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Dupuis C. Aging with her garden: Mutual care across species and generations. J Aging Stud 2024; 69:101236. [PMID: 38834255 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2024.101236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024]
Abstract
What can caring for, and being cared for by, a garden teach us about aging well? This article is a narrative exploration of care, aging, and wellbeing in later life through conversations with an older woman and her garden in Toronto, Canada during the months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is on the interconnectedness of care across generations and species. Moving away from conventional generational scripts, the article expands notions of care and aging with an intersectional, feminist and decolonial approach to relationality across time and space. The article uses interviews, photovoice-inspired sessions, and autoethnography, to look at aging and wellbeing as relational and more-than-human relationality. It extends the ethics of care beyond traditional boundaries, embracing perspectives that challenge normative assumptions of gender, age, and interspecies relations. The article aims to contribute to the current debates around colonial research logics, though a critical feminist understanding of relationality and embodied learning. It emphasizes the importance of connecting across generations, seeing land as a way to restore human and more-than-human relations while prefiguring a more care-full present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Constance Dupuis
- International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Kortenaerkade 12, 2518 AX The Hague, the Netherlands; Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging, McMaster University, 1280 Main St W, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada.
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2
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Leibing A, Katz S. Dilemmas of intervention: From person-centred to alienation-centred dementia care. J Aging Stud 2024; 69:101224. [PMID: 38834244 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2024.101224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 03/09/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024]
Abstract
Discussions regarding personhood and dementia care are often based on practices of recognition; on notions of being-or not being- 'one of us'. This article provides a short overview of personhood as articulated in dementia care, especially in the assemblage of practices known as 'person-centred care' (PCC), and in post-human approaches that developed following the critique of PCC. This article posits an alternative framework, based on a rereading of the concept of alienation, that we want to call 'alienation-centred care'. It considers the extent to which dynamic prosthetic networks can be adapted to the lives of people with dementia, rather than only examining the individual's reactivity to dementia interventions that define traditional approaches. It further urges us to understand the multiple origins of alienating states. Conclusions explore how this framework might address some of the limitations identified in both humanist and post-human approaches to personhood and dementia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annette Leibing
- Medical anthropology, Faculté des sciences infirmières, Université de Montréal, CP 6128, succ. Centre-ville, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada.
| | - Stephen Katz
- Department of sociology, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON K9L 0G2, Canada
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3
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Bennett EV, Welch KA, Fischer OJ. "I tried to appreciate it in a different way": Older lesbian, bisexual, and queer women's body image and embodiment across the life course. Body Image 2024; 48:101653. [PMID: 38043473 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.101653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
We examined the life histories of older lesbian, bisexual, and queer women, focusing on the stories they told about their bodies and sexuality from early to later life. Guided by a narrative constructionist approach, a series of two life history interviews were conducted with 17 lesbian, bisexual, and queer women aged 65-86. Two themes were constructed through a narrative thematic analysis: Queering the Corset: Negotiating Gender Expression and (Aspirational) Aging Body Acceptance. Participants experienced body-related freedom through 'tomboy' expressions of physicality as children. This body autonomy was constrained in adolescence and adulthood due to heterosexist messages surrounding idealized femininity relayed by family and (heterosexual) men, which disrupted self-care yet catalyzed attuned, queer desire and positive embodiment. Women worked to accept their bodies as they aged; they experienced some body dissatisfaction in relation to age-related body changes, yet gratitude and pride in their older queer identities. The findings highlight concurrent positive and negative body image, and breadth of body-related experiences ranging from attunement and agency to discomfort and disruption throughout the life course. This work contributes to body image and embodiment research by moving beyond dominant (youthful) heteronormative perspectives by illuminating how ageism and heterosexism can shape body-related experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica V Bennett
- School of Kinesiology, The University of British Columbia, 210-6081 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada.
| | - Kassandra A Welch
- School of Kinesiology, The University of British Columbia, 210-6081 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Olivia J Fischer
- Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, Faculty of Education, The University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
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4
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Baril A, Silverman M. "We're still alive, much to everyone's surprise": The experience of trans older adults living with dementia in an ageist, cisgenderist, and cogniticist society. J Aging Stud 2024; 68:101208. [PMID: 38458727 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2024.101208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
Trans and non-binary older adults living with dementia experience forms of marginalization, pathologization, and discrimination embedded in epistemic violence that leads them to be mistreated and dismissed as knowledgeable subjects. Based on empirical findings from a Canadian study examining the experiences of trans and non-binary people living with dementia and their carers, we combat this epistemic violence by focusing on the first-hand narratives of this population and their carers. Narrative interviews were conducted with six participants (N = 6): four carers of trans and non-binary adults living with dementia and two trans (binary) people living with dementia. Through a thematic analysis, we examine the unique aspects of living with dementia as a trans or non-binary person. First, the findings show how cogniticism impacts the experience of gender identity and cisgenderism, for example through blocked surgeries, excessive gatekeeping, and not being taken seriously by practitioners. Second, the findings discuss how dementia impacts gender identity and cisgenderism, for example, by increasing the need for formal care that can in turn increase vulnerability to structural violence. Third, the findings illustrate how cisgenderism and gender identity impact the experience of dementia and cogniticism, for example by limiting care options and the ability to advocate for oneself. Fourth, the findings highlight the silo mentality among practitioners, since most of them do not work with an intersectional lens. The article concludes by offering recommendations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Baril
- School of Social Work, University of Ottawa, 120 University, Room 12025, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
| | - Marjorie Silverman
- School of Social Work, University of Ottawa, 120 University, Room 12044, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
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5
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Côté-Boucher K, Daly T, Chivers S, Braedley S, Hillier S. Counter-narratives of active aging: Disability, trauma, and joy in the age-friendly city. J Aging Stud 2024; 68:101205. [PMID: 38458724 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2023.101205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
Dominant narratives about late life promote active aging, while anti-aging ones mobilize tropes of decline and irrelevance. In contrast, counter-narratives raise questions that spark new conversations about the promising practices that could foster more age-friendly cities. In this article, we describe our feminist and ethnographic approach to interviews and digital storytelling that aim to amplify the voices of marginalized older adults living with disability, violence, and colonialism, and share findings from this endeavor. We discuss the interviews with, and stories shared, by two disabled older adults - an Indigenous woman and a white paraplegic man - and the aging futures their counter-stories suggest. These stories reveal these participants' ongoing struggles to create meaning in their lives, and how their relationships to the physical, cultural, and social environment of the city, including its supports and services, can both support and hinder this becoming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karine Côté-Boucher
- School of Criminology, Université de Montréal. Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, 3150, rue Jean-Brillant, Montréal, QC H3T 1N8, Canada.
| | - Tamara Daly
- School of Health Policy and Management, 4700 Keele Street, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Sally Chivers
- Departments of Gender & Social Justice and English Literature, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON K9L 0G2, Canada
| | - Susan Braedley
- Institute of Political Economy. DT 510, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Sean Hillier
- School of Health Policy & Management, 4700 Keele Street, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
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Oswald AG. Queering Age-Friendly NYC: A Critical Discourse Analysis. J Aging Soc Policy 2024:1-17. [PMID: 38383992 DOI: 10.1080/08959420.2024.2320046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
This study employed critical discourse analysis to investigate the representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) older adults in the context of New York City's age-friendly initiative. An extensive review of over 800 pages of public records was conducted to understand how LGBTQ+ older adults were depicted within the discourse and to identify the authorities responsible for their recognition. The findings highlight the unequal representation of social identities, notably the absence of transgender and queer older adults in the examined texts. Authorities wielded discourses of power and accountability to influence perceptions of LGBTQ+ older adults, focusing on their risks and vulnerabilities. This emphasis on deficits, without acknowledgment of strengths and protective factors, has implications for age-friendly initiatives and may lead to an oversight of information necessary for the development of culturally sensitive interventions. To foster communities that are not only friendly but also equitable and just, policymakers must recognize and address subgroup variations within the LGBTQ+ population. This research underscores the importance of ensuring that age-friendly initiatives are inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of LGBTQ+ older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Austin G Oswald
- Department of Social Welfare, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
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7
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Klostermann J. Bev Said "No": Learning From Nursing Home Residents About Care Politics in Our Aging Society. THE GERONTOLOGIST 2023; 63:1663-1671. [PMID: 37330624 DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnad069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023] Open
Abstract
How do nursing home residents decide when, whether, or how to respond to their own and others' care needs when the need to do is constant? What can we learn from them about care politics in our aging society? Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in three long-term residential care homes in Ontario Canada, this article weaves approaches from the arts, humanities, and interpretive sociology to respond to these questions. Contextualizing nursing home residents' stories of care within broader sociocultural and political contexts, I consider how they develop critical and creative insights, not only about direct care or nursing home life but about moral, philosophical, and culturally significant questions relevant to care provision. As political actors engaged in a "politics of responsibility," they put work into navigating, negotiating, and making sense of their own and others' care needs in under-resourced contexts and in relation to circulating narratives about care, aging, and disability. Exposed to constant demands to care for others, residents' stories highlight the importance of expanding cultural narratives to embrace embodied differences or care needs, to help people to talk about their own needs or limits, and to organize care as a shared, collective responsibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna Klostermann
- Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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8
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Langmann E, Weßel M. Leaving no one behind: successful ageing at the intersection of ageism and ableism. Philos Ethics Humanit Med 2023; 18:22. [PMID: 38001533 PMCID: PMC10668457 DOI: 10.1186/s13010-023-00150-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The concept of 'successful ageing' has been a prominent focus within the field of gerontology for several decades. However, despite the widespread attention paid to this concept, its intersectional implications have not been fully explored yet. This paper aims to address this gap by analyzing the potential ageist and ableist biases in the discourse of successful ageing through an intersectional lens. METHOD A critical feminist perspective is taken to examine the sensitivity of the discourse of successful ageing to diversity in societies. The paper analyzes how ageist and ableist biases can manifest in the ways we conceptualize ageing, drawing on examples in the context of mental health. RESULTS We argue that the conventional approach to successful ageing is limited in its ability to account for the experiences of people who have faced intersectional discrimination throughout their lives. Drawing on examples in the context of mental health, we explore among others the link between depression and disabilities. Furthermore, we shed light on the negative impact of ageist and ableist attitudes concerning the diagnosis and treatment of dementia. DISCUSSION We demonstrate how diversity is often overlooked in discussions of ageing well, and how ageist and ableist biases can manifest in the ways we conceptualize ageing. We argue that focusing solely on the health status as a means of achieving success fails to adequately counter ageism for all people. We further emphasize the role of structural factors, such as ageist attitudes, in shaping the experience of ageing and exacerbating health inequalities. CONCLUSION Overall, our findings emphasize the need for a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of ageing and therefore an intersectional approach to conceptions of ageing well that recognizes and addresses the biases and limitations of current discourses. Thereby, this paper offers valuable insights into the complex intersections between age and disabilities from a bioethical perspective, highlighting the need for a more inclusive and intersectional approach to ageing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Langmann
- Institute of Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Tübingen, Gartenstraße 47, Tübingen, 72074, Germany.
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9
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King A, Hall M. Queer(y)ing aging-potentialities and problems in applying Queer Theory to studies of aging and later life. FRONTIERS IN SOCIOLOGY 2023; 8:1228993. [PMID: 37841802 PMCID: PMC10570605 DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1228993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
Queer Theory is a radically deconstructionist perspective within the humanities and social sciences. Since its initial emergence in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the field of sexualities studies, Queer Theory has increasingly been used to challenges normative notions of self, identity, temporality and the nature of being, more broadly. Whilst Queer Theory has been utilized, to some extent, in gerontology and aging studies, this article makes an original contribution to this endeavor, assessing the potentiality and problems with queer(y)ing three aspects of aging: chronology; cognition; and frailty and vulnerability. To achieve this, the article draws on ideas from some key Queer theorical writers, existing studies of queer aging and illustrates theoretical points with qualitative data collected from two LGBTQ+ projects to illustrate. The article also considers problems with Queer Theory in challenging normativities associated with aging. It is concluded that despite problems, Queer Theory remains an important and valuable theoretical approach for disturbing and challenging many of the norms and understandings that shape and constrain older LGBTQ+ people's lives, in particular, and therefore have importance for how we think and understand aging and later life sociologically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew King
- Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
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10
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Glavind IML. Temporal Belonging: Loss of Time and Fragile Attempts to Belong with Alzheimer's Disease. Cult Med Psychiatry 2023; 47:834-856. [PMID: 35882739 PMCID: PMC9325667 DOI: 10.1007/s11013-022-09803-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Building on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork among people with Alzheimer's disease living in Denmark, I argue that the loss of a sense of time caused by Alzheimer's is not a subjective loss, but rather an intersubjective one. Alzheimer's disease entails living with desynchronized rhythms, time that can be made painfully explicit, and numbers becoming increasingly tricky to manage. Drawing on Thomas Fuchs' theory of how individuals live in "basic contemporality," I explore moments of temporal rupture, and how people with Alzheimer's challenge their social relations due to their different sense of time. The article contributes to ongoing discussions about belonging. Taking inspiration from Tine Gammeltoft's description of how belonging entails fragile attempts at being part of something larger, and is thus a joint social practice, I show how one dimension of belonging's fragility is the inability to be in synch with social time. By proposing the notion of temporal belonging, I suggest that sustaining a sense of belonging is also about being able to participate in the rhythms and tempo of social life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ida Marie Lind Glavind
- Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Danish Alzheimer's Association, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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11
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Jones RL, Jen S, Reiter B. "Courage to cobble something new": Women's queer and creative narratives of bisexuality and ageing. J Aging Stud 2023; 65:101133. [PMID: 37268378 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2023.101133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Critical gerontologists have called for more diverse and inclusive visions of a good old age, and especially for imaginings that do not depend on health, wealth and heterosexuality. They have suggested that LGBTQ people, alongside other marginalized groups, may have particular contributions to make to the project of reimagining ageing. In this paper, we bring together this work with Jose Muñoz's concept of 'cruising utopia' to examine possibilities for imagining a more utopian, queer life course. We present findings from a narrative analysis of Bi Women Quarterly, a grassroots online bi community newsletter with an international readership, analyzing three issues published between 2014 and 2019 that focused on the intersection of ageing and bisexuality. We found several ways in which the authors told counter-narratives that queered normative visions of successful ageing. They queered norms around the stability and reification of sexual and gender identities. They challenged current forms of LGBTQ activism. They embraced and celebrated ageing, through such activities as croning ceremonies, and directly addressed and contemplated death. Finally, they queered the narrative form, by giving accounts of personal experience that were dreamlike, poetic or inconclusive. We conclude that counter-normative spaces, such as activist newsletters, offer valuable resources to progress the wider project of reimagining successful ageing more inclusively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca L Jones
- School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom.
| | - Sarah Jen
- University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare, Twente Hall, Lawrence, KS 66044, USA
| | - Bea Reiter
- Emporia State University, School of Library and Information Management, Campus Box 4025, 1 Kellogg Circle, Emporia, KS 66801, USA
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12
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Keller V. Failed in aging? Queering in living with dementia. FRONTIERS IN SOCIOLOGY 2023; 8:1139271. [PMID: 37333067 PMCID: PMC10270721 DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1139271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
This article explored the ways in which living with dementia brings potentials to queer the concept of "successful aging" and associated notions of being human. Regarding the progressive development of dementia, it can be assumed that people affected, no matter how hard they try, will sooner or later fail to age successfully. They increasingly become a symbol of what is called the "fourth age" and are framed as an essentialized other. Based on statements of people with dementia, it will be examined to what extent the position on the outside enables people affected to abandon societal guiding ideals and undermine hegemonic-dominant notions of aging. It is shown how they develop life-affirming ways of being-in-the-world that run counter to the idea of the rational, autonomous, consistent, active, productive, and healthy human beings.
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Chelberg K. 'Vulnerable Monsters': Constructions of Dementia in the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR THE SEMIOTICS OF LAW = REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE SEMIOTIQUE JURIDIQUE 2023; 36:1-24. [PMID: 37362076 PMCID: PMC10011757 DOI: 10.1007/s11196-023-09979-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
This paper argues that while regulatory frameworks in aged care authorise restraints to protect vulnerable persons living with dementia from harm, they also serve as normalising practices to control challenging monstrous Others. This argument emerges out of an observed unease in aged care discourse where older people living with dementia are described as 'vulnerable', while dementia behaviours are described as 'challenging'. Using narrative analysis on a case study from the Final Report of the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (RCAC), this paper investigates how the RCAC (re)produced constructions of persons with dementia as 'vulnerable monsters'. Drawing upon monstrous theory about 'unruly and leaky' bodies, extracts from the case study reveal how the RCAC repeated and reinforced monstrous constructions of dementia. Dementia behaviours, particularly 'wandering', were constructed through a dehumanising crisis frame that produced 'challenging' bodies and legitimised 'last resort' normalising practices, such as physical and chemical restraints. In failing to resist monstrous constructions of dementia behaviours, the RCAC accepted and authorised a regime of scaled responses leading to restrictive practices for control of challenging bodies in aged care. Although dementia care and restrictive practices received substantial attention in the RCAC, this paper reveals a missed opportunity for deeper review of institutionalised use of restraints that has relevance for ongoing reform of Australian aged care following conclusion of the RCAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Chelberg
- Australian Centre for Health Law Research, School of Law, Faculty of Law and Business, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001 Australia
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Miller LR. Queer Aging: Older Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults' Visions of Late Life. Innov Aging 2023; 7:igad021. [PMID: 37063703 PMCID: PMC10101047 DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igad021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and Objectives Diversity in aging has received increased attention in recent years in the field of gerontology. However, older lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people have largely been missing from these conversations. In this study, I examine older LGB people's subjective views on the aging process, focusing specifically on visions of late life. Research Design and Methods Life story interviews were conducted with 60 LGB individuals over the age of 55 who reside in the Southeastern and Midwestern portions of the United States. Inductive coding (e.g., line-by-line, focused) and analyses were conducted. Results Four major themes emerged from the data: (1) financial distress linked to past events of homophobic discrimination, (2) anxieties regarding staying in paid care settings, (3) desires to age in place or "in community" with other lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, and (4) a prioritization of quality of life over longevity via plans to pursue assisted suicide. Discussion and Implications The findings of this study suggest that views of aging and visions of late life are tied to social group membership, highlighting the need for gerontologists to further consider cumulative inequality processes. The study also offers evidence of queer aging, wherein queer culture, history, and experience produce distinct meanings of aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa R Miller
- Department of Sociology, Behavioral Sciences, Eckerd College, Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA
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15
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Chow YF. Financial freedom, final fantasy, 'formative ageing': A study of ageing single women and retirement in contemporary China. J Aging Stud 2023; 64:101096. [PMID: 36868609 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2022.101096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
This article aims to continue a conversation sustained in this journal during the last three decades; a conversation that seeks to promote critical thinking on age and ageing through the lens of gender and sexuality. I do so by considering a specific group of Chinese women: single women living in Beijing or Shanghai. I invited 24 of them, born between 1962 and 1990, to share their imaginations about retirement, in the Chinese context, where the mandatory retirement age for women is 55 or 50 (60 for men). My aims are three-fold: to insert this group of single women into retirement and ageing studies; to recuperate and document their retirement imaginations; and ultimately, to draw insights from their subjective accounts, to revisit dominant paradigms of ageing, notably so-called successful ageing. Empirical data show how these single women treasure financial freedom, but usually without taking concrete steps towards its accomplishment. They also embrace a diversity of imaginations about where and with whom they want to spend their retirement life, and what they want to do - both long-held dreams and new careers. Inspired by yanglao, a term they use instead of retirement, I argue the term 'formative ageing' is a more inclusive and less normative way of looking at ageing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiu Fai Chow
- Department of Humanities and Creative Writing, Hong Kong Baptist University, Waterloo Road, Hong Kong, China.
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16
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Revisioning ageing futures: Feminist, queer, crip and decolonial visions of a good old age. J Aging Stud 2022; 63:101083. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2022.101083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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17
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Ward R, Rummery K, Odzakovic E, Manji K, Kullberg A, Keady J, Clark A, Campbell S. Taking time: The temporal politics of dementia, care and support in the neighbourhood. SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH & ILLNESS 2022; 44:1427-1444. [PMID: 36062552 PMCID: PMC9825962 DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.13524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Dementia is a global health challenge and currently the focus of a coordinated international response articulated through the notion of 'dementia-friendly communities and initiatives' (DFCIs). Yet, while increasing research attention has been paid to the social and spatial dimensions to life with dementia in a neighbourhood setting, the temporalities of dementia have been largely overlooked. This article sets out different aspects of the lived experience of time for people with dementia and unpaid carers, before exploring the temporal politics of formal dementia care and support. The authors show that time is a site for material struggle and a marker of unequal relations of power. People with dementia and unpaid carers are disempowered through access to formal care, and this is illustrated in their loss of (temporal) autonomy and limited options for changing the conditions of the care received. The authors advocate for a time-space configured understanding of the relationship with neighbourhood and foreground a tempo-material understanding of dementia. Set against the backdrop of austerity policy in the UK, the findings reveal that ongoing budgetary restrictions have diminished the capacity for social care to mediate in questions of social justice and inequality, at times even compounding inequity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Ward
- Faculty of Social SciencesUniversity of StirlingStirlingScotland
| | - Kirstein Rummery
- Faculty of Social SciencesUniversity of StirlingStirlingScotland
| | | | - Kainde Manji
- Independent Researcher (previously Faculty of Social Sciences University of Stirling)StirlingScotland
| | - Agneta Kullberg
- Faculty of Medicine and Health SciencesLinköping UniversityLinkopingSweden
| | - John Keady
- Division of NursingMidwifery and Social WorkUniversity of ManchesterManchesterUK
| | - Andrew Clark
- School of Health and SocietyUniversity of SalfordSalfordUK
| | - Sarah Campbell
- Department of Social Care and Social WorkManchester Metropolitan UniversityManchesterUK
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18
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Thomeer MB, LeBlanc AJ, Paine EA, Frost DM, Singh A, Bockting WO. Past Experiences and Anticipated Futures in the Lives of Transgender and Nonbinary People. ADVANCES IN LIFE COURSE RESEARCH 2022; 53:100482. [PMID: 36381170 PMCID: PMC9665350 DOI: 10.1016/j.alcr.2022.100482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Transgender and nonbinary people's life experiences are highly heterogenous and shaped by broader structural and cultural forces. We analyze experiences identified on lifeline interviews from 87 transgender and nonbinary adults in Atlanta, New York City, and San Francisco. We find that the type, timing, and relative importance of these experiences varied across categories. For example, experiences related to "Rejection and violence" were more often identified in childhood and in the past, whereas experiences related to "Gender-affirming medical interventions" were more often in adulthood and anticipated futures. Experiences related to "Community involvement," "Extracurriculars," "Gender exploration and revelation," and "Gender-affirming medical interventions" were labeled by respondents as relatively more important compared to other experiences, whereas experiences related to "Family of origin relationships," "Place of residence," "Rejection and violence," and "Sexuality" less important. These experiences were patterned according to the respondents' gender, birth cohort, race/ethnicity, and geographic location. In analyzing these lifeline data, we advance theoretical understandings of the salience of a variety of key experiences for transgender and nonbinary people at different points in the life course. Our life course approach provides empirical analyses of intra-individual processes over time for transgender and nonbinary people and provides insight into the usefulness of a lifeline method for life course studies more generally as it draws attention to within-person assessments of the distribution and importance of events over the course of a lifetime.
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Hurd L, Mahal R, Wardell V, Liang J. “There were no words”: Older LGBTQ+ persons' experiences of finding and claiming their gender and sexual identities. J Aging Stud 2022; 60:100999. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2022.100999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Revised: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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20
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Valenti KG, Janssen LM, Enguidanos S, de Medeiros K. "By the time she got sick it was just kind of too late": A qualitative study on advanced care planning among bereaved lesbian, gay, and bisexual older women. Palliat Med 2022; 36:375-385. [PMID: 34933628 DOI: 10.1177/02692163211065279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) older women have unmet communication needs around palliative and end-of-life care. Past research has found communication differences for LGB women patients. Consequently, older LGB women may experience healthcare communication barriers around advance care planning. AIM To explore experiences of bereaved LGB older women to understand perspectives regarding advance care planning communication between clinicians, patients, and dyads. DESIGN Guided by queer gerontology as a theoretical framework, this qualitative descriptive study employed individual interviews with purposively recruited participants. Interviews were conducted in person using a semi structured protocol and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS Sixteen LGB women, age 60 years or older from across the United States who had lost a spouse/partner within the past 5 years. RESULTS Four main themes emerged from the transcripts, LGB older women: (1) experience unclear advance care planning communication and end-of-life care support from clinicians, (2) often avoid advance care planning discussions with spouse or partners, (3) lack of knowledge about palliative or end-of-life care, and (4) have more positive experiences when there is consistent communication with spouse or partner and clinicians during a spouse/partner's illness and end-of-life. DISCUSSION While certain experiences and opinions may reflect those of non-LGB older adults, novel advance care planning barriers exist for LGB older women. Greater understanding among clinicians is needed regarding advance care planning conversations with LGB dyads. We recommend four improvements in training, recognition, acceptance, and dyad-based communication interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Korijna G Valenti
- General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Leah M Janssen
- Department of Sociology and Gerontology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA
| | - Susan Enguidanos
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kate de Medeiros
- Department of Sociology and Gerontology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA
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21
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Christensen-Strynø MB, Phillips L, Frølunde L. Revitalising sensualities of ageing with Parkinson's through dance. J Aging Stud 2021; 59:100978. [PMID: 34794724 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Dance for Parkinson's can be characterised as a growing social movement which has become a worldwide phenomenon that gives rise to new questions about the meaning and importance of dance in relation to intersecting and overlapping identity categories of ageing and chronic conditions. In this article, we probe into the potentially constructive interplay between the lived experiences of Parkinson's dance as a space of revitalised sensuality and the cultural imaginations and values connected to the nexus between ageing and chronic conditions. Through a dialogic interpretive framework that recognises and ascribes value to the embodied experiences of Parkinson's dancers, we analyse how the experiences of living with Parkinson's as a chronic condition in the context of ageing are in interplay with the experiences of dancing as an embodied sensual activity. Consequently, we propose that, by emphasising the critical value of stories told by Parkinson's dancers, we are able to gain a more nuanced understanding of how Parkinson's dance affects the nexus between ageing and chronic conditions in revitalising and sensual ways.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Louise Phillips
- Department of Communication and Arts, Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
| | - Lisbeth Frølunde
- Department of Communication and Arts, Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
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22
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Brenman N, Milne R. Lived time and the affordances of clinical research participation. SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH & ILLNESS 2021; 43:2031-2048. [PMID: 34564872 DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.13374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In this article, we address the problem of participation and the dominant focus on motivations in clinical research. We explore participation as a relational mode of 'being in time' in Alzheimer's dementia prevention-a field profoundly shaped by changing bodies through time, as well as promissory trends towards future-oriented preventative medicine. Analysis of interviews with older adults in a clinical trial platform demonstrates that what research 'does' or might (not) 'do' for participants emerges as temporalities of participants' everyday lives become entangled with the possibilities, constraints and demands of biomedical 'research time'. As well as consistent desires to help (future) others, we identify incidental possibilities for care that emerged from continued research participation. We argue that longitudinal research participation can productively be understood as a set of evolving affordances: whereby differing limits and possibilities for care and agency emerge in a world where dementia cannot be cured. Future trial participation is considered in terms of 'therapeutic affordances', which are likely to fluctuate as certain lived or imagined futures unfold. As such, we open up a conceptual space to think about why, how, and critically, when participation happens, as it emerges in relation to lived times of ageing and everyday life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natassia Brenman
- Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Richard Milne
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Society and Ethics Research, Wellcome Connecting Science, Cambridge, UK
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McLeod D. Renovate my uterus: Aging queerly through performance art and karaoke. J Aging Stud 2021; 63:100955. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Revised: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Greubel C, Moors EHM, Peine A. From Mattering to Mattering More: 'Goods' and 'Bads' in Ageing and Innovation Policy Discourses. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18147596. [PMID: 34300047 PMCID: PMC8304814 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18147596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This paper provides an empirical ethics analysis of the goods and bads enacted in EU ageing and innovation policy discourses. It revolves around a case study of the persona Maria, developed as part of the EU's Active and Healthy Ageing Policies. Drawing on Pols' empirical ethics as a theoretical and methodological approach, we describe the variety of goods (practices/situations to be strived for) and bads (practices/situations to be avoided) that are articulated in Maria's persona. We analyse how certain ideas about good and bad ageing-those associated with the use of sophisticated technologies-come to matter more in the solutions proposed for Maria and the framing of her unmet needs, while others which were initially seen as relevant and that describe her dreams, fears and interactions, are marginalised. The paper adds to existing studies of ageing and technology by analysing specific practices that render visible how the idea of technology and data sharing as evidently the right path towards futures of (good) ageing, comes to prevail.
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Jen S, Jeong M, Kang H, Riquino M. Ageism in COVID-Related Newspaper Coverage: The First Month of a Pandemic. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2021; 76:1904-1912. [PMID: 34096609 PMCID: PMC8344938 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbab102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives Media sources have consistently described older adults as a medically vulnerable population during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, yet a lack of concern over their health and safety has resulted in dismissal and devaluation. This unprecedented situation highlights ongoing societal ageism and its manifestations in public discourse. This analysis asks how national news sources performed explicit and implicit ageism during the first month of the pandemic. Method Using content and critical discourse analysis methods, we analyzed 287 articles concerning older adults and COVID-19 published between March 11 and April 10, 2020, in 4 major U.S.-based newspapers. Results Findings indicate that while ageism was rarely discussed explicitly, ageist bias was evident in implicit reporting patterns (e.g., frequent use of the term “elderly,” portrayals of older adults as “vulnerable”). Infection and death rates and institutionalized care were among the most commonly reported topics, providing a limited portrait of aging during the pandemic. The older “survivor” narrative offers a positive alternative by suggesting exceptional examples of resilience and grit. However, the survivor narrative may also implicitly place blame on those unable to survive or thrive in later life. Discussion This study provides insight for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners exploring societal perceptions of older adults and how these perceptions are disseminated and maintained by the media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Jen
- University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare
| | - Mijin Jeong
- University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare
| | - Hyun Kang
- University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare
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26
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Revisioning aging: Indigenous, crip and queer renderings. J Aging Stud 2021; 63:100930. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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27
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Jones RL. Imagining feminist old age: Moving beyond ‘successful’ ageing? J Aging Stud 2021; 63:100950. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2020] [Revised: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/30/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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“Carving a future out of the past and the present”: Rethinking aging futures. J Aging Stud 2021; 63:100937. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2020] [Revised: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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29
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Allain KA. Winter of our contentment: Examining risk, pleasure, and emplacement in later-life physical activity. J Aging Stud 2020; 55:100895. [PMID: 33272455 PMCID: PMC7557200 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2020.100895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Revised: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 10/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
In the West, many in the media and the health sector emphasize physical activity as important for the old, so that they can circumvent the impacts of aging and the associated costs. At the same time, neoliberal health discourse advises older people to avoid activities that may cause injuries, such as slips and falls, creating contradictions for older people who participate in sports on ice. In light of these mixed messages, this paper explores how older men understand their bodies through their participation in the seemingly risky sport of ice hockey. I conducted eighteen semi-structured interviews with older Canadian men who played hockey, identifying common themes related to aging, embodiment, risk and pleasure. Participants were aware that common-sense discourse produced hockey as risky for the old, but often downplayed this risk, privileging pleasure. Discourses associated with pleasure acted as an important way for older men to examine their bodies and contemplate the significance of hockey in their lives. Through the comradery players developed with each other, their interactions with the material objects of hockey, and their emplacement on hockey rinks and arenas, they found ways to celebrate their bodies as both aging and capable of experiencing pleasure - implicitly challenging neoliberal discourses of old age in the process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristi A Allain
- Sociology Department, St. Thomas University, 51 Dineen Dr., Fredericton, NB E3B 5G3, Canada.
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30
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Medina Bañón R, Zecchi B. Technologies of Age: The Intersection of Feminist Film Theory and Aging Studies. INVESTIGACIONES FEMINISTAS 2020. [DOI: 10.5209/infe.66086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Aging studies is a relatively new discipline, and its intersection with feminist film theory can lead to fundamental methodological and theoretical rethinking of the notion of cinema as a powerful technology of age. This essay provides an account of the ageism that permeates Western societies vis-à-vis the place of aging and gender in visual culture. In light of contemporary feminist conceptualizations of aging and aging narratives, this essay aims to propose possible new directions that cinema and feminist film theory can take as part of a new epistemological framework. It also explores new theoretical paradigms from an intersectional perspective aimed at deconstructing ageism in the film industry. Finally, by focusing on female aging narratives in several non-mainstream film productions, this essay advocates moving away from the binary approach of aging as either decline or success, and it suggests new, affirmative ways of looking at aging bodies, and of understanding old age.
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Calasanti T, King N. Beyond Successful Aging 2.0: Inequalities, Ageism, and the Case for Normalizing Old Ages. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2020; 76:1817-1827. [PMID: 32211766 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbaa037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper reviews challenges to Rowe & Kahn's Successful Aging (SA) framework, particularly those that focus on the ways social inequalities, including ageism, stratify age groups and affect possibilities for SA. We then assess the authors' replies to these critiques. We find that SA 2.0 maintains a naturalization of outcomes of age relations, and retains both its focus on personal choice and its indifference to inequalities. We advocate a paradigm shift that recasts the problems of aging in three distinct ways: 1) avoids treating old age as a problem; 2) avoids treating medical and other maladies as results of aging; and 3) treats the problems of old age as results of age relations instead. By focusing on age relations, this paradigm goes beyond calls to examine inequalities over the life course, and seeks to normalize old ages, valuing both different modes of aging and old age itself.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Neal King
- Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
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Stončikaitė I. Revisiting Happiness and Well-Being in Later Life from Interdisciplinary Age-Studies Perspectives. Behav Sci (Basel) 2019; 9:bs9090094. [PMID: 31484406 PMCID: PMC6770928 DOI: 10.3390/bs9090094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Important demographic shifts and the so-called ‘longevity revolution’ have generated profound transformations in social interpretations of old age, an increased interest in age studies and new ideas on how to age well. The majority of current successful ageing models, however, represent rather a prevailing construct in Western societies. Physical and psychosocial well-being and the ability to adjust to the ideals of successful ageing are often seen as an integral part of a good quality in life. Those who do not or cannot follow these lines are often regarded as morally irresponsible and seem to be doomed to have a lonely, unhealthy and unhappy later life. This paper questions the current discourses of successful ageing in terms of healthy and happy living and calls for a reconsideration of more global, integrated and holistic understandings of the process of growing old.
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Abstract
The provision (or failure) of care reflects and produces vulnerability in old age. Reliable and appropriate care widely affects the imagination of "good care" of older Indonesians in North Sulawesi. Yet, their striving for better life goes with the growing chronification of conditions and processes with unpredictable endings. Three factors shape such uncertainty in elder care in North Sulawesi: (1) unsustainable, fragile care arrangements; (2) progressive-degenerative non-communicable diseases and aging impairments; and (3) structural insecurity in elder care and health-care institutions. Older persons mitigate the degree of chronifying care uncertainty by expanding social spaces, but often in normatively less accepted ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter van Eeuwijk
- Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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‘It's most of my life – going to the pub or the group’: the social networks of involuntarily childless older men. AGEING & SOCIETY 2019. [DOI: 10.1017/s0144686x19000837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe social networks of older people are a significant influence on their health and wellbeing. Adult children are an important element in their parent's network and provide the majority of informal care. The morphology of personal networks alters with age, employment, gender and relationships. Not having children automatically reduces both vertical familial structure and affects the wider formal and informal social links that children can bring. Childless men are missing from gerontological, reproduction, sociological and psychological research. These fields have all mainly focused on family and women. This paper reports on an auto/biographical qualitative study framed by biographical, feminist, gerontological and lifecourse approaches. Data were gathered from semi-structured biographical interviews with 14 self-defined involuntarily childless men aged between 49 and 82 years old. A latent thematic analysis highlighted the complex intersections between childlessness and individual agency, relationships and socio-cultural structures. The impact of major lifecourse events and non-events had significant implications for how childless people perform and view their social and self-identity. I argue that involuntary childlessness affects the social, emotional and relational aspects of men's lived experience across the lifecourse.
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Ayalon L, Gewirtz-Meydan A, Levkovich I, Karkabi K. Older men and women reflect on changes in sexual functioning in later life. SEXUAL AND RELATIONSHIP THERAPY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/14681994.2019.1633576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Liat Ayalon
- The Louis and Gaby Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan
- Crimes against Children Research Center and Family Research Laboratory, Department of Sociology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
- Sex and Couples Therapy Unit, Meir Medical Center, Kfar-Saba, Israel
| | - Inbar Levkovich
- The Division of Family Medicine, The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Khaled Karkabi
- Department of Family Medicine, The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Clalit Health Services, Haifa & Western Galilee District, Israel
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhea Ashley Hoskin
- Department of Gender Studies & Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Allison Taylor
- Department of Gender, Feminist, and Women’s Studies, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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