy of ageing-in-place, is increasingly being responded to through the provision of home care. In the philosophy of ageing-in-place, the home provides for continuity of living environment, maintenance of independence in the community and social inclusion. The provision of assistance to remain at home assumes continuity in the living environment and independence in the organisation of daily life and social contact. This paper explores the changes that occur as a result of becoming a care recipient within the home and concludes that the transition into receiving care is characterised by discontinuity and upheaval which tends to reinforce social exclusion. We draw on the rites of passage framework, which highlights social processes ofseparation, liminality and reconnection, in analysing this transition to enhance understanding of the experience and gain insights to improve the policy and practice of home care. Separation from independent living leads to a state of liminality. The final stage in the rites of passage framework draws attention to reconnections, but reconnection is not inevitable. Reconnection is, however, an appropriate goal for the care sector when supporting frail or disabled older people through the transition into becoming a home-care recipient.

scholarly journals The impact of traditional filial piety between older people and their children in Taiwan

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Family Member ◽  
Filial Piety ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Chinese People ◽  
Traditional Belief ◽  
Social Structural ◽  
The Impact

Filial piety is a significant traditional belief among Chinese people. However, social structural changes have created a limited number of people available to take care of the elderly. Elderly infirm parents may be sent to nursing homes when no family member is available to take care of them, which may effectively reduce older people’s satisfaction in their later life. It also increases the caring stress from children because of this traditional belief.

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