Leo Tolstoy's short story, The Death of Ivan Ilyitch, is considered as a case history of a seriously flawed life and a consequently inept coping with death. Never having truly lived fully, never having been committed to passionate love or work, Ilyitch in his dying review finds his experience absurdly empty. His death comes to be seen as superficial and meaningless, like his life. It is suggested that people need to be educated for life's failures and death's inevitability.

Sociological research shows that individuals attempt to make sense of the meaning of the ageing process in the course of conversations with other people. The social construction of ageing is therefore an interactive process during which ideas and beliefs about ageing are negotiated and exchanged. Novels are a rich and easily accessible source of data on the social construction of the meaning of ageing during the course of social interaction and this paper explores the imaginative contribution of the English novelist Stanley Middleton to our awareness of these subtle processes. It is suggested that Middleton's fiction provides a particularly rewarding example of the contribution of the novelist to our understanding of the origins of the experience of growing older as a product of social interaction.

Drawing from theory and research on the role of social networks in promoting or undermining preventative public health measures, this article considers how structural, compositional and functional aspects of older adults’ close social networks are associated with HIV testing in the context of rural South Africa. Analyses use data from the population-based Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) – a sample of rural adults age 40+ (N = 4,660). Results from multiple logistic regression show older South African adults with larger, more heavily non-kin and more literate networks were most likely to report testing for HIV. People whose network members provided frequent information were also most likely to be tested, though interaction effects indicate that this pattern is primarily found among those with highly literate networks. Taken together, the findings reinforce a key insight from social capital perspectives: network resourcefulness – literacy in particular – is crucial for promoting preventative health practice. The synergy between network literacy and informational support reveals the complex interplay between network characteristics in shaping health-seeking behaviour. Continued research is needed on the connection between networks and HIV testing among sub-Saharan older adults, as this population is not currently well served by many public health efforts in the region.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) contribute substantially to mortality, morbidity and disability in Ghana. Nonetheless, no data are presently available on Ghanaians with disability from major NCDs, such as hypertension, diabetes and stroke. Using data from the 2007/2008 Ghana World Health Organization Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) and applying ordinary least squares techniques, the prevalence of and associations between activity limitations and participation restrictions in Ghanaians with NCDs are examined in the present study. The results show stroke is the major contributor to activity limitations and participation restrictions among the Ghanaian population with NCDs. The study results further revealed that respondents with higher education reported high levels of disability compared to those with no education. The results suggest that functioning can be restored by providing assistive technologies, such as wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, walking aids, etc., that can enhance participation of persons with disability in society.

Previous research has found varied effects of informal care provision on the carer's health status. Few studies have, however, examined this relationship dynamically. This paper is the first to analyse trajectories of care among men and women in mid-life and their impact on health outcomes using a nationally representative prospective cohort study. Data from three waves of the United Kingdom (UK) National Child Development Study (N = 7,465), when the respondents were aged 46, 50 and 55, are used to derive care trajectories capturing the dynamics of care provision and its intensity. Logistic regression investigates the impact of caring between the ages of 46 and 55 on the carers' report of depression and poor health at age 55. At age 46, 9 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women provided some level of informal care; rising to 60 per cent for both genders at ages 50 and 55. Just 7 per cent of women and 4 per cent of men provided care at all observation points, with the most common trajectory being ‘starting to care’ at ages 50 or 55. New carers experienced a lower risk of depression at age 55, reflecting that they may not have experienced the caring role long enough to have an adverse impact on their wellbeing. The findings highlight that the majority of individuals with surviving parents experience caring at some point during mid-life, underlining the need for further longitudinal research to better understand the complex relationships between care-giving and health for different groups of cares.