This paper aims to develop a sensory methodological framework to explore older user's landscape experience. Applying empirical experience in Australian aged-care facilities, it addresses a methodological gap in the current literature to help move beyond the current taken-for-granted approaches such as interviews, cognitive mapping, behavioural observation and visual methods. We propose a more holistic method which enables the exploration of older people's in situ environmental experience. The multisensory framework we propose here is based on the first author's doctoral fieldwork experience that took place in two aged-care facilities in Brisbane, Australia. Findings suggest this framework facilitates an understanding of users’ olfactory, auditory and visual responses to the physical environment, and promotes a deeper engagement with the landscape. We argue that this is essential to promoting good landscape design which genuinely connects with older people's needs.

Ensuring distributive fairness in the long-term care sector is vitally important in the context of global population ageing and rising care needs. This study, part of the DETERMIND (DETERMinants of quality of life, care and costs, and consequences of INequalities in people with Dementia and their carers) programme, investigates socioeconomic inequality and inequity in the utilisation of long-term care for older people with and without dementia in England. The data come from three waves of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA, Waves 6–8, N = 16,458). We find that older people with dementia have higher levels of care needs and a lower socioeconomic status than those without dementia. The distribution of formal and informal care is strongly pro-poor. When care needs are controlled for, there is no significant inequality of formal or informal care among people with dementia, nor of informal care among people without dementia, but there is a significant pro-rich distribution of formal care among people without dementia. Unmet care needs are significantly concentrated among poorer people, both with and without dementia. We argue that the long-term care system in England plays a constructive role in promoting socioeconomic equality of long-term care for people with dementia, but support for older people with lower financial means and substantial care needs remains insufficient. Increased government support for older people is needed to break the circle between care inequality and health inequality.

Germany is one of the few countries in Europe that has implemented a system of ‘divorce splitting’. Under this system, the pension credits that spouses have accumulated during their marriage are combined and then split equally between them upon divorce. This study examines how divorce affects public pension entitlements in Germany, and how these patterns are influenced by the system of divorce splitting. The data for our analysis comes from SHARE-RV, a direct linkage of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with administrative data of the research data centre of the German Pension Insurance Fund (Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund). The data include information on the beneficiaries’ monthly earnings and employment biographies, as well as on their pension entitlements and the credits they received through divorce splitting. The results of the analysis, which was restricted to West German men and women born between 1935 and 1954, reveal that there are large gender gaps in public pension benefit levels. However, the investigation also shows that single and divorced West German women have larger personal pension entitlements than their married or widowed counterparts. Furthermore, the public pension entitlements of divorced men and women in West Germany are very similar. This can be attributed partially to the divorce-splitting system, which tends to increase the pension benefits of divorced women, while reducing the pension benefits of their male counterparts.

Research shows that healthy ageing is defined differently by older adults and researchers, who may put more or less weight on the physiological, psychological, societal and personal aspects of ageing. Although there is growing interest in the research literature on lay models of healthy ageing in socio-cultural context, little work has been done to determine how important or feasible the various components of healthy ageing are viewed to be by older adults. This study asked a convenience sample of 54 older adults in the circumpolar North to rate the importance and feasibility of 36 previously identified components of healthy ageing in their community. Results indicate that seniors in the sample place the most importance on aspects of the social and physical environment, while least important concepts included psychological and individual behaviours. However, most feasible aspects were individual behaviours and least feasible were aspects of the social and physical environment. Although older adults are able to construct a model of what healthy ageing should look like in their community, they do not always view the most important aspects of healthy ageing to be the most feasible to achieve, providing ample opportunity for public and social policy change.

Among the changes occurring in patterns of working time there is evidence of a growing interest in ‘phased’ or ‘partial’ retirement, which seeks to ease the transition between work and retirement.

Though a small number of companies in other countries have introduced this option, Sweden is unique in operating partial retirement on a national scale. The development of the Swedish partial pension scheme, since its introduction in 1976, is examined and reactions of older workers and employers reviewed.

The final section draws a number of conclusions from the Swedish experience and considers some of the obstacles to the more widespread development of partial retirement.

This paper draws on a 1980 sample survey of middle-aged and elderly residents of a medium-sized Canadian city (N = 464). Few parents and grown-up children discussed in advance what might happen should parents become seriously ill or unable to look after themselves. However, most respondents did feel these matters should be discussed in advance, and most felt that parents should be the ones to raise these issues. This was true for both the middle-aged and the elderly. Elderly men rarely discussed their wives' futures with their children. Both the middle-aged and the elderly rarely talked with siblings or friends about the possibility of their own or their parents' dependency. Discussions that took place were often precipitated by illness. However, children expressed a great deal of concern for parents, especially for older parents. A variety of possible contributing explanations are suggested. These range from unwillingness to acknowledge changing family structure and mortality to parents' view on non-family-provided services.

Little is known about the dynamic relationship between the different funding sources of community-based social care in England. Using Waves 2–6 (2004–2013) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing survey, I estimated dynamic multi-level cross-classified mixed-effects logistic regression models to investigate whether receiving services by one source is more or less likely if an older person was already receiving services funded by the same source or another in the previous period. Four hypotheses between formal privately and publicly funded help and informal help are tested: substitution, complementarity, compensation and task-specificity. I also report evidence that older people on low incomes residing in local authorities that reduce social care spending are especially affected.

Little is known about the perspectives of health-care workers when it comes to prolonging their working lives. This exploratory paper focuses on physiotherapists and aims to offer new insights into the underlying processes that may influence perceptions of ageing and how they impact on motivation to work longer. Data gathering took the form of focus groups with 43 National Health Service physiotherapists. A thematic analysis was used to characterise and articulate key concepts and meanings. The analysis applied interpretive techniques. The six headline themes to emerge were: worry over physical capability and ability to cope; the need to maintain a professional image; work, retirement and exit norms; beliefs about ageing; extrinsic job demands; organisational support – line management; and organisational support – career progression. The key findings suggest that the current unchanging context of high job demands is very salient, consequently resulting in negative and pessimistic feelings about capabilities when it comes to being an older worker and having an extended working life.

Caring for one's grandchildren has become a more common experience for individuals partly as a result of a longer overlap between the lives of grandparents and their grandchildren. Existing research shows that around 50 per cent of grandparents engage in some grandparental child care in most European countries, however, this proportion is higher among older people with a migrant background, partly due to greater economic necessity among migrant families. Research has also highlighted ethnic differences in parents’ child-care selection, even after controlling for their socio-economic status. Building on these strands of work, this paper investigates the differences in the use of (grandparental) child care among parents from different Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups in the United Kingdom, using data from Understanding Society. The results show that parents from Other White, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and African communities are less likely to use child care than White British parents, while the opposite is true for Caribbean parents. However, among parents using child care, individuals from the Other White, Caribbean and African groups are less likely than the White British majority to be using grandparental child care as a supplement to other child-care types, or on its own. Ethnic differentials in the use of child care per se and grandparental child care in particular, have significant policy implications, and may mask other kinds of ethnic differences.

This study examined the association between adult children's achievements and ageing parents’ depressive symptoms in China. The research topic was examined within the contexts of one-child and multiple-children families in rural and urban China. Older adults (aged 60–113, N = 8,450; nested within 462 communities/villages) from the 2013 China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey provided information about themselves and their adult children (N = 22,738). Adult children's achievements were assessed with educational attainment, financial status and occupational status; older parents’ depressive symptoms were assessed with nine items of the Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Multilevel linear regression models were estimated separately for older parents with one child only and multiple children. For older parents with multiple children, both having one or more children with any achievement and the total number of children's achievements were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. For parents with only one child, any achievement of the child and the total number of the child's achievements were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Our results also indicated that the association between children's achievements and parents’ depressive symptoms varied by rural–urban residence and family type. Our findings contributed to the understanding of family dynamics underlying the emotional wellbeing of older adults in China.

This article explores the embodied practices of anti-ageing among middle-aged and older Chinese women (damas) who engage in plaza dancing (guangchangwu) as a leisure activity in urban areas. Drawing upon data collected from three months of participant observation in three different plaza dance groups and 29 semi-structured interviews with older Chinese women, I first investigate my participants’ experiences of plaza dancing in terms of health-keeping and bodily maintenance. I then analyse their usage of cosmetic products at a time when the beauty economy is booming during the post-Mao era. These female plaza dancers’ bodily regulation and ‘beautification’ indicate not only older women's strategies and struggles in the face of the double standard of ageing, but also a change in the age hierarchy under the transforming socio-cultural landscape of urban China, which is generating new social norms.

China has faced challenges related to the rapid growth of its ageing population, and sleep is one of the public health challenges to this demographic group. This study examines the socio-demographic and behavioural factors associated with status change of sleeping patterns among Chinese older adults, using longitudinal data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). Socio-demographic factors were selected from the 2012 wave of the CLHLS to examine the sleep status change in the 2014 wave. Multivariable logistic and multinomial regressions were used to study older adults’ changes of sleep quality and daily sleep duration. Older adults, 65 years old or above, were selected as study participants. A higher level of education was negatively associated with poor sleep quality and longer sleep duration (>8 hours). Increasing age was positively associated with both shorter and longer sleep duration. Being female was negatively associated with longer sleep duration. However, exercise status, smoking behaviour and alcohol use all were neither positively nor negatively associated with status change of sleeping patterns. Participants’ education, age and gender might be important factors associated with sleep status change. However, the effects of behavioural factors should be studied further. Policy implications and further research directions are discussed based on empirical results.

This article shows how late-life incomes from work and pensions evolved in the United Kingdom between 1991 and 2007, the year the Great Recession began. Our main contribution comes from focusing on changes across cohorts in different educational groups while also considering the gender divide. Our statistical analyses based on the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) suggest that deindustrialisation, the expansion of jobs in the knowledge economy and pension reforms affected senior workers’ incomes before and after retirement. Highly qualified senior male workers have profited from increasing income across the cohorts more than any other social group. Such a trend is not observed among highly qualified female workers. Male and female low-qualified senior workers do not show major income loses, but have not benefited to the same extent as highly educated male workers. As a result, pension income inequalities between highly qualified men and the rest have increased. The increasing pensions gap between educational groups can be traced back to the improving situation on the labour market for highly qualified male workers, and to reforms benefiting private pension schemes, where the highly qualified are overrepresented. Thus, the shift in pension provisions towards private pension schemes is clearly disadvantageous for low-qualified male workers and for women of all educational levels, and contributes to the increase of social inequalities.

Previous studies on older adults' intention to adopt medical apps during irregular circumstances like the COVID-19 outbreak are still in its infancy. In order to fill this knowledge gap, we developed a theoretical framework based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model and the Technology of Acceptance Model (TAM) to explain Chinese older people's willingness to use medical apps during the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected 1,318 online questionnaires during the first wave of the pandemic in China in early 2020. We employed structural equation modelling to analyse the data, and the results show that (a) attitudes towards using apps influence older people's intention to use apps significantly; (b) only two factors, perceived usefulness and facilitating conditions, which were proposed in the UTAUT model, significantly predicted the older adults' intention to use apps, but not others; and (c) perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm and facilitating conditions all significantly impact attitudes towards using apps. Further mediation analysis found that attitudes towards using apps significantly mediated the paths suggested in the original UTAUT model. Due to the online survey method we used, older people who do not use the internet were excluded from our sampling process. However, our timely research contributes to the existing literature by showcasing older people's usage of eHealth technology in public health emergencies. It also builds on the broader discussions on technology use by combining the TAM and the UTAUT model, highlighting the vital role of people's attitude towards using technology in shaping their intention to use it.

Reflecting on sustained calls for patient-centredness and culture change in long-term care, we evaluated the relative importance of personal and organisational predictors of palliative care, hypothesising the former as weaker predictors than the latter. Health-care employees (N = 184) from four Canadian long-term care homes completed a survey of person-centred care, self-efficacy, employee wellbeing and occupational characteristics. Using backward stepwise regression models, we examined the relative contributions of these variables to person-centred palliative care. Specifically, blocks of variables representing personal, organisational and occupational characteristics; palliative care self-efficacy; and employee wellbeing were simultaneously regressed on variables representing aspects of person-centred care. The change in R2 associated with the removal of each block was examined to determine each block's overall contribution to the model. We found that occupational characteristics (involvement in care planning), employee wellbeing (compassion satisfaction) and self-efficacy were reliably associated with person-centred palliative care (p < 0.05). Facility size was not associated, and facility profit status was less consistently associated. Demographic characteristics (gender, work experience, education level) and some aspects of employee wellbeing (burnout, secondary trauma) were also not reliably associated. Overall, these results raise the possibility that humanistic care is less related to intrinsic characteristics of employees, and more related to workplace factors, or to personal qualities that can be cultivated in the workplace, including meaningful role engagement, compassion and self-efficacy.

Across Europe a rising number of migrants are reaching higher ages. As old age is related to care dependency, care-giving within migrant families is becoming more important. To date, little research has focused on health outcomes for migrant care-givers. Theories and empirical evidence suggest differences in the relationship of care-giving and health between migrants and non-migrants due to differences in support, income, norms and values. Furthermore, across Europe the degree of formal care supply and the obligation to provide informal care vary considerably and presumably lead to different health outcomes of care-giving in different countries. Based on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (Waves 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (Waves 2–6), this paper studies the relationship between informal care-giving inside the household and health for migrant and non-migrant care-givers across Europe and analyses changes in health. In most countries migrant care-givers are in worse self-perceived and mental health compared to non-migrant care-givers. When controlling for important influences no differences in the relationship between health and care-giving for migrants and non-migrants can be found. Moreover, care-giving deteriorates mental health irrespective of origin. The country models showed that for non-migrants care-giving is most detrimental in Southern welfare states whereas for migrants care-giving is also burdening in Nordic welfare states.

Secure, affordable housing is strongly linked to wellbeing in older age. This paper reports on a study of childless and poor older Malaysians who are potentially a vulnerable group in relation to accumulating such housing resources for older age. Childless is defined as a person without biological, step or adopted children, and poverty is defined following the national guideline. The research explores the cumulative advantages and disadvantages over the lifecourse that may influence their routes to attaining, or failing to attain, secure and stable housing in older age. Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 34 childless and poor older Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were analysed using a lifecourse perspective to identify the events/experiences that had shaped their housing arrangements in old age. Housing arrangements are hierarchical in structure and can be categorised into four types: home-ownership, public-rental, private-rental and informal housing arrangements. The capacity to afford secure housing (i.e. public rental or ownership) decreased with ill-health and reduced opportunities to work. Structural and policy factors such as eligibility for public housing had also contributed to shaping current housing arrangements. Family poverty, low levels of education and, consequently, reduced employment opportunities affected the ability to accumulate the financial resources needed to afford housing in older age. Some individual decisions and situational disadvantages also contributed to reductions in housing choice. From the social and cultural context, some participants with greater networks had more choices and advantages in the accumulation of housing resources. Initiatives to provide retirement entitlements for workers have not favoured those in low-level informal employment or have come too late to assist those who are now older people. In conclusion, more disadvantages than advantages were accumulated earlier in their life, impacting on their ability to have affordable, secure and stable housing in older age.

Whilst ageing in place is integral to international policy, there is less understanding of how individuals utilise formal services and informal supports in diverse rural environments to maintain their wellness and independence. Consequently, how older people negotiate their care within rural communities is subject to misconceptions. This paper draws on the convoy of care model to explore how older rural Australians negotiate their preferences and needs in the context of informal networks, availability of community resources, and the health and aged care system. The analysis draws on 60 in-depth interviews in six diverse rural communities across two Australian states. Three distinct care convoys are identified and demonstrate the interaction of multiple factors including individual preferences and needs, availability of family and community supports, and accessibility of local health and aged care services in the context of resource allocation. The findings highlight how families and communities compensate for a lack of accessible formal services. For older people without family and strong social networks, formal services are relied upon despite their inadequacy in some locales. This research has provided evidence that some Australian rural locales have limited resources resulting in challenges for older people to access home care and support. This results in many older people facing challenges to age in place. With aged care and health policy commonly designed for an urban context, our findings illustrate the importance of tailoring policy to respect the strengths and challenges existing in rural communities.

The number of dependent older people in England, as elsewhere, is projected to rise substantially, while the number of unpaid carers is not projected to rise by an equivalent amount. Barriers to people caring for older relatives have been theorised, however, there is a lack of understanding of attitudes to providing care in the future among people who are not currently carers. This paper presents qualitative analysis of interviews with 20 people in middle age about their willingness to care for older relatives in the future. Interviewees were asked their general views about who should provide care, then to consider future scenarios in which a close relative developed care needs. Willingness to care was influenced by beliefs about reciprocity, love and identity, beliefs about who was likely to provide the best quality and most appropriate care, and beliefs about how difficult caring would be. Older relatives’ care preferences were a key consideration. While some interviewees felt the best care would always be provided by family, others considered that professional skills were needed. Interviewees saw important roles for easily accessible information and advice, sharing care, including respite care, and financial support, in making it easier to provide care. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown had highlighted relevant issues for interviewees, which are discussed.