Passive monitoring technology is beginning to be reimbursed by third-party payers in the United States of America. Given the low voluntary uptake of these technologies on the market, it is important to understand the concerns and perspectives of users, former users and non-users. In this paper, the range of ways older adults relate to passive monitoring in low-income independent-living residences is presented. This includes experiences of adoption, non-adoption, discontinuation and creative ‘misuse’. The analysis of interviews reveals three key insights. First, assumptions built into the technology about how older adults live present a problem for many users who experience unwanted disruptions and threats to their behavioural autonomy. Second, resident response is varied and challenges the dominant image of residents as passive subjects of a passive monitoring system. Third, the priorities of older adults (e.g. safety, autonomy, privacy, control, contact) are more diverse and multi-faceted than those of the housing organisation staff and family members (e.g. safety, efficiency) who drive the passive monitoring intervention. The tension between needs, desires and the daily lives of older adults and the technological solutions offered to them is made visible by their active responses, including resistance to them. This exposes the active and meaningful qualities of older adults’ decisions and practices.

This article tests the fit of a social support network typology developed for collectivist cultures to six migrant populations living in England and Wales. We examine the predictive utility of the typology to identify networks most vulnerable to poor quality of life and loneliness. Variables representing network size, and the proportion of the network classified by gender, age, kin and proximity, were used in confirmatory and exploratory latent profile analysis to fit models to the data (N = 815; Black African, Black Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese). Multinomial logistic regression examined associations between demographic variables and network types. Linear regression examined associations between network types and wellbeing outcomes. A four-profile model was selected. Multigenerational Household: Younger Family networks were most robust with lowest levels of loneliness and greatest quality of life. Restricted Non-kin networks were least robust. Multigenerational Household: Younger Family networks were most prevalent for all but the Black Caribbean migrants. The typology is able to differentiate between networks with multigenerational households and can help identify vulnerable networks. There are implications for forecasting formal services and variation in networks between cultures. The use of a culturally appropriate typology could impact on the credibility of gerontological research.

Retirees' encounter with time has long interested social scientists, especially the negotiation of such an open-ended status. Pursuing theoretical suggestions that daily activities anchor a narrative of self-identity, this project examined the coherence of retirees' representations of their time use. Information is drawn from interviews with 30 retirees in the Midwestern United States of America who were invited to discuss their daily lives and activities. The retirees valued time sovereignty and accounted for their time use by describing schedules of activities in some detail. Daily time was not presented as improvised but rather as structured into routines. Recurring behaviours flowed from situations and structures in which people were implicated, such as body care and living with others. Even in replies to a specific question about the preceding day, people slipped into language about what they typically do. Retirees' ready narratives about routines were also accounts of who they are not. Our findings suggest, first, that daily routines are instrumental for retirees in economising thought and behaviour. Second, the assertion of a routine is an assurance that one's life is ordered and proceeds with purpose, thus solving the task of time. Third, routines can be a means to signal conformity with ideals of active ageing.

The British welfare state is over 60 years old. Those who were born, grew up and who are now growing old within its ambit are a distinctive generation. They have enjoyed healthier childhoods with better education than previous populations living in Britain. That they have done well under the welfare state is accepted, but some critics have argued that these advantages are at the expense of younger cohorts. The very success of this ‘welfare generation’ is perceived as undermining the future viability of the welfare state, and some argue that the current levels of income and wealth enjoyed by older cohorts can only be sustained by cutbacks in entitlements for younger cohorts. This will lead to a growing ‘generational fracture’ over welfare policy. This paper challenges this position, arguing that both younger and older groups find themselves working out their circumstances in conditions determined more by the contingencies of the market than by social policy.

This paper explores some of the experiences of older people living in residential settings (sheltered, very sheltered housing and residential care), in the context of theories of participation, consumerism and citizenship. It draws on material from personal interviews undertaken with over 100 older people in England and Wales, and also from discussions with staff. Two-thirds of respondents were aged over 85. A significant minority of residents expressed some concerns about the routines of life, such as meals and social contact. Staff expectations of social participation were often unrealistic: for many residents, social contact was more a matter of adjustment than of friendship. Residents did not participate in deciding how the residential settings where they lived should be organised and managed, except for helping with simple domestic tasks. There is a need to change both attitudes and practice to enable older people to participate more fully in these settings.

A sample of 555 drivers aged 50 or more were assessed in terms of their confidence in a range of driving situations, self-ratings of their driving ability, self-reported driving behaviour, and personality as measured by Eysenck's EPQ. Levels of nervousness when driving were surprisingly low, although there was no evidence of unrealistic self-ratings of driving ability. Female drivers reported significantly fewer errors and intentional violations than did male drivers. Female drivers were also found to score higher on the Extroversion, Neuroticism and Lie scales than did males. However, the males in the sample scored higher on the Psychoticism scale than the females. Driving confidence was associated with the following: a low level of lapses and errors, and a high level of violations; a low score on the Neuroticism scale and a high score on the Extroversion scale; being male, and high annual mileage. Personality did not mediate the relationship between driving confidence and self-rated driving ability.

Interest in co-research with older adults has grown in the past 20 years, yet few published studies have addressed why and how older people have been involved as partners in research. This article presents a systematic review of the literature, examining the aims and challenges of co-research and the ways in which older adults can be involved in research. Systematic searches covering several databases were conducted, yielding a total of 3,293 articles, with 27 papers reviewed which involved older people as co-researchers across more than one stage of the research cycle. We find that co-research with older people offers improved understandings of the issues facing older people; more inclusive and responsive policy, practice and service design; and opportunities for co-researchers to develop new skills whilst giving voice to marginalised groups of older people. The analysis highlights the different ways in which older adults can be involved across phases of research, and identifies ethical, methodological and practical challenges encountered in the process. Involving older adults as co-researchers, while labour intensive and practically challenging, holds promise as an underdeveloped resource for social gerontology, as well as older people themselves. The paper identifies four pathways for improving and extending co-research: developing diversified structures of involvement, supporting co-researchers, embedding research rigour and ensuring co-ownership of change.

During the 1990s, the British population has been urged by government and financial institutions to make more personal preparation for retirement and to begin doing so while they are still relatively young. This paper, set within a wider analysis of people's long-term planning behaviour, investigates the extent to which a sample of the general population of Kirkcaldy in Scotland, mostly aged between 30 and 49, has given thought to the question of retirement, feels they have made financial preparation for it, and also how comfortable they expect retirement to be. While it seems likely that early planning for retirement is more common today than 20 years ago, there remain substantial sections of the population, including – but going well beyond – many in lower income groups, who appear not to be preparing, for varying combinations of reasons (including family responsibilities, personal history, cultural and general orientation to life). The study concludes that planning for retirement must be seen as part of planning as a whole, and that the propensity to plan is the outcome of a complex web of material, social, cultural and psychological factors. This suggests that even very high profile urging from politicians and financial institutions is unlikely to deliver adequate pensions for significant sections of the UK population.

Nursing homes as care institutions seek to offer a home where people can live until their death. A potential conflict, therefore, exists as nursing homes are both a place where life is lived and where death is regularly encountered. It has been proposed that within residential care homes for older people, dying individuals are separated from living people. Drawing on fieldwork undertaken in four English nursing homes the management of the dying process and the relationship between life and death is explored. There is much uncertainty inherent in the boundary between life and death for many residents in nursing homes. The relationship between life and death for these residents is less about the sequestration of dying people from living people, but rather the creation of transitional states between these two polarities.

The provision of physical care is a sensitive matter in all cultures and is circumscribed by moral injunctions and personal preferences. Research on Western cultures has shown care networks to be narrow subsets of people's wider networks and revealed dependence to be deeply undermining of full personhood. In non-Western societies these issues have received little attention, although it is sometimes assumed that care provision and dependence are much less problematic. This paper uses longitudinal ethnographic data from two ethnic groups in rural Indonesia to compare care preferences and practices in old age and to examine the implications of care dependence. The groups manifest varying degrees of daughter preference in care and differ in the extent to which notions of shame and avoidance prohibit cross-gender intimate care and care by ‘non-blood’ relatives. Demographic and social constraints often necessitate compromises in actual care arrangements (e.g. dependence on in-laws, neighbours or paid carers), not all of which are compatible with quality care and a valued identity. We argue that by probing the norms and practices surrounding care provision in different socio-cultural settings, it becomes possible to arrive at a deeper understanding of kinship, personhood and sociality. These insights are not only of sociological interest but have implications for people's vulnerability to poor quality care in old age.

Recent economic development and socio-cultural changes have made it increasingly difficult for Chinese families to provide eldercare. Consequently, institutional care has been strongly promoted to meet older adults' long-term care needs. Although it has been estimated that China needs more beds to meet such needs, unfilled beds have been reported nationwide. One reason for the low occupancy may be a lack of willingness among older adults to live in long-term care institutions. Based on a national survey of 20,255 older adults, this study examined the extent of willingness among older Chinese to live in eldercare institutions, and it was found that in urban and rural areas, only 20 and 17 per cent of older adults, respectively, were willing to do so. Using an integrated theoretical model and logistic regression analyses, this study shows that gender, perceived family harmony, perceived filial piety, socio-cultural beliefs and practices about raising children and eldercare, knowledge and opinion about eldercare institutions, and self-assessed economic status were associated with willingness to live in eldercare institutions for both urban and rural older adults, while other predictors of willingness had different effects. The paper concludes with a discussion of the substantive, theoretical and policy implications for long-term care in China.

This paper examines the sociodemographic characteristics, health condition, and problems in the activities of daily living of two groups of older Texas state prisoners. The research group, assigned to a geriatric facility, were primarily Anglos who had committed violent crime. Few admitted to having a drinking problem but most admitted to a daily smoking habit. Most rated their current health condition as fair or poor; many used special equipment to aid their movement and breathing. Their self-rated health condition was worse than that of a comparison group of older inmates drawn from the general population of the prison. Inmates and health-care providers agreed that separate facilities for older prisoners are desirable. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for prison management and future policy.

Worldwide approximately 3.6 million people aged 50 and older are living and ageing with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Few studies have explored successful ageing from the insider perspective of those living well and ageing with HIV. This study draws upon the lived experience and wisdom of older, HIV-positive adults living in Ontario, Canada in order to understand their views and strategies for successful ageing. This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with 30 individuals age 50 years and older who are HIV-positive. Purposive sampling techniques were used to recruit individuals who shared their experiences of successful ageing. Constructivist grounded theory coding techniques were used for analysis. Themes related to successful ageing included resilience strategies and challenges, social support and environmental context. Stigma and struggles to maintain health were identified as impediments to successful ageing. Models of successful ageing must take into account the potential for a subjective appraisal of success in populations suffering from chronic and life-threatening illnesses including HIV. Practitioners can draw upon organically existent strengths in this population in order to provide intervention development for older adults around the world who are struggling to manage their HIV.

We studied concerns about cognitive health among ethnically diverse groups of older adults. The study was grounded in theories of health behaviour and the representation of health and illness. We conducted 42 focus groups (N=396, ages 50+) in four languages, with African Americans, American Indians, Chinese Americans, Latinos, Whites other than Latinos (hereafter, Whites) and Vietnamese Americans, in nine United States locations. Participants discussed concerns about keeping their memory or ability to think as they age. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim. Constant comparison methods identified themes. In findings, all ethnic groups expressed concern and fear about memory loss, losing independence, and becoming ‘a burden’. Knowing someone with Alzheimer's disease increased concern. American Indians, Chinese Americans, Latinos and Vietnamese Americans expected memory loss. American Indians, Chinese Americans and Vietnamese Americans were concerned about stigma associated with Alzheimer's disease. Only African Americans, Chinese and Whites expressed concern about genetic risks. Only African Americans and Whites expressed concern about behaviour changes. Although we asked participants for their thoughts about their ability to think as they age, they focused almost exclusively on memory. This suggests that health education promoting cognitive health should focus on memory, but should also educate the public about the importance of maintaining all aspects of cognitive health.

This article explores the changing nature and patterns of the ‘generational contract’, with particular reference to the exchange of nursing care and housing assets between older parents and their adult children. Inheritance practices and attitudes are used to examine the ways in which socio-economic, demographic and policy changes have recently altered the conventional arrangements in Japanese society. The previously defined ‘generational contract’ is now ambiguous, and the expectations and obligations of different family members are fragmented. This article also discusses whether such practices in Japan are unique and the ways in which they differ from the English situation. Family obligations and inheritance have been more explicitly connected in the Japanese social and legal systems, while in England there is neither legal obligation to support older parents nor any constraint on inheritance. This article elucidates the similarities and differences in the patterns of inheritance and thus the exchange models between care and inheritance in the two societies.

The concept of social capital is widely used in the social sciences and has, to an extent, been applied to the lives and social networks of older lesbian, gay and bisexual (hereafter LGB) adults. Developing existing research, this paper argues that while not without its problems, the concept of social capital enriches our understanding of these networks, whilst simultaneously deconstructing the negative stereotypes surrounding homosexuality in later life. However, little attention has been paid to the social factors that mediate access and participation in lesbian and gay communities and the implications of this on the quality and experience of later life. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in the United Kingdom, this paper illustrates how biography, gender and socio-economic status are significant mediators in the development and maintenance of social capital by older LGB adults. It concludes with a set of recommendations aimed at improving the social capital of older LGB adults, together with the importance of ‘queering’ the concept itself.

This study draws on national survey data from the United States of America (USA) and the Netherlands to compare family obligations and support behaviour for middle-generation adults who have a living aged parent and adult child. Consistent with a familialism by default hypothesis based on welfare state differences, the US sample espouses stronger family obligations than the Dutch sample. Yet, the Dutch respondents are more likely to engage in family support behaviours with both the younger and older generations, contrary to a family-steps-in hypothesis. The connection between family obligations and support behaviour is also tested, revealing a stronger association in the US sample, consistent with a family-steps-in hypothesis, but only in regard to relations with ageing parents. We conclude that Dutch respondents are more likely to act on their individual preferences whereas American respondents are more influenced by general norms of obligation towards family members. The findings are discussed in terms of social policy differences between the two countries, and in light of results from comparative European studies of intergenerational relations.

In 2012/2013 the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) included a comprehensive Sexual Relationships and Activities Questionnaire (SRA-Q). A total of 7,079 men and women mainly aged 50 to >90, primarily heterosexual and in a coupled relationship, completed the SRA-Q, answering a series of questions about their attitudes to sexual relationships, their own sexual activities, problems and concerns with sexual functioning, and quality of intimate relationships. The questions aimed to gain insights into the ways in which sexual relations and activities related to health, wellbeing and other lifestyle factors change as people grow older. The primary mode of data collection was a tick box response to a series of questions. However, at the end of the questionnaire an open comment box was provided, which asked respondents whether there was anything else that they would like to say; 1,084 respondents provided additional information and these comments created a unique qualitative data-set. The analysis of the data then illustrated how people's health, relationships, experiences and perceptions of ageing, along with sexual satisfaction, impact on sexual relationships and activities.

The distinct needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) residents in care homes accommodating older people have been neglected in scholarship. On the basis of a survey of 187 individuals, including service managers and direct care staff, we propose three related arguments. First, whilst employees’ attitudes generally indicate a positive disposition towards LGBT residents, this appears unmatched by the ability to recognise such individuals and knowledge of the issues and policies affecting LGBT people. Statements such as, ‘We don't have any [LGBT residents] at the moment’ and ‘I/we treat them all the same’ were common refrains in responses to open-ended questions. They suggest the working of heteronormativity which could deny sexual and identity difference. Second, failure to recognise the distinct health and social care needs of LGBT residents means that they could be subject to a uniform service, which presumes a heterosexual past and cisgender status (compliance with ascribed gender), which risks compounding inequality and invisibility. Third, LGBT residents could be obliged to depend largely on the goodwill, knowledge and reflexivity of individual staff (including people of faith) to meet care and personal needs, though such qualities were necessary but not sufficient conditions for inclusion and no substitute for collective practices (involving commitment to learn about LGBT issues) that become integral to care homes’ everyday functioning. A collective approach is key to advancing inclusion, implementation of legal rights to self-expression and securing equality through differentiated provision.

The rapid development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) is profoundly transforming the social order, into what Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells calls the network society. Mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablet computers, are perhaps the definitive tools of the network society; however, cultural and economic barriers exist that restrict access to these transformative tools and to the information networks in which they operate. One group that is particularly at risk is rural older people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper reports on one aspect of a larger action research project that involved working with a small group of rural, socially isolated older people with histories of homelessness and complex needs (N = 7) and their social workers. This paper focuses on the older participants who, having been provided tablet computers, were then supported to use the device in their homes over the course of eight months. Despite most participants having never used a computing device of any kind prior to the research project, findings suggested that participants gained confidence, independence and social engagement as a result of their ICT use. Results also highlighted that they experienced challenges in utilising ICT, specifically technical, economic and social barriers. Findings highlight the individual and structural issues that must be addressed to enable all citizens to participate fully in the network society.