Having access and skills to use social technology, i.e. social internet use, social media and social applications, are considered as being vital to online social connection. Whilst evidence exists around facilitators and barriers to general technology use, evidence is limited with regards to the motivators, skills and tangible offline benefits older technology users experience with social technology. Therefore, this study used a qualitative, exploratory method to understand older adults’ experiences of using social technology to connect with others. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 older adults (65+ years) across England, Scotland and Wales. Despite having access to social technology for social connection, and using this technology regularly, multiple barriers impacted motivators and skills for use, namely perceived self-efficacy and fear, the culture of online communication, absence of social capital and physical functioning. Some of these barriers of social technology use are reminiscent of barriers of wider technology use and emphasise the importance of addressing these barriers for digital exclusion, as well as social connection. However, some of these barriers were specific to social technology use and should be considered when providing guidance or interventions to increase older adults’ online social connection. Social connection was a clear tangible outcome to social technology use, and individuals discussed the benefits of using social technology, particularly visual communication tools, for online connection.

Language can shape and reinforce attitudes and stereotypes about living with dementia. This can happen through use of metaphors. However, common metaphors may not capture the complexity of experience of dementia from the perspective of the individual person or a family carer. This paper presents an alternative metaphor – that of a theatre production – based on the strategies used by carers to support people with dementia to live well in the community. We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 12 family members caring for someone with dementia in the community in Queensland, Australia. Our aim was to explore the strategies these carers used to provide support. Interview recordings were fully transcribed and thematically analysed. We identified positive care-giving strategies that described multiple roles that carers fulfilled as they felt increasingly responsible for day-to-day decision making. Family carers explained how they supported the person with dementia to remain a central character in their life and continued to support the person to be themselves. To achieve this, family carers embodied roles that we identified as similar to roles in a theatre production: director, stage manager, supporting cast, scriptwriter, and costume designer and wardrobe manager. Our metaphor of a theatre production offers a fresh perspective to explore the experience of informal care-giving in the context of dementia.

Substantial evidence on the adverse impact of ageing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) populations through the lack of inclusive care services has highlighted the need for education and training of the health and social care workforce to enhance their skills, knowledge and capabilities in this area. We describe a cross-national collaboration across four European Union countries called BEING ME. This collaboration examined the current pedagogic environment within professional, vocational and community-based education to identify what is most valuable for addressing these needs. The World Café method enabled a process of structured learning and knowledge exchange between stakeholders resulting in: (a) identification of best practices in pedagogies, (b) generation of tailored co-produced educational resources, and (c) recommendations on how to improve the knowledge and capabilities of future care professionals in the area of LGBT+ affirmative practices. Combined with themes from the post-Café evaluation, our findings suggest that underpinning professional and vocational education with a person-in-environment perspective facilitates going some way to acknowledging the historical context of older LGBT+ people's lives. Addressing the unique needs of sub-populations within LGBT+ communities and setting these in the context of holistic and person-centred care may better enable the meeting of their unique diverse needs for ageing. Recommendations are made for learning and teaching strategies to support improved LGBT+ aged care.

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.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of simplified reminiscence practice using olfactory stimuli on depression and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults in Japan. Accordingly, 61 individuals were randomly divided into two groups. In the intervention group, 12 sessions of reminiscence were performed using olfactory cards. In the control group, reminiscence sessions were similarly performed, but with language cards. The Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15) was used to measure mental health status and the Five Cognitive Test was used to measure cognitive function at baseline and after completion of the intervention. The final sample included 27 participants in the intervention group and 23 participants in the control group. Basic characteristics of the participants at baseline were compared and a significant difference was observed between the two groups in age (p = 0.029). Repeated-measures analysis of covariance with age as the covariate revealed a significant interaction between time and group on the GDS-15 (p = 0.04). Furthermore, a before and after comparison using a paired t-test showed a significant difference only in the intervention group (p = 0.01). The results of this study suggest that simplified reminiscence practice using olfactory cards could serve as an intervention to help maintain the mental health of community-dwelling older adults.

Community mobility using private and public transportation is important for maintaining health, social participation and living well in later life. This international cross-sectional cohort study (N = 246) reported on the health and driving status of older adults from seven countries where the mobility patterns of drivers and non-drivers were compared in terms of city and rural areas, weather, as well as their respective differences in the number of out-of-home places accessed and quality of life. Older adults participated in a semi-structured interview and completed four standardised instruments: the EQ-5D-5L, modified PULSES health profile, modified Transportation Questionnaire, and the Transport – Participation in Activities and Places Outside the Home. Results suggested inclement weather and place of residence negatively impacted out-of-home activities but did not increase use of public transportation. Drivers accessed more out-of-home activities than non-drivers, suggesting higher community participation among this group, and quality of life was generally high among all participants, but slightly higher for drivers. Findings indicate that a complex myriad of factors can influence community mobility in older adults and further investigations are needed to understand patterns of transport in later life, particularly with regard to those factors that promote and maintain transport mobility, and relationships between transport mobility, community participation and quality of life.

The study examined the relation between older adults’ trust beliefs in nursing home carers (NHCs) and adjustment to residential care. Seventy-six older adults (mean age = 83 years, standard deviation = 7 years from UK nursing homes completed standardised scales of trust beliefs in NHCs and adjustment to residential care (satisfaction with care-giving, social engagement in the nursing home, loneliness and a latent measure). As expected, trust beliefs in NHCs were linearly associated with adjustment to residential care on all measures. There were quadratic relations between trust beliefs in NHCs and on given measures of adjustment to residential care (latent measure, satisfaction with care-giving and loneliness). Adults with very high and those with very low trust beliefs in NHCs showed depressed levels on those measures of adjustment to residential care relative to older adults with the middle range of trust beliefs. The research highlights the importance of older adults’ trust beliefs in NHCs for adjustment to nursing homes. The findings show though, that older adults who hold very high, as well those who hold very low, trust beliefs in NHCs are at risk for lower levels of adjustment.

The number of relatives and geographical proximity between them affects informal support provided to older persons. In this study, we investigate whether (a) childless persons and parents living remotely from their adult children experience similar shortages in informal support, and (b) whether neighbours, friends and other non-family helpers compensate for these shortages. On the basis of Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data for 12 European countries, we estimate the probability and amount of informal non-financial support received by persons aged 65 and over who remain childless or live at different distances to their children. The contribution of non-family individuals is rather complementary to the help from family. Parents residing in the proximity of their children rely almost exclusively on family; as the geographical distance between adult children and older parents increases, the probability and amount of non-family support increase as well. But childless individuals differ from parents of remotely living children: the former rely on smaller support networks and resort more often to other relatives than the latter. Non-family individuals compensate for the scarcity of informal support only in the case of parents of distant children, but not in the case of childless individuals.

While experiences of later-life homelessness are known to vary, classification of shelter, housing and service models that meet the diverse needs of older people with experiences of homelessness (OPEH) are limited. To address this gap, a scoping review was conducted of shelter/housing options, supports and interventions for OPEH. Fourteen databases were searched for English-language peer-reviewed and/or empirical literature published between 1999 and 2019, resulting in the inclusion of 22 sources. Through a collaborative, iterative process of reading, discussing and coding, data extracted from the studies were organised into six models: (1) long-term care, (2) permanent supportive housing (PSH), including PSH delivered through Housing First, (3) supported housing, (4) transitional housing, (5) emergency shelter settings with health and social supports, and (6) case management and outreach. Programme descriptions and OPEH outcomes are described and contribute to our understanding that multiple shelter/housing options are needed to support diverse OPEH. The categorised models are considered alongside existing ‘ageing in place’ research, which largely focuses on older adults who are housed. Through extending discussions of ageing in the ‘right’ place to diverse OPEH, additional considerations are offered. Future research should explore distinct sub-populations of OPEH and how individual-level supports for ageing in place must attend to mezzo- and macro-level systems and policies.

Images of what retirement is and ought to be are changing. Older workers are being encouraged to work for longer, at the same time, older adults increasingly voice expectations of a ‘third age’ of active engagement and new life prospects. In this article, we draw on the literature on older workers’ work patterns and retirement transitions (noting push/pull/stay/stuck/jump factors), and on scholarship on the changing social meaning of old age, most importantly the notions of a ‘third’ and ‘fourth’ age. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with 28 employees in the private sector in Norway, aged between 55 and 66 years. Based on the interviews, we propose three ideal-typical approaches to the work–retirement transition: ‘the logic of deadline’, ‘the logic of negotiation’ and ‘the logic of averting retirement’. The ideal-types are defined by the degree to which informants assume agency in the workplace, their orientation towards work versus retirement and the degree to which they expect to exercise agency in retirement. We emphasise how retirement decisions are informed by notions of the meaning of ageing, while also embedded in relationships with employers and partners.

The term ‘in the moment’ has received growing interest in the context of music programmes for people living with dementia, with music therapists, family carers, health-care professionals and people living with dementia themselves reporting the value of framing musical experiences in the ‘here and now’. Although this term is being used more frequently within the literature, there has yet to be a formal examination of such ‘in the moment’ musical experiences and how they might benefit a person living with dementia. We used a multiple-case study approach to develop a thematic framework of ‘in the moment’ musical experiences within the context of a music-making programme for people living with dementia. The research followed six people living with dementia and four family carers, and used video-observation and video-elicitation interviews to capture and analyse ‘in the moment’ experiences. Four thematic observations were developed which captured ‘in the moment’ musical experiences: Sharing a life story through music, Musical agency ‘in the moment’, Feeling connected ‘in the moment’ and Musical ripples into everyday life. These findings showcase the creativity and musical abilities of people living with dementia whilst affirming music as a medium to connect people living with dementia with their own life story, other people and the environments in which music-making takes place.

This paper reports on a study which examined the notions of authenticity and citizenship for people living with cognitive impairment or dementia in a care home in the North-East of England. We demonstrated that both notions were present and were encouraged by engagement with an artist, where this involved audio and visual recordings and the creation of a film. The artist's interactions were observed by a non-participant observer using ethnographic techniques, including interviews with the residents, their families and the staff of the care home. The data were analysed using grounded theory and the constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. Our findings suggest that participatory art might help to maintain and encourage authenticity and citizenship in people living with dementia in a care home. Certainly, authenticity and citizenship are notions worth pursuing in the context of dementia generally, but especially in care homes.

‘Dementia-friendly communities’ herald a shift toward the neighbourhood as a locus for the care and support of people with dementia, sparking growing interest in the geographies of dementia care and raising questions over the shifting spatial and social experience of the condition. Existing research claims that many people with dementia experience a ‘shrinking world’ whereby the boundaries to their social and physical worlds gradually constrict over time, leading to a loss of control and independence. This paper reports a five-year, international study that investigated the neighbourhood experience of people with dementia and those who care for and support them. We interrogate the notion of a shrinking world and in so doing highlight an absence of attention paid to the agency and actions of people with dementia themselves. The paper draws together a socio-relational and embodied-material approach to question the adequacy of the shrinking world concept as an explanatory framework and to challenge reliance within policy and practice upon notions of place as fixed or stable. We argue instead for the importance of foregrounding ‘lived place’ and attending to social practices and the networks in which such practices evolve. Our findings have implications for policy and practice, emphasising the need to bolster the agency of people living with dementia as a route to fostering accessible and inclusive neighbourhoods.

There is a need for improved knowledge about how workplace conditions and organisational factors may obstruct or facilitate work in late life. By means of both quantitative and qualitative data, this study aims to explore retirement preferences among employees (aged 55 and older) in a large Swedish health-care organisation and to identify work-related motives influencing their retirement preferences. The quantitative analysis showed large variation in retirement preferences in the organisation. The qualitative results were summarised into two overarching types of motives for late and early retirement preferences, general and group-specific. The general motives were shared by the early and late preference groups, and included recognition, flexibility, health and work motivation. The group-specific motives were exclusively related to either an early or a late retirement preference. Criticism towards the organisation and strenuous working conditions were specific motives for an early retirement preference, while positive accounts of work and a wish to utilise one's own competencies as well as being financially dependent on work was stated as specific motives for wanting to retire late. The results illustrate the need to improve organisational practices and routines, as well as working conditions, in order to make an extended working life accessible for more than already-privileged groups of employees.

At the societal and policy level, delaying retirement is generally agreed upon to solve the problem of the increasing proportion of older workers in Sweden, as in many other countries. At the same time, two co-existing narratives that create legitimacy for early versus delayed retirement were found in our study, among both societal- and organisational-level actors. Older workers are viewed as either representatives of productive ageing and a solution to labour shortage problems, or as a barrier to recruiting younger, more promising employees with new skills. Through inductive qualitative analysis, this study shows in what way human resources departments are taking part in the institutional work of maintaining retirement-timing narratives in Swedish workplaces. The existing general organisational narrative of ‘the business case’ is used to mute discussion about delaying the retirement age, except for a select few. Their maintenance of this narrative is supported by the way in which the societal-level narratives target the individual, often backgrounding the role of employers.

Although older migrants in Southern Europe are increasing in number, relatively little attention has been paid to their care needs and resources. The availability of informal care is an important determinant of wellbeing in later life and norms regulating filial obligations have an important role in affecting the quality and quantity of support received. Using data from a qualitative survey conducted in Italy, this article sheds light on the social norms regulating filial obligations towards older parents among natives and three groups of immigrants: Maghrebis, Chinese and Filipinos. The results indicate a number of commonalities between the four different groups considered, such as: the principle of delayed reciprocity at the basis of filial support obligations; a gender bias in attributing the most psychologically, physically and time-demanding caring obligations to adult daughters and daughters-in-law; and a preference for intergenerational residential autonomy shared by Italian, Filipinos and, to a lesser extent, Maghrebi respondents. At the same time, numerous differences emerge between natives and immigrants, and between immigrant groups. The most significant differences are observed regarding: the possibility of resorting to a paid care-giver, which is more common among Italians and, to a lesser extent, Filipino respondents; and a stronger gender bias among the Chinese and Maghrebi groups, i.e. they attribute the majority of personal care responsibilities to daughters and daughters-in-law.

It has been argued that lifecourse transitions are transformative moments for individuals when lifestyles, habits and behaviours are potentially open to contemplation and change. Within sustainability research such ‘moments of change’ are regarded as offering potential to encourage less environmentally damaging consumption patterns. Research on consumption indicates that orientations to material goods and their affective significance are complex. Whilst sociological work understands attachment to things as integral to maintaining kinship relations, this is hard to reconcile with long-standing moral concerns about materialism and psychological research which indicates a negative relationship between the acquisition of material objects and wellbeing, and the environmental implications of acquiring and divesting ‘stuff’. Yet there has been little engagement with how older people orient to their material possessions and divestment, the implications of this for later-life wellbeing and for environmental sustainability. In this paper, we draw these different strands of work together to understand how retirees relate to their material possessions and their divestment. Drawing on serial interviews with individuals in the United Kingdom, we explore how the transition to retirement highlights the complexity of participants’ attachment to things. While some items had profound relational significance, others were experienced as troublesome. Decisions on what to divest were shaped by pragmatic considerations and levels of attachment, whilst modes of divestment were aligned with values of thrift.

Our study aimed to enhance understanding of memory decline (MD) in old age by evaluating longitudinal effects of personal and national contributing factors. We used data collected by the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from 12 European countries and Israel. Our sample included 11,930 retirees aged 50+, interviewed at baseline and four years later. MD was evaluated by the change in the number of recalled words from first to second interview. Except for gender, all of our explanatory variables had a significant unique effect on MD – age, education, type of occupation, European geographical region, early retirement, time elapsed from retirement, reason for retirement, active lifestyle, re-employment, health/function status, depressive symptoms, and decline in physical and mental health – over the four years of the study. Our findings indicate that MD can be postponed by national policies such as those which prolong years of education and participation in the workforce, and by social interventions directed to promote active lifestyles in late life, especially in Mediterranean and Eastern European nations.

Occupational change encompasses change of profession, employer and work tasks. This study gives an overview on occupational change in later working life and provides empirical evidence on voluntary, involuntary and desired occupational changes in the older workforce in Germany. The analyses were based on longitudinal data from 2,835 participants of the German lidA Cohort Study, a representative study of employees born in 1959 or 1965. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed in order to characterise the change groups in their previous job situation. The findings indicate that occupational change among older workers is frequent. In four years, 13.4 per cent changed employer, 10.5 per cent profession and 45.1 per cent work tasks. In addition, the desire for change often remains unfulfilled: the share of older workers who wanted to but did not change was 17.6 per cent for profession, 13.2 per cent for employer and 8.9 per cent for work tasks. The change groups investigated differ in terms of their socio-demographic background, health and job factors such as seniority and leadership quality. In times of ageing populations, the potential of occupational change among older workers requires more consideration in society, policy and research. Special attention should also be paid to the group of workers who would have liked to change but feel that they cannot leave.

Previous studies indicate that occupation might affect cognitive functioning in late life. As people in low- and middle-income countries often have to work until late life, we sought to investigate if there are cognitive benefits to working later into life and whether cognitive function deteriorates after exiting the labour force. We analysed longitudinal data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a nationally representative sample of Mexican adults age 50+ (N = 7,375), that assessed cognitive functioning by verbal learning, delayed recall and visual scanning. Analyses were carried out using mixed-effects modelling corrected for the influence of gender, instrumental activities of daily living, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, depression, income and marital status. Results suggest that working actively, compared to exiting the workforce, was associated with cognitive performance only in context with occupation. Domestic workers had a faster decline in verbal learning (b = −0.02, p = 0.020) and delayed recall (b = −0.02, p = 0.036) if they continued working actively and people working in administration (b = 0.03, p = 0.007), sales (b = 0.02, p = 0.044) and educators (b = 0.03, p = 0.049) had a slower decline in visual scanning if they continued working in old age. Our findings indicate that continued participation in the labour force in old age does not necessarily come with cognitive benefits. Whether or not working actively in later life protects or even harms cognitive functioning is likely to depend on the type of job.