Age-Friendly Organisations: The Role of Organisational Culture and the Participation of Older Workers

Population ageing is a global phenomenon that has become prominent in international discourse over the past few decades. This discussion is often coupled with the economic implications of population ageing through reduced workforce participation of the older age group, increased government spending on health and pensions and reduced government income from taxes. A means of mitigating the economic costs of ageing is to lift the proportion of older individuals in the workforce and prolong working lives. This brings to the forefront an important point regarding the need for organisations to undertake changes so as to better enable the employment of older individuals and to cater for an ageing workforce. This article critically reflects on age-friendly organisational practices that can have an impact on the recruitment and retention of older individuals. It further contends that there is a need to develop a deeper understanding of factors that constitute an organisational culture geared towards the older demographic, in order for strategies and practices directed at older workers to be effective. Through this argument, the authors consolidate the literature on age-friendly organisational practices and propose a conceptual model of an age-friendly organisational culture, drawing from both functionalist and interpretivist paradigms.     

Age and the Environment: The Global Movement Towards Age-Friendly Cities and Communities

Populations around the world are rapidly ageing, with some of the fastest change occurring in less-developed countries. One of the key determinants of the capabilities of older people, and whether they can achieve the things that are meaningful to them, is the environment in which they live. There is growing interest globally on how to foster “age-friendly” environments, and the World Health Organization's Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities now includes over 250 member cities with responsibility for around 100 million people. This paper outlines the background to the Network and describes some innovative strategies being adopted by members in different parts of the world.     

Spatial Practises and Preferences of Older and Younger People: Findings from the Finnish Studies

There are strong tendencies in urban segregation, not only according to social class, gender and ethnic lines but also according to age. This paper draws on the findings of three studies conducted in Lahti, Finland, to examine the intergenerational aspects of spatial practise. It is argued that people look at their environment through a generational gaze, such that different generations have different spatial preferences and practises. In this article, an age-friendly living environment refers to one that appeals not only to older people but to people of all ages. Age-friendly environments have no segregating borderlines, but rather enable the meeting and communication of different aged people and sustain age integration. As older and young people are most dependent on their living environments, the paper concentrates on their use of space and attachment to place. Our special focus is on recreational activities and places: How and where older and young people spend leisure time? What are their favourite places? What is the importance of nature and different kind of urban spots for them? On the basis of the differences and similarities found out in their spatial practises and preferences, our aim is to discuss age-friendly environments that appeal to different aged people. The study is based on qualitative and quantitative data and draws out implications for future age-diverse communities.     

Age-Friendly Neighbourhoods as Civic Participation: Implementation of an Active Ageing Policy in Hong Kong

In response to challenges brought by population ageing, Hong Kong has adopted an active ageing policy framework and built age-friendly neighbourhoods to encourage the participation of older people. This article distinguishes between the civic and political participation and emphasizes active involvement in community and neighbourhood activities as a way to encourage the civic engagement of older adults. The promotion of age-friendliness is set at two levels: concerning policy and practical/operational issues, both of which are interrelated with the purpose of offering civic engagement opportunities for older people. The experiences of Hong Kong reflect both top-down and bottom-up approaches, where civic participation is promoted by encouraging life-long learning and developing caring communities, as well as carrying out a variety of neighourhood programmes. It is suggested that different stakeholders, such as older adults, NGOs and other social organizations, shall all be included and play important roles in promoting civic participation of the elderly through creating a conducive environment. The initiatives, whether these are in policy or at operational levels, should be integrated into actions that are aimed to enhance quality of life for all residents and create a more age-friendly neighbourhood.     

Family Network,Workplace Network,and Their Influence on Condom Use: A Qualitative Study Among Older Female Sex Workers in China

The objective of this study was to qualitatively explore the components of social networks and their influence on condom use among female sex workers (FSWs) aged 35 years and older in China. In-depth interviews with 63 older FSWs and 6 focus group interviews with pimps and owners of roadside salons and hotels were conducted in 3 Chinese cities. The mean age of participants was 42.6 years old (SD = 6.9 years) and the mean age of starting sex work was 38.6 years old (SD = 6.6 years). Two types of networks that influenced condom use were identified: family networks (relationship with children and husbands) and workplace networks (relationship with peers, clients, pimps, and owners). Relationships between older FSWs and their children negatively influenced condom use. Low levels of network support and norms regarding condom use were observed in the relationship between older FSWs and their clients, whereas positive social support and norms were prevalent among older FSWs who had frequent contact with peers. Norms for condom use existed among pimps and owners but were counterbalanced by monetary gains. Future human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) interventions for older FSWs should take the different features of social network components into consideration.     

Feeling at home: Korean Americans in senior public housing

What are older Korean immigrants' cultural conceptions of home arrangements and environments? Does aging affect their family relationships? Why do they decide to move to public housing? How do they adapt to and re-create a feeling of home in public housing? This research in the field of aging-and-environment focuses on these questions. Based on a naturalistic field research of older Korean immigrants to the USA this paper details the transitions from loss of feeling of home in their pre-move life, the decision to move to senior public housing, to settling into the new apartment. The themes delineated are: 1) shifting roles in multigenerational households, 2) altered conceptualizations and changing environments, becoming dut-bang no-in (guest in own home), 3) detachment from prized objects, and 4) re-creation of meaningful environment. Revealed are the complex and interwoven nature of the decision to move involving experiences, events, and nested mini-decisions, as well as the emotional disruptions, loss of sense of self, and detachments that occur. The adjustments made by these older adults to the culturally inappropriate design in order to regain feeling at home are described. Several socio-physical phenomena and concepts identified are: a) spatial oblation, b) environmental and object detachment, c) object meaning linked to persons, and d) planned surrender or disposal of cherished objects.     

Collaborative Partnership in Age-Friendly Cities: Two Case Studies From Quebec,Canada

This article aims to explain the collaborative partnership conditions and factors that foster implementation effectiveness within the age-friendly cities (AFC) in Quebec (AFC-QC), Canada. Based on a community-building approach that emphasizes collaborative partnership, the AFC-QC implementation process is divided into three steps: (1) social diagnostic of older adults' needs; (2) an action plan based on a logic model; and (3) implementation through collaborations. AFC-QC promotes direct involvement of older adults and seniors' associations at each of the three steps of the implementation process, as well as other stakeholders in the community. Based on two contrasting case studies, this article illustrates the importance of collaborative partnership for the success of AFC implementation. Results show that stakeholders, agencies, and organizations are exposed to a new form of governance where coordination and collaborative partnership among members of the steering committee are essential. Furthermore, despite the importance of the senior associations' participation in the process, they encountered significant limits in the capacity of implementing age-friendly environments solely by themselves. In conclusion, we identify the main collaborative partnership conditions and factors in AFC-QC.     

Selling the ‘Elixir of Life’: Images of the elderly in an Olivio advertising campaign

This paper explores images of older people in advertising in a UK context. It is a case-study of a specific advertising campaign (Olivio/Bertolli margarine) which depicted older people as central characters over a seven year period. We examine what images of older people are employed, whether they are positive or negative and how they fit with current societal stereotypes of elders. Further, through a broadly semiotic and visual semantic perspective, we look at what messages about old age the visual and the textual elements of the advertisements transmit and how the messages evolve through the campaign. We identify four distinct phases of the campaign and show how older people appear in decreasingly traditional roles, being shown as increasingly adventurous individuals. The campaign seems to be breaking new ground for images of elders and is an example of how stereotypes identified in the ageing and communication literature are used for commercial effects.     

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms Among U.S. Nursing Home Residents

This study aimed to examine racial and ethnic differences in significant depressive symptoms among long-term nursing home residents. We analyzed the 2014 national Minimum Data Set linked to a nursing home file and estimated multivariable logistic regressions to determine the associations of race and ethnicities with significant depressive symptoms (score ≥ 10 on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9] scale) and whether associations were explained by resident and nursing home covariates. Stratified analyses further determined independent associations in subgroups of residents. We found that the prevalence rate of PHQ-9 scores ≥ 10 was 8.8% among non-Hispanic White residents (n = 653,031) and 7.4%, 6.9%, and 6.6% among Black (n = 97,629), Hispanic (n = 39,752), and Asian (n = 16,636) residents, respectively. The reduced likelihoods of significant depressive symptoms for minority residents compared to non-Hispanic Whites persisted after sequential adjustments for resident and nursing home covariates, as well as in stratified analyses. The persistently lower rate of significant depressive symptoms among racial and ethnic minority residents suggests that training of nursing home caregivers for culturally sensitive depression screening is needed for improved symptom recognition among minority residents.     

When self-interest and age sterotypes collide: elders opposing increased funds for programs benefiting themselves

Elders tend to be portrayed by the media as selfishly promoting programs that benefit the old. We predicted, however, that older individuals who choose positive stereotypes about the young over positive stereotypes about the old would oppose an increase in spending on these programs. By analyzing the responses of 1656 individuals, we found: (1) older participants were more likely than younger participants to oppose increased funding of Social Security, Meals on Wheels, and Medicare; and (2) this opposition to increased funding for Social Security and Meals on Wheels was predicted by a stereotype of aging based on a more favorable perception of the capabilities of the young than of the old. Our findings suggest that elders' evaluation of programs that benefit their age group may be more influenced by stereotypes internalized decades earlier than by their current group interests.     

Lessons Learned From a Canadian Province-Wide Age-Friendly Initiative: The Age-Friendly Manitoba Initiative

The Age-Friendly Manitoba Initiative was launched in 2008. A formative evaluation we conducted in 2011 with 44 participating rural and urban communities demonstrates considerable progress, with virtually all communities having formed an Age-Friendly Committee and conducting a community assessment to identify priorities for action. The majority of communities implemented one or more age-friendly projects. Major barriers to becoming age-friendly identified by participants included lack of funding; lack of capacity, particularly in small communities; and lack of leadership or direction. The study highlights the importance of strong leadership at all levels of government (municipal, provincial, federal); the need to support communities, particularly rural ones, as they try to become more age-friendly; and the importance of ongoing promotion of age-friendliness locally and more broadly (e.g., provincially).     

Developing Age-Friendly Cities: Case Studies From Brussels and Manchester and Implications for Policy and Practice

Developing environments responsive to the aspirations of older people has become a major concern for social and public policy. Policies and programs directed at achieving “age-friendly” communities are considered to require a wide range of interventions, including actions at the level of the social and physical environment. This article compares the age-friendly approaches of two European cities, Brussels and Manchester, with a particular focus on policies and initiatives that promote active aging in an urban context. The article examines, first, the demographic, social, and multicultural contexts of Brussels and Manchester; second, the way in which both cities became members of the World Health Organization Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities; third, similarities and differences in the age-friendly approaches and actions adopted by both cities; and fourth, opportunities and barriers to the implementation of age-friendly policies. The article concludes by discussing the key elements and resources needed to develop age-friendly cities.     

Managing expectations in participatory research involving older people: what’s in it for whom?

Participatory research actively engages participants in some or all stages of the research process – from deciding on scope and problem statement to actively collecting data to disseminating results and effecting change. Considering the shifting roles of participants and researchers in participatory ageing research, to the academic, participatory research becomes a venture into project and people management, local politics, consultancy and community building. First, we present a literature overview of the promises and pitfalls of participatory research. Then, drawing on a university initiated participatory study involving older people as co-researchers in a neighbourhood in Groningen, the Netherlands, we discuss the shifting roles and expectations of all of those involved in the participatory research process. We conclude that a central question that requires continuous negotiation in the participatory research process is: what’s in in for whom?     

Asexuality: A Multidimensional Approach

While lack of sexual attraction, lack of sexual behavior, and self-identification as asexual have been used as criteria to define asexuality, it is not known how much they overlap in describing the same group of people. This study aimed to assess how many individuals could be identified as asexual based on each of these criteria and on combinations of these criteria. Participants were recruited through the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network, social media, and posts on several health- and lifestyle-related websites. In total, 566 participants between 18 and 72 years old (M = 27.86, SD = 10.53) completed an online survey (24% male, 68.9% female, 7.1% “other”). Based on self-identification or lack of sexual attraction, 71.3% and 69.2%, respectively, of participants were categorized as asexual, while based on lack of sexual behavior only 48.5% were categorized as asexual. Gender differences were found only for those participants who indicated that they did not experience sexual attraction, with more women (72.8%) than men (58.8%) indicating a lack of sexual attraction. Given that self-identification as asexual implies familiarity with the term asexual, we argue for the use of lack of sexual attraction as the primary criterion to define asexuality.     

Storytelling in Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter: belonging and the transnationality of home in older age

ABSTRACT

Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter is a fictional account of a Chinese American woman and her mother, a first-generation migrant, who is negotiating dementia in later life. Analysis of diasporic novels can provide insight into migrant belonging, especially the emotional geographies of home and emotional subjectivities of ageing that are not commonly or easily elucidated even by qualitative interviewing methods. This article examines Tan’s construction of ageing as an intergenerational, cultural and emotional process, and highlights the role of storytelling as an everyday home-making practice through which the transnationality of home in older age becomes evident.     

Normalisation and 'Normal' Ageing: the social construction of dependency among older people with learning difficulties

This paper discusses the new phenomenon of the survival into old age of the increasing numbers of people with learning difficulties. This raises both theoretical and practical policy issues. In the UK health and social services for older people and for people with learning difficulties have followed quite different paths. One has been based on a limited, age discriminatory view of 'normal' ageing; the other has focused on a potentially liberating concept of normalisation. This distinction is being challenged by the advent of older people with learning difficulties, which is raising questions such as, what is the meaning of normalisation in older age? We focus on this key question, illustrating the different principles behind service provision for these two groups and argue that the concept of normalisation is flawed when applied to older people. The alternative of social integration is proposed as the basis for organising health and social services for both older people and those with learning difficulties.     

Age-Friendly Portland: A University-City-Community Partnership

This article addresses the question of how creating an age-friendly city has come to be an important policy and planning issue in Portland, Oregon. In 2006, researchers from Portland State University's Institute on Aging examined the meanings of age friendliness among a broad range of participants in Portland, Oregon. The research was conducted in conjunction with the World Health Organization's (WHO) Age-Friendly Cities project and followed the completion of two earlier non–WHO-related projects. The city of Portland, through the Institute on Aging, was one of nine original members to apply for and be accepted into the WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. An Age-Friendly Portland Advisory Council was formed to guide the development of an action plan, monitor progress over time, and suggest additional research. To understand how Portland's age-friendly policy effort has developed over time, we use Kingdon's (1984) agenda-setting framework to explain how the policy problem was formulated, how solutions were developed, and the influence of local politics. The policy actors, including individuals and organizations working within and outside of government, are described. The Portland experience provides a case study that other cities, especially those with a strong commitment to community-engaged urban planning, may find useful as they develop age-friendly initiatives.     

Formal Volunteering among Vulnerable Older Adults from an Environmental Perspective: Does Senior Housing Matter?

Based on the premise that environmental support is an important facilitator for engagement in formal volunteering among vulnerable subgroups of older adults, we focus on older low-income individuals who live alone. Drawing on the environmental docility hypothesis, we examine the role living in senior housing has on the likelihood of volunteering. Data came from the 2012 wave of the Health Retirement Study (N = 1415). Kernel weights derived from propensity scores were used to account for observed sociodemographic and health characteristics associated with both senior housing living and the outcome. Logistic regression models showed that living in senior housing positively affected engagement in formal volunteering after adjusting for personal and environmental factors. As a modifiable target of intervention for successful and healthy aging, our findings provide important background knowledge for the development and implementation of housing-specific volunteer programs for vulnerable elders.     

Ageing in transnational contexts: transforming everyday practices and identities in later life

ABSTRACT

This Special Issue on ‘Ageing in Transnational Contexts: Transforming Everyday Practices and Identities in Later Life’ extends our understanding of how ageing is experienced in transnational contexts. It focuses on how everyday lives and identities in older age are being negotiated by individuals who have migration histories or who are affected by the mobilities of others in their lives. In the introduction, we situate our approach within an emerging strand of research investigating the inter-related processes of ageing and transnational migration. We also present the seven empirical case studies that constitute the issue and discuss their collective contribution for the research field.     

Representations of homelessness,home environments,and authority in the context of runaway behaviors reported by foster care youth residing in an emergency shelter

Between 31 and 46% of youth with histories of foster care placement were homeless at least once. Studies of the incidence of runaway behavior have identified a host of risk factors associated with running away from foster care placement, but less is known about the internalized processes of these individuals at risk for running away or the contextual experience surrounding it. This study is designed to investigate the representations made by individuals who have engaged in running away to uncover and explore thematic patterns. Accordingly, a secondary analysis was performed on data from four group interviews (n?=?15) collected from youth under the care of one child protective services (CPS) agency-operated emergency shelter setting, using thematic content analysis by two independent reviewers. Codes were networked and themes that emerged were discussed through a framework of power dynamics. Themes around the participants’ perceptions of homelessness, lack of control, and their resistance to authority were all identified as contributory to the theme of running away. The act of running away is, therefore, framed as a threshold event representing a multifaceted phenomenon combining perceptions of self-identity, conflict, and power in the home.