Successful ageing continues to be a key theme in contemporary ageing discourses, where good physical and cognitive health in older age is an individualised responsibility. This paper explores how Australian aged care stakeholder discourse contributes to constructions of self-responsibility for brain health and dementia prevention in older persons. Brain health advice messages about diet, exercise and ‘brain fitness’ by aged care stakeholders are argued to construct a moral framework of ‘brainwork practices’ to prevent or delay dementia. This study performed discourse analysis of a sample of public online aged care stakeholder documents (N = 170) to reveal three key concepts in discursive constructions of dementia. The first concept characterises dementia as a disastrous force to be opposed; the second is a biomedical concept of dementia as preventable (or able to be delayed) in a ‘successful’ older age, while the third reflects neurocultural ideas that fetishise perfect memory as the best defence against cognitive decline and dementia. Identifying this matrix of responsibilising ‘brainwork practices’ messages by aged care stakeholders makes a contribution within social gerontology to revealing neoliberal conceptions of older age as an outcome of lifestyle and consumer choices, where dementia is constructed as ‘failed’ or ‘unsuccessful’ ageing.

Ideas of well-being in old age are often anchored in the successful ageing paradigm, foregrounding independence, activeness and autonomy. However, for those oldest old living in nursing homes, these goals are largely out of reach. In this article, we use the meta-ethnographic method to explore and reinterpret existing findings on the ways in which well-being is experienced (or not) by the oldest old in institutional care settings. We frame our findings in existential well-being theory, which understands wellbeing as a sense of ‘dwelling-mobility’. Our analysis resulted in the following themes: (a) institutionalisation as both restrictive and liberating; (b) reciprocity and mattering: the importance of being seen; (c) the need for kinship and the problem of ruptured sociality; (d) rethinking agency: situated, delegated and supported; and (e) lowered expectations: receiving care is not a passive act. We conclude that while institutional care environments are not always conducive to well-being, this does not have to be so. By shifting our focus from successful ageing ideals onto relationally situated care practices, a possibility for existential well-being opens up, even in situations of decline and care dependency.

The existing research tries to understand the reasons for discontinuing sex in later life with the assumption that people want to be sexual. Although the growing body of literature informs that sex remains an integral part of older adults’ lives, a substantial number of older adults declare not being sexually active. This study aimed at exploring motives for deliberately choosing sexual inactivity among older women. Semi-structured interviews with 16 Polish women (aged 65–82) were thematically analysed in relation to the sexual scripts theory and the participants’ specific socio-cultural background. Three main themes regarding the reasons for cessation of their sex life were identified: ‘I am glad that sex does not concern me anymore’, ‘I am satisfied with my memories’ and ‘The right one’ or no one. The results indicate that some women give up sex for good, with no regrets or feeling of a loss; for others, it may be a temporary decision, its duration dependent on meeting the right partner. Developing sexual agency may encourage discontinuing their sex life – a choice perceived as optimal and liberating. Personal factors and the memories of marital relationships seem to shape older women's (a)sexual expectations. Acknowledging these nuances may contribute to a better understanding of older women's sexual functioning; implications for consideration in further research and practice are also discussed.

The reablement approach is becoming a popular social and health-care model in many Western countries, providing support strategies for older people experiencing impairment. Reablement programmes have been criticised for a lack of theories, explicating the understanding of the problem that it is intended to address, i.e. ageing and impairment in old age. We need to discuss the inherent theories in intervention programmes to question taken-for-granted assumptions about not only what works, but also how these assumptions affect the sociocultural models of ageing. Theories on successful ageing have been suggested as underpinning reablement. This article aims to present and discuss theories of successful ageing compared to key principles, components and outcomes in reablement. A medical and epidemiological, a psychological and a sociocultural theoretical approach to successful ageing are included. Contemporary reablement programmes mirror medical and psychological theories of successful ageing, including models of ageing that are associated with continuity, optimisation, selection, individuality and goal orientation. Most reablement programmes do not address sociocultural perspectives on ageing. As older people experience impairment in a pertinent liminality within and between the sociocultural values of the third and fourth age, it is important for reablement programmes and practice to consider the theoretical assumptions and underpinning theories of ageing and how to help older people balance between optimising capacity and accepting losses in their everyday life.

Older adults 75 and above are a fast-growing segment of the population. However, few studies have investigated what it means to age successfully from their perspective. This group of older adults face challenges that might characteristically differ from younger older adults. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the perspectives of older adults aged 75 and above regarding what it means to age successfully and to summarise the findings through a narrative synthesis. We also aimed to provide a snapshot of inhibitors and facilitators to achieve successful ageing. A systematic review of the 75+ older adults’ perspectives was conducted across PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods original peer-reviewed studies were included. After reviewing 4,661 articles, 15 articles met the inclusion criteria and 15 themes were identified. They ranged from biomedical components such as physical functioning to psychosocial components such as relationships, reflections on life and past experiences, preparations for death and environmental factors. The findings revealed that as people age, their definition of successful ageing changes, expanding the current conceptualisation of successful ageing by including additional factors that can act as facilitators and/or inhibitors, such as death and environmental factors. The findings also highlight the need for further research on theory development by considering age-related differences and the perspectives of under-studied populations.

This study focuses on the recent increase in the use of older celebrities in cosmetics advertising. It asks what kinds of ideas and values these images may attribute to discourses of ageing. Drawing on a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) perspective, this study focuses on L'Oréal UK and Ireland Web advertisements, examining how these advertisements use older celebrities to redefine/reposition ageing and exploring how they relate to the notion of ‘successful ageing’. In these advertisements, using cosmetics is presented as a positive, empowering choice. The advertisements simultaneously promote new discourses about ageing in which older women's sexuality is presented as a form of power. However, the analysis shows that the underlying discourse pathologises ageing and presents ageing as something which can be evaded through the consumption of cosmetics. It thus turns ageing into a choice, but one where the ‘right choice’ aligns with neo-liberal ideas about ageing well. For women, decision-making about ageing seems to be a never-ending process that requires constant construction, promoted through the older celebrity's sexualisation. Women are expected to always look good and present the best versions of themselves, even at the latest stages of life, which reproduces and legitimises sexist and ageist expectations about women's appearances, including the expectations that for older women to remain visible and attractive, they must hide outward signs of ageing.

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.

The objective of this study was to examine the activities, motivations, and barriers of activity engagement in the oldest-old residing in assisted living facilities (ALFs). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants, aged 80–94 (standard deviation = 4.38), from two ALFs. Thematic analyses were used to identify and corroborate clusters of experiences. All residents stated that they desired enriching activities, most often in the form of productive work or community events. Although engaging in enriching activities was a universal desire, residents who experienced more functional limitations had an increased difficulty satisfying this need. Participants believed that activities offered by the ALF primarily served those who are cognitively impaired. ALF residents with severe mobility issues were not able to access more enriching activities outside the ALF compared to those with fewer physical limitations. However, the more physically impaired residents used a range of adaption methods that fit into the selection, optimisation, and compensation framework to overcome barriers to participate in meaningful activities. ALF residents who are cognitively fit but experience severe mobility limitations may be the most in need of enriching activities. To help these residents maintain a high quality of life, ALFs need to provide activities that appeal to residents of varying cognitive abilities and provide interventions to help aid their adaption to physical loss.

The article extends notions of ‘active’ and ‘successful’ ageing by exploring the narratives of ageing in the retirement migration of Canadian and American older adults in Cuenca, Ecuador. The article is based on 83 semi-structured qualitative interviews (11 of which are follow-up interviews), most conducted in the first half of the 2010s. I explore how notions of finite time and imaginaries of a fourth age of decline and death inform the migration decisions and imaginaries of Canadian and American retirement migrants. I argue that their desire to seek self-expansive, new experiences through migration and contact with cultural difference dialogues with an increasingly competitive neoliberal culture of ageing, that emphasises success through activity, youthfulness and consumption. While there are certainly other ideals that help inform North American migration to Ecuador, I argue that these particular ideals illustrate how discourses of ‘active ageing’ have been taken up ‘from below’, by ageing North American adults, many of whom identify with the aspirations of policy and corporate discourses of activity and success, but who find themselves ageing into material conditions that preclude them. Migration to a lower-cost country, like Ecuador, helps them to experience these aspirations more positively, but may have uneven effects on lower-income workers and their ability to remain in place in the communities marketed for this type of migration.

Whether encouraging successful ageing or labelling one as a stereotypical senior citizen, messages surrounding ageing pervade the daily lives of older adults. However, as a social status, age remains primarily in the background of older adults’ conversations, only being drawn into the focus when one is identified as older. This paper draws on interviews with members and staff of an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) in the southeastern United States of America in order to examine the ways that they discuss age and ageing. These older adults’ ageing talk often focused on navigating away from negative ideas about age and avoiding labels deemed pejorative. Humour was occasionally used in identifying age, which carried potential for reinforcing as well as subverting ageism. Yet, members highlighted positive value in being older, particularly as demonstrated through participation in age-segregated education. Overall, these findings reflect the conflicting influences of deeply embedded ageist beliefs and personal desires to age successfully among this group of white, upper-middle-class, educated older adults. Ultimately, OLLI served as a protective environment for these privileged individuals, shielding the self from stereotypes otherwise present in ageing talk.

While considerable scholarly attention has been given to factors influencing productive activity, less is known about how multiple forms of resources predict the maintenance or initiation of such activity over time. Using two-wave panel data of older adults from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), the study investigated the relationship between measures of capital and changes in multiple types of productive activity. Findings showed that all three types of capital were associated with volunteering in cross-sectional analyses, but only education, neighbourhood socialisation and religious service attendance remain significant predictors of continued volunteerism. Human capital strongly influenced employment both cross-sectionally and over time. Aspects of social capital – marital status and network size – were linked to participation and initiation of care-giving activities. The findings demonstrate that different patterns emerge in cross-sectional and two-wave panel data of multiple productive activities, adjusting for baseline activity level and selective attrition. The project also suggests factors that promote or hinder continued engagement in productive activity.

Understanding predictors of successful ageing is essential to policy development promoting quality-of-life of an ageing population. Initial models precluded successful ageing in the presence of chronic disease/functional disability; however, this is discrepant with self-reported successful ageing. Indicators of social, psychological and physical health in 1,735 people aged 65–74, living in Canada, Columbia, Brazil or Albania, were analysed in the International Mobility in Ageing Study. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the change in self-rated successful ageing in relation to physical health, depression, social connectedness, resilience and site, while controlling for age, gender and income sufficiency. Sixty-five per cent of participants self-rated as ageing successfully; however, this was significantly different across sites (p < 0.0005, range 17–85%) and gender (p = 0.019). Using objective measures, 6 per cent were classified as ‘successful’, with significant variability amongst sites (p < 0.0005, range 0–12%). Subjective successful ageing was associated with fewer (not absence of) chronic diseases, absence of depression and less dysfunction in activities of daily living, but not with objective measures of physical dysfunction. Social connectedness and resilience also aligned with self-rated successful ageing. Traditional definitions of objective successful ageing are likely too restrictive, and thus, do not approximate self-rated successful ageing. International differences suggest that site could be a surrogate for variables other than physical/mental health and social engagement.

Globally, an estimated 46 million people are currently living with dementia and this figure is projected to increase 3-fold by 2050, highlighting this major public health concern and its substantial associated healthcare costs. With pharmacological treatment yet to reach fruition, the emphasis on evidence-based preventative lifestyle strategies is becoming increasingly important and several modifiable lifestyle factors have been identified that may preserve cognitive health. These include good cardiovascular health, physical activity, low alcohol intake, smoking and a healthy diet, with growing interest in vitamin D. The aim of the present paper is to review the evidence supporting the potential roles of vitamin D in ageing and cognitive health in community-dwelling older adults. Furthermore, to describe the utility and challenges of cognitive assessments and outcomes when investigating vitamin D in this context. Evidence indicates that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) may impact brain health. There is a biological plausibility from animal models that vitamin D may influence neurodegenerative disorders, through several mechanisms. Epidemiological evidence supports associations between low serum 25(OH)D concentrations and poorer cognitive performance in community-dwelling older populations, although an optimal 25(OH)D level for cognitive health could not be determined. The effect of raising 25(OH)D concentrations on cognitive function remains unclear, as there is a paucity of interventional evidence. At a minimum, it seems prudent to aim to prevent vitamin D deficiency in older adults, with other known common protective lifestyle factors, as a viable component of brain health strategies.

There is a need to understand the underlying mechanisms at work within health promotion and occupational therapy interventions. The aim of this article was, therefore, to explore and describe how the participants of a group-based occupational therapy intervention with positive health outcomes created meaning of and around their experiences of the intervention. The studied intervention was part of the evaluation of a single-blinded, exploratory randomised controlled trial of three different interventions. A total of 19 participants between 77 and 82 years of age with experiences from the group-based intervention were interviewed, and the transcribed interviews were analysed from a constructivist approach. The results showed five different perspectives of meaning, including enjoyment, usefulness, togetherness, respect for individuality and self-reflection. Based on our findings, we argue that the possibility of getting information, sharing with others and having fun, and the ability to adjust the activities in the intervention so that they met the individual's needs, created meaning for the participants. Moreover, meeting with others supported the participants’ perspectives of themselves. The results are discussed in relation to the pervasive discourse of successful ageing, including how it was present but also challenged within the participants’ accounts of the intervention.

The current study examines the interaction between mobility limitations and social networks in relation to activity in later life. Although the importance of activity participation to successful ageing has been well established, it is still unclear what contributes to higher levels of activity. This research addresses this issue, using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. The analysis focuses on a sub-sample of respondents aged 60 and older, from 13 countries, who participated in two specific waves, in 2011 and 2013. Multivariate analysis of the longitudinal data was conducted using hierarchical generalised Poisson regression and incorporating a new comprehensive social network scale. The inquiry found that having multiple mobility limitations is associated with less activity and that having a resourceful social network contributes to more activity. The research further revealed that social network is particularly beneficial to those with multiple mobility limitations because it mitigates the negative association with activity. This conclusion furthers the understanding of the relationship between different key dimensions in the successful ageing paradigm. Specifically, the findings imply the significance of having a social network among those who are functionally challenged. This finding has important implications for active ageing policies.

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.

Ageing Australian farmers face many uncertainties associated with wider social, economic and climate change. Significantly for many farmers, ageing means the end not only of a life-long occupation but the end of the farm that has often been in the family for many generations. In turn, the prospect of this discontinuity breaches long-held cultural images of Australian farming and farmers. For individual male farmers approaching retirement age, the lack of succession and discontinuation of the family's ownership of, and attachment to the land, poses threats for social and personal identity. This paper examines the narratives of three male, baby-boom Australian farmers to tease out the impact of ageing and the possible loss of the family farm on the ways that they construct their situations and their self-identity. It illustrates the narrative practices that these men employ as they work to validate their self-identities within particular narrative environments, and through a range of outmoded and contemporary material conditions that mediate their selves and lives. The approach exemplified in this paper focuses on the processes and phases of analysis to show how the farmers craft their narrative as well as the individuality, complexity and coherence of their accounts.

This study investigated the determinants of Successful Ageing (SA) in a sample of 4,151 Peruvians aged between 65 and 80 years and living in poverty. A key contribution of this study is to combine the conceptual appeal of SA to measure wellbeing in old age with the multi-dimensional poverty counting approach developed in the economic literature. This setting allows for moving beyond the dichotomy of successful and usual ageing to take advantage of the full distribution of success along a set of dimensions of wellbeing. The data are drawn from the Encuesta de Salud y Bienestar del Adulto Mayor (ESBAM) survey, which is the baseline to evaluate the non-contributory public pension programme Pension 65. Nine indicators of SA have been used to assess the dimensions of physical health, functioning, cognition, emotional health and life satisfaction. The variables associated with a higher number of satisfied indicators were male gender, younger old age, literate, employed, low food insecurity, good nutritional status, normal blood pressure, absence of disabilities, non-smoker, empowerment, good self-esteem, absence of mental disability and less frequent contact with a social network. From a policy perspective, the results of this study report a remarkably stable effect of three variables affecting SA that can be relatively easy to measure, monitor and influence by public intervention. These variables are food security, nutrition quality and self-esteem.

By 2050, the number of people in Australia aged over 85 is expected to quadruple. Yet, from a socio-psychological research perspective, little is known about the experiences of people who continue to live at home during late old age (85 years and over), a period when challenging problems associated with ageing escalate and threaten to compromise independence. Utilising a qualitative methodology, the subjective lived experience of 23 very old adults (19 women, four men, with a mean age of 90.7 years, range 85–101 years) who live independently in rural Australia were elicited. The aims of the research were to understand their thoughts and feelings about ageing in place at home, and what psychological, social and practical adaptive strategies they employ to cope with difficulties encountered during very old age. In-depth interviews were analysed in an interpretive phenomenological tradition of thematic analysis, interpretation of paradigm cases and interpretation of exemplars. Participants described how historical, cultural and environmental contexts shaped their everyday thoughts, activities and what was meaningful for them. The findings add to our understanding of the largely unnarrated lives of the very old, suggest a need for person-centred home-care assessment processes and aid significant others (family, friends and neighbours) to understand better what very old adults need to live independently.