Resistance training is an important aspect of healthy ageing, yet participation rates are especially low among older people. Strategies are needed to ensure resistance training programmes are attractive to and appropriate for this target group. To inform the development of such strategies, individual interviews (N = 42) and focus groups (four groups, N = 37) were conducted with 79 Western Australians representing four stakeholder groups: instructors who deliver resistance training programmes to older people, health practitioners, policy makers and seniors. Results indicate that the need for personalised attention in the establishment and maintenance phases of a resistance training programme can constitute both a positive and negative aspect of older people's experiences. The negative aspects were identified as a series of tensions between the need for personalised attention and (a) the desire to participate in physical activity within social groups, (b) a preference for activity variation, (c) a dislike for large centres where personalised guidance is often available yet the surroundings can be considered unappealing, (d) cost issues and (e) the need for flexibility in attendance. Recommended strategies for overcoming these tensions include disseminating information about the benefits of resistance training in later life to increase motivation to participate, identifying additional methods of integrating resistance training into group exercise formats, making gyms more attractive to older people and providing non-gym alternatives for resistance training.

Previous research unequivocally shows that immigrants are less successful in the labour market than the native-born population. However, little is known about whether ethnic inequality persists after retirement. We use data on 16 Western European countries from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC, 2004–2013) to provide the first comparative study of ethnic inequalities among the population aged 65 and older. We focus on the retirement income gap (RIG) between immigrants from non-European Union countries and relate its magnitude to country differences in welfare state arrangements. Ethnic inequality after retirement is substantial: after adjusting for key characteristics including age, education and occupational status, the average immigrant penalty across the 16 countries is 28 per cent for men and 29 per cent for women. Country-level regressions show that income gaps are smaller in countries where the pension system is more redistributive. We also find that easy access to long-term residence is associated with larger RIGs, at least for men. There is no clear evidence that immigrants’ access to social security programmes, welfare state transfers to working-age households or the strictness of employment protection legislation affect the size of the RIG.

This paper explores telecare manager and other ‘stakeholder’ perspectives on the nature, extent and impact of family and other unpaid/informal carers’ involvement in the provision of telecare equipment and services for older people. Data used in the paper are derived from a larger study on telecare provision by local councils in England. The paper aims to add to the growing evidence about carers’ engagement with electronic assistive technology and telecare, and considers this in the context of typologies of professionals’ engagement with carers. How carers are involved in telecare provision is examined primarily from the perspectives of senior managers responsible for telecare services who responded to an online survey and/or were interviewed in 2016 as part of a wider study. The perspectives of three unpaid carers were captured in a separate strand of the main study, which comprised more detailed case study interviews within four selected councils. Thematic and comparative analysis of both qualitative and quantitative survey data revealed the varied involvements and responsibilities that carers assumed during the telecare provision process, the barriers that they needed to overcome and their integration in local council strategies. Findings are discussed in the context of Twigg and Atkin's typology of carer support. They suggest that carers are mainly perceived as ‘resources’ and involvement is largely taken for granted. There are instances in which carers can be seen as ‘co-workers’: this is mainly around responding to alerts generated by the telecare user or by monitored devices, but only in those councils that fund response services. Though some participants felt that telecare devices could replace or ‘supersede’ hands-on care that involved routine monitoring of health and wellbeing, it was also acknowledged that its use might also place new responsibilities on carers. Furthermore, the study found that meeting carers’ own rights as ‘co-clients’ was little acknowledged.

Despite major shifts in the position of older people in British society during the first half of the twentieth century, accounts of the emergence of retirement pensions have ignored the role of old age pressure groups, preferring arguments which emphasise structured dependency rather than human agency. By contrast, this paper examines the political campaigns mounted by two groups – one claiming to speak on behalf of older people, the other composed of older people themselves. The failure of both groups to influence major policy decisions relates not to the passivity or ‘silent suffering’ of older people, or to ‘generational equity’ criteria which privileged younger, unemployed workers, but to the inadequacies of their different styles of campaigning. While the National Conference, in the decade after 1916, focused their moral invective around notions of thrift which failed to arouse or articulate the needs of all but the most ‘respectable aged Britishers’, the uncompromising, combative approach of the National Federation during the critical years leading up to the Beveridge legislation incurred the disdain of policymakers. In the intervening years, trade union activity was underlain by mixed motives. While the historical specificity of the movements and debates that are discussed is significant, the generationally specific lifetime experiences of the older people in question to some extent determined their character.

Second couplehood in old age following widowhood or divorce is a phenomenon developing with the increase in life expectancy and is yet to be accepted as part of the normative ageing process. The aim of this paper is to examine how family members of three generations perceive second couplehood in old age as a new phenomenon within a changing society and a dynamic family structure. The multigenerational families of 19 second-couplehood dyads (a total of 38 multigenerational families) were recruited using criterion sampling. The second-couplehood dyads were composed of men who repartnered at age 65+ and women at 60+, with children and grandchildren from a lifelong marriage. We tape recorded and transcribed verbatim 107 semi-structured qualitative interviews with older partners, their adult children and grandchildren. Analysis was based on grounded theory and dyadic-analysis principles adapted to families. Two main themes were found that presented gaps between reality and ideality experienced by the participants regarding second couplehood: as a problem through its disadvantages, and as a solution through its advantages. The gaps in both themes were bridged by the account: ‘as long as it's good’. Findings are discussed in the context of modernisation theory, the lifecourse and the family lifecycle perspectives relating to changes in family structure and ambivalence and how to deal with them on the macro, mezzo and micro levels.

The role of older people as inadvertent exemplars of all that was good about the nation’s past is thrown into high relief when we consider representations of Britain’s ‘maritime heritage’. Yet such mythology has a longer pedigree than may at first be apparent. Victorian pioneers of photography championed the custom, dress and extended family roles of elders in fishing villages because these displayed an older moral world distinct from the sins of the city. Subsequently, the conflation of positive ageing and seaside living fuelled the promotion of health products and lifestyles, whilst the rise of the seaside holiday prompted a more humorous re-evaluation of the ageing body as typified by saucy postcards and family snaps. Alongside and related to the phenomenon of retiring to the seaside, a fresh imagery is being wrought as nostalgic images of the country’s seafaring history play heavily on the reminiscences of older people. Meanwhile, growing numbers of retirees opt for foreign travel. Focusing on a range of photographic materials, this chapter explores the continuities in perception that have connected ageing and older people with the morally and spiritually uplifting virtues of coastal communities.

Ghana's older population is projected to increase in coming decades and as a result will see increasing care needs. Understanding the functional difficulties older adults experience, and the associated factors, will help identify relevant intervention to assist older adults in meeting their care needs. This study aimed to analyse the prevalence of functional difficulties among older adults in Ghana, and examine how the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (WHO-ICF) conceptual framework can relate to toileting difficulty to understand the factors that increase older adults’ care needs. Data were for 5,096 adults aged ⩾50 years from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Ghana Wave 1. Difficulties were assessed using self-reported difficulty on 22 functional items, including toileting. Multivariate logistic regression tested associations between toileting and other factors as related to the WHO-ICF conceptual framework. Older adults reported climbing one flight of stairs without resting as a common functional difficulty. Difficulty eating was the item least identified. Toileting difficulty was ranked second among five total activities of daily living difficulties. Age, marital status, self-reported health, memory, bodily pain, short- and far-distance vision, obesity, stroke, chronic lung disease, trust at individual and neighbourhood level, toilet facility type, socialising with co-workers, and public and religious meeting attendance were statistically significantly associated with toileting difficulty in the final parsimonious model. Post-hoc analysis testing interaction revealed that interaction existed between female sex and never married marital status (p = 0.04), and obesity and widowed marital status (p = 0.01), with toileting as the outcome. A significant level of functional difficulty existed among Ghanaian older adults in this sample. Toileting difficulty was associated with factors across different components in the WHO-ICF, emphasising functional, social and environmental factors related to this fundamental human activity.

Promoting older people's ability to manage at home is important both for themselves and for society, but few studies have explored whether geriatric rehabilitation actually meets the needs of this heterogeneous group. The purpose of this study was to investigate the meanings that older adults attribute to their geriatric rehabilitation experiences. A group of 27 older adults in inpatient rehabilitation were interviewed during the programme and after returning home. Semi-structured interviews were analysed using a qualitative method, which identified three categories of meaning. In the category ‘sense of confidence with everyday life’, rehabilitation was perceived as facilitating everyday living at home; in the category ‘sense of vacation’, rehabilitation was seen as a means of getting away from normal life and enjoying oneself; and in the category ‘sense of disappointment in the rehabilitation programme’, the participants expressed frustration with the limited opportunities to participate in the planning of their rehabilitation, and with the mismatch between the offered programme and what was needed. To promote older people's autonomy and to enhance their ability to live at home, professionals must involve their clients to a greater extent in the planning of the rehabilitation than is currently the case, and also individualise the rehabilitation regimen.

This paper reports one component of an evaluation of the different forms, types and models of local authority social services' care-management for older people that have emerged in England since 1993. It was undertaken at a time of a growing debate about whether care-management differentiated those with simple from complex needs, and whether for the latter a multi-disciplinary approach was required. A sample representative of different approaches to care-management was selected from a national survey of local authorities to explore the associations between types of care-management and case-mix, the services received by the clients, and the use of staff time. The paper addresses the categorisation of the types of care-management and the differences associated with these. The care-management teams were distinguished by whether they used a ‘targeted approach’, had ‘specialist older people's teams’, or used other arrangements. It was found that those with a targeted approach undertook more multi-disciplinary assessments, provided more assistance to older people with mental health problems, and that their staff spent significantly less time in direct contact with users and carers. Conversely, those with specialist older people's teams had more users in receipt of occupational therapy services. Further research is required to explore the influence of these different arrangements on the wellbeing of service users and their carers.

A policy shift has taken place in Sweden towards individualised elder-care and consumer choice. The aim of the study is to investigate how older users of home care services view and experience their opportunities of exerting influence and having choice and control in their everyday living, in terms of receiving preferred services that are flexible and responsive to their actual needs and priorities. The study was conducted in three local elder-care authorities, reflecting diverse present models of organising home care services in Sweden. Data consisted of responses to a postal survey (N = 2,792) and reports from qualitative interviews (N = 28) with older users. Our findings point to similarities rather than differences between the views and experiences of the users in the three participating local municipal elder-care authorities. A majority of users were positive about their home care services. The experiences ranged from being active and enabled to choose between providers and services, to being more or less passive dependants having to rely on the decisions of family and staff. The importance of supportive relationships, and interdependence between older people and their formal as well as informal support networks, became clear. Our findings may guide policy makers in refining home care services, irrespective of preferred model. In particular, efforts to facilitate staff continuity and prevent high staff turnover need to be prioritised.

Relying on two unique data-sets on Chinese older immigrants (N = 3,157) and younger immigrants with ageing parents (N = 469) in Chicago, this study compared the level of filial expectation among the two groups and examined the predictors and mental health implications of having high filial expectation among each group. Results of t-tests, logistic regression and negative binominal analyses showed that, regardless of socio-demographic variables, acculturation, physical health and family relations, Chinese adult children had higher filial expectations on themselves than older immigrants’ filial expectation on the younger generation. Chinese older immigrants who had less education, lower levels of acculturation, poorer health and closer relationships with children reported higher filial expectation. In the cohort of younger immigrants, high filial expectation was associated with lower income, better health and closer relations with their parents. In addition, having high filial expectation was associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety among the older immigrants, but not among the younger cohort. The results indicated that, whereas Chinese older immigrants seemed to adapt their filial expectation in the new society, the younger cohort still strongly adhere to this traditional family norm. Maintaining strong filial expectation might be a protective factor for older immigrants’ mental health. Practice and policy implications of these findings are discussed in the paper.

User choice in care for older people has assumed that care is like any other commodity; which is in contrast with the concept of care defined by the feminist and ethics of care literature, which includes a relational component beyond care tasks – caring relationships. This study aims to understand how caring relationships impact the decisions of older users of care and their perceived satisfaction. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 24 Direct Payments (DPs) older users, including proxies, in three Local Authorities in the Greater London area. Users fell into three groups according to their use of DPs: those purchasing care from agencies, those employing acquaintances as Personal Assistants (PAs) and those employing strangers as PAs. Decisions on and perceived satisfaction with care were both influenced by caring relationships. All users recognised that caring relationships can have instrumental value in improving care delivery or allowing greater leeway in negotiating tasks. Many users placed intrinsic value on continuity of care and the development of close caring relationships and clearly favoured employing PAs. The latter involved higher levels of uncertainty, emotional investment and reciprocal gift exchanges. Agencies were often chosen due to users’ preference for more detached caring relationships. The findings confirm that caring relationships involving reciprocal emotional investment are an important outcome of care, with salient implications for user behaviour.

The health and social benefits of volunteering behaviours by older adults are well acknowledged. However, few review articles have been concerned with the correlates/dimensions of older adults’ volunteerism. Some focused only on the North American context or reviewed studies only up to 2008. This study reviewed the recent global literature in the past decade about the correlates of older adults’ volunteerism. We carried out a literature search in PsycINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts and Google Scholar to identify empirical journal publications about the correlates of older adults’ (age 60+) volunteerism from 2008 to 2019. Among 112 initially eligible papers, 41 were selected. Findings were synthesised using the framework of the Socioecological Model. Existing studies mainly have used quantitative methodologies and were conducted within the context of a single Western country. Motivations included higher education, morale and mentality, previous experiences, social network, community cohesion and organisational management. Major barriers were health and financial constraints. Few studies focused on macro-level correlates. Irrelevant and confounding correlates were also discussed. We suggest practitioners recruit and retain older volunteers by identifying their needs and optimising management within the organisation. Policy makers should create a supportive environment and increase resource accessibility. Future research could conduct cross-cultural comparisons, use diverse methodologies and embrace more correlates, especially at the macro-level.

Following retirement, older immigrants increasingly tend to engage in circular migration. This back-and-forth movement introduces a variety of challenges affecting the nature of grandparenthood as well as grandparental involvement in the upbringing of grandchildren. For circular migrant grandparents, maintaining intergenerational relationships requires them to overcome not only geographic distances, but also linguistic and cultural differences. In families with circular migrant grandparents, intergenerational conflict often springs from disparate generational exposure to acculturation processes, producing divergent aspirations within the first and second generations regarding the upbringing of the third generation. This study explores how first-generation Turkish circular migrant grandparents attempt to raise grandchildren who reside in Germany by implementing ‘cultural and instrumental transfers’. This study undertakes a qualitative approach: semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of first-generation Turkish circular migrant grandparents (N = 40). The analysis finds that child-care assistance is characterised by intergenerational conflict – rather than solidarity or altruistic support – between the first and second generations. Moreover, through transnational arranged marriages, as a cultural transfer, and inter vivos gifts, as an instrumental transfer, grandparents encourage their grandchildren to return to Turkey permanently.

This investigation examined the impact of children's education on their financial support to older parents in rural China based on a theoretical framework that regards financial transfers from adult children as motivated by parents’ earlier investments on children's education, and mothers and fathers having different strategic advantages to enforce reciprocity. The sample derived from six waves of panel data from the Longitudinal Study of Older Adults in Anhui Province, China, from 2001 to 2015, based on which we constructed five stacked intervals (2001–2003, 2003–2006, 2006–2009, 2009–2012, 2012–2015). The random-effects models showed that the highest educated child provided more financial support than other children and that the amount was conditional on the actual educational attainment of the highest educated child. Our results also suggested that fathers and mothers have different strategic advantages in the process. Mothers’ emotional bonds with their highest educated children enforced financial returns. In contrast, fathers’ stronger identification with traditional filial norms was more consequential for receiving financial support from the highest educated children. We discuss these findings in the context of the patrilineal family system and social changes, including rapid population ageing and the decline of fertility rates.

Responsibility for health and social care services is being delegated from central to local authorities in an increasing number of countries. In the Netherlands, the planned transfer of responsibility for day care for people with dementia from the central government to municipalities is a case in point. The impacts of this decentralisation process for innovative care concepts such as day care at green care farms are largely unknown. We therefore interviewed representatives of municipalities and green care farms to explore what consequences they expected of decentralisation for their organisations and people with dementia. Our study shows that communication and collaboration between municipalities and green care farms is relatively limited. Consequently, municipalities are insufficiently aware of how green care farms can help them to perform their new tasks and green care farmers know little about what municipalities expect from them in the new situation. We therefore recommend that municipalities and green care farms keep each other informed about their responsibilities, duties and activities to ensure a tailored package of future municipal services for people with dementia.

Community health-care services for older, home-dwelling persons with dementia tend to be underutilised. Family care-givers provide substantial care, and they often arrange for and co-ordinate health-care services on behalf of persons with dementia. The aim of this study was to examine family care-givers’ knowledge of unused services and their self-reported reasons for non-use of such services. We gathered cross-sectional survey data from 430 family care-givers of older persons with dementia in Northern Norway. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of family care-givers’ knowledge of unused services. An open-ended question regarding reasons for non-use of services was analysed by thematic text analysis. Characteristics of family care-givers (e.g. education level) and factors related to the care-giving circumstances (e.g. negative impact of care-giving) predicted family care-givers’ knowledge of unused services. Reasons for non-use of services were multifaceted and complex, and were related to attributes of the person with dementia and/or the family care-giver (e.g. reluctance to use services) and/or the health-care services (e.g. low quality). Although services were unused, several family care-givers indicated substantial needs for the services. Strategies aimed at addressing the non-use of services should emphasise individuals’ and families’ needs and the adaptation of information about available services and their benefits for both care recipients and family care-givers. A relationship-centred care approach is thus recommended in dementia care.

Work occupies a central place in identity formation. Consequently, retirement places retirees in a new reality that compels them to redefine themselves and adopt a new identity. The present article examines how retirees shape their identity in the absence of work. An interpretive analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with retirees in Israel shows that although retirement and old age are not necessarily equivalent or interconnected, the retirees themselves draw parallels between them, and at the same time also deny this linkage, preferring to draw a distinction between them. The findings reinforce the argument presented in the literature, namely that in contemporary society it is difficult to identify with old age. They also propose a new perspective that reveals the negotiation retirees conduct with old age, age and body, and how identity is shaped by way of denial. In this negotiation the retirees construct their identity around two central, parallel axes: retirement and old age. It further emerges that it is precisely the efforts to mask and repress old age, which are usually made in the body domain, that attest to the existence and presence of old age in their identity. Denial of old age creates a dynamic, hybrid identity that enables retirees to simultaneously accept and reject old age.

The exchange of informal support within the social network plays a vital role in enabling older adults to remain living in the community as they age. Following spousal loss in later life, the exchange of instrumental support is of particular importance in order to meet the practical and financial needs of the bereaved spouse. Adult children are typically the primary source of social contact and informal support for older widowed adults following bereavement. However, very little is known of the longitudinal changes that occur in the exchange of instrumental support with children during the transition to late-life widowhood. Trajectories and predictors of change in material and time support exchange in parent–child relationships were modelled over a 15-year period for 1,266 older adults (mean age 76.7 years). Widowed older adults received more material and time support from their children than their married peers. Proximity to children, age at spousal loss, self-rated health, cognitive functioning and income were predictive of levels of exchanged instrumental support in late-life widowhood. Short-term reciprocity appears to continue in parent–child relationships during late-life widowhood. The implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed, including the role of children in the support networks of older widowed adults and the potential difficulties faced by those who do not have access to informal avenues of support.