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Fealy G, Di Placido M, O'Donnell D, Drennan J, Timmins F, Barnard M, Blake C, Connolly M, Donnelly S, Doyle G, Fitzgerald K, Frawley T, Gallagher P, Guerin S, Mangiarotti E, McNulty J, Mucheru D, O'Neill D, Segurado R, Stokes D, Ryder M, Üzar Özçetin YS, Wells J, Čartolovni A. 'Ageing well': Discursive constructions of ageing and health in the public reach of a national longitudinal study on ageing. Soc Sci Med 2024; 341:116518. [PMID: 38141382 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116518] [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: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
Established in 2006, the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) investigates the health, economic and social circumstances of a nationally-representative sample of people aged fifty years and older in a series of biennial data collection waves. Irish newspapers have been reporting the results of TILDA for over a decade and a half, and their texts represent reports of scientific research distilled through the pen of journalists. In their totality, their texts constitute a public discourse on ageing and health. Using critical discourse analysis, we examined the discourse within the texts of a purposive sample of two national daily newspapers. As sites of public discourse, newspapers reflect social life and are influential in forming and legitimating public attitudes. Like other sites of discourse, their language-in-use is contextually located, is rarely neutral and may employ strategies to discursively construct, sustain and privilege particular social identities, including ageing identities. Discursively constructed as 'ageing well', our analysis of newspaper texts revealed a discernible meta-discourse on ageing and health in which ageing was framed as a life course stage that may be cultivated, diligently self-nurtured and exploited for its positive aspects. When considered in light of literature on health and social inequalities, the consequences of this broadly positive ageing discourse can, somewhat perversely, frame older adults in unintended negative ways, including homogenising them and attributing to them capacities for ageing well that they may not possess. Discursively constructing older adults as a social and economic resource can also impose unrealistic expectations on them and may legitimise exploitation and demonstrate how normative ideologies of ageism and ableism are conveyed through legitimising language. Despite these potentially unintended consequences, the available media resources associated with TILDA may represent one of the most important contributions of the study, in terms of informing positive public attitudes towards ageing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerard Fealy
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Matteo Di Placido
- Department of Culture, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Italy.
| | - Deirdre O'Donnell
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Jonathan Drennan
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Fiona Timmins
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Marlize Barnard
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Catherine Blake
- UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Michael Connolly
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland; Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services, Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Sarah Donnelly
- UCD School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | | | - Kelly Fitzgerald
- UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Timmy Frawley
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | | | - Suzanne Guerin
- UCD School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Emanuela Mangiarotti
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland; Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy
| | | | - Doreen Mucheru
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | | | - Ricardo Segurado
- UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | | | - Mary Ryder
- UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | | | - John Wells
- School of Health Sciences, South-East Technological University, Ireland.
| | - Anto Čartolovni
- School of Medicine, Catholic University of Croatia, Croatia.
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Negative ageism and compassionate ageism in news coverage of older people under COVID-19: how did the pandemic progression and public health responses associate with different news themes? AGEING & SOCIETY 2023. [DOI: 10.1017/s0144686x22001490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Previous studies have found negative ageing narratives in the media during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few have focused on compassionate ageism and how the news responded to the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated (a) media themes of negative and compassionate ageism and (b) their relationships with COVID-19 parameters and the public health response. The sample included 1,197 articles relevant to COVID-19 and older people in Hong Kong published between January and December 2020. We used thematic analysis to identify themes from the news articles and structural equation modelling to explore these themes' relationship with the number of older people infected, effective reproduction number, number of COVID-19 deaths and public health response parallel in time. Pandemic-related variables were lagged for a day – the time needed to be reflected in the news. Two negative ageism themes portrayed older people as vulnerable to COVID-19 but counterproductive in combating the pandemic. Two compassionate ageism themes depicted older people as a homogenous group of passive assistance recipients. The theme blaming older people was associated with the number of confirmed infections (β = 0.418, p = 0.002) but vulnerability of older people was not associated with pandemic-related variables. The theme helping older people was negatively associated with the percentage of older people in confirmed infections (β = −0.155, p = 0.019). The theme resources available was negatively associated with confirmed infections (β = −0.342, p < 0.001) but positively associated with the Containment and Health Index (β = 0.217, p = 0.005). Findings suggested that negative and compassionate ageism were translated into narratives about older people in the media as the pandemic evolved but did not address the actual risk they faced. Media professionals should be aware of the potential negative and compassionate ageism prompted by the news agenda and promote adequate health behaviours and responses.
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Ishikawa M. Media portrayals of transitions from work to retirement in two ageing societies: the case of ageing baby boomers in Japan and Finland. J Aging Stud 2022; 62:101062. [PMID: 36008032 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2022.101062] [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: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
This article explores media portrayals of the transition from work to retirement under the circumstances of demographic change through a focus on newspaper discussions about ageing baby boomers in Japan and Finland. Due to their shared characteristics as a distinct population group that advances the rapid ageing of the population, media representations of Japanese and Finnish baby boomers during the transitional period to retirement give insight into the social perceptions of retirement and their implications on later life. Manifest content analysis and subsequent thematic analysis identify that the topic of "work, retirement and pension" dominates media discussions in both countries. Analysis also conveys that this topic involves specific themes on three levels: macro level, attitudinal level and behavioural level regarding working, subjective and social perceptions of retirement. Social and cultural differences between Japan and Finland are well accounted for in shaping each theme, which is characterised by even contrasting expressions regarding the extension of working life and attitudes toward work and retirement. However, deeper analysis suggests that the idea that values an active, productive and engaged lifestyle beyond retirement underlies both Japanese and Finnish media discourses. Media discussions in both countries risk creating a discriminatory dichotomy among older people: the Finnish media marginalises those who are out of work and without work-like activities, while the Japanese media tend to exclude those without socially desirable competence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Motoko Ishikawa
- Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Research Institute of Human Development, Kyoto International Social Welfare Exchange Centre, Japan.
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Vulnerable, recalcitrant and resilient: a Foucauldian discourse analysis of risk and older people within the context of COVID-19 news media. AGEING & SOCIETY 2022. [DOI: 10.1017/s0144686x22000897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Risk is an innate and integral part of everyday life and is present in simple, everyday occupations and complex actions. Age-related stereotypes can mean older people have little opportunity to engage in activities that present some degree of risk. The present study explores the discourse around risk and older people in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated news media as a reflection of the dominant public discourse around older people's behaviour to identify how risk is represented in relation to occupational engagement. Texts relating to older people and COVID-19 were sourced from the West Australian newspaper for a period of two months. Seventy texts were subject to Foucauldian discourse analysis to identify subject positions, location of risk and discursive features. Findings indicate that older people were segregated from the rest of society, with their behaviours framed in mostly negative ways. We identified three areas of discourse: vulnerable, and in need of protection; recalcitrant, and in need of management; and resilient, deserving of respect. While we recognise competing representations, implicit within the dominant discourse was the premise that older people were not capable of mediating risks and required ‘management’. These findings highlight the role of surveillance in restricting occupational engagement for older people and carry implications for older people, the public and therapists.
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A critical gerontological framing analysis of persistent ageism in NZ online news media: Don't call us “elderly”! J Aging Stud 2022; 61:101009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2022.101009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Being Called "Elderly" Impacts Adult Development: A Critical Analysis of Enduring Ageism During COVID in NZ Online News Media. JOURNAL OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT 2022; 29:328-341. [PMID: 35637690 PMCID: PMC9132357 DOI: 10.1007/s10804-022-09405-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
This article examines how “the elderly” is constructed in New Zealand online news media. By employing a critical framing analysis to challenge ageist practices, conceptually, the study adds to our knowledge of research methodologies in the field of adult development. Online news media articles were collected and analyzed to understand constructions of older adults as “elderly” over an 18-month period before, during, and since the COVID pandemic. Results demonstrated that the term “elderly” was framed powerlessly, in predominantly negative (74%) stereotypical messages about older adults. Positive stereotypes (26% of data) used human impact framing. Associations of “elderly” with being vulnerable, declining, and an individual or societal burden have serious implications, notably for the media in their role of both constructing and reflecting societal attitudes and actions towards older adults. Suggestions are offered to encourage reframing societal attitudes and promoting healthy adult development through age-equality messages that do away with the term “elderly.”
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Zhang J, Liu X. Media representation of older people's vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Eur J Ageing 2021; 18:149-158. [PMID: 33758584 PMCID: PMC7971386 DOI: 10.1007/s10433-021-00613-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Older adults have gained great media attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they were believed to be vulnerable to the novel virus based on clinical data and epidemiological evidence. The high volume of media coverage played an important role in calling for improved public health services for the older population. Nevertheless, problematic media representations of older people might evoke or amplify ageism during the pandemic. Therefore, drawing on empirical data collected from five mainstream Chinese media outlets between January 3 and May 3, 2020, this study examined how the media constructed the vulnerability of older adults and its underlying ageist thinking during the pandemic. The findings showed that the media had clear preferences in constructing older people as passive recipients while seeking resources from families, public institutions and governments at various levels to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the media adopted a biomedical-centred framework presenting older people as a homogenous group that was vulnerable to the pandemic. In addition, we found that the media representations of older adults intensified the dichotomised relationship between the young and the old, causing the younger generations to perceive older people as a 'threat' to public health. Moving beyond the Chinese case, this article appeals to the media to be socially responsible by avoiding the stereotyping of the older population and uniting the whole society to combat COVID-19. The findings of this study will help raise awareness among policymakers and care service providers, which is crucial to eliminating ageist attitudes across society and to further allowing the values of older individuals to be fully recognised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingjing Zhang
- Department of Sociology, School of Humanities, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiaoting Liu
- School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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Gurung A, Sendall MC, Barnard A. To transfer or not to transfer: Aged care nurses’ decision-making in transferring residents to the emergency department. Collegian 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.colegn.2020.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Allen LD, Ayalon L. "It's Pure Panic": The Portrayal of Residential Care in American Newspapers During COVID-19. THE GERONTOLOGIST 2021; 61:86-97. [PMID: 33104191 PMCID: PMC7665458 DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnaa162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background and Objectives This study examines the discursive construction of residential care during the COVID-19 pandemic in three leading American newspapers: The New York Times, USA Today, and The New York Post. Research Design and Methods A total of 54 news articles between 21 January and 8 May 2020 were identified from the LexisNexis academic database for analysis. The articles were analyzed using both a critical discourse analysis approach and a thematic analytical framework. Results Findings indicate that residents’ voices are excluded and superseded by others, namely their family members. Literary elements were used to portray residential care as shockingly dangerous, deceptive, and problematic. Blame was often assigned to an individual or group according to the political tendency of the newspaper. Discussion and Implications A cultural model of panic and dishonesty begins to take shape through the COVID-19 pandemic. Fearmongering and the portrayal of residential care as lacking transparency will likely create future mistrust of the industry. The depiction of vulnerability and the illusion of resident inclusion in the news coverage enable paternalistic decision-making and care practices in the name of supposed protection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura D Allen
- Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Liat Ayalon
- Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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Abstract
AbstractMass media research on the portrayal of older people has primarily focused on television series and advertisements. News programmes on television have received little attention. We argue that viewers perceive characters on the news as more direct and more accurate representations of social reality than fictional characters, and therefore portrayals on the news are more likely to be integrated in viewers’ stereotypes about elderly people or used as standards of comparison. In order to explore potential differences in the representation of senior men and women, we conducted a quantitative content analysis on a sample of 754 elderly people who appeared on the evening news programmes of four major Hungarian television channels with high viewership. Each character was coded in terms of 115 qualitative variables. Our results indicate that older men are portrayed significantly more often than women as affluent, elegant, knowledgeable, powerful and actively working. By contrast, women are more commonly shown as kind, family-oriented, in ordinary roles (e.g. as the ‘woman in the street’) and engaged in less-productive activities such as shopping. Based on previous research on the role of mass media in the socialisation process as well as social comparison theory, we discuss how these imbalances in the representation of older men and women may affect viewers of different age groups, genders and social status.
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Abstract
AbstractIn the Swedish news-press, loneliness among older people is presented as a severe problem that needs to be solved. The issue of who is responsible for reducing loneliness and how this responsibility is designated is, however, rarely discussed. In this study, we have analysed how responsibility is designated and constructed in articles from the Swedish news-press. Focus has been on identifying responsibility in discourses proceeding from the concept of subject positions. This concept has enabled analysis on how responsibility is negotiated and who is positioned as a responsible actor with the ability to perform actions that reduce loneliness. Three dominating discourses were found. In the discourse of responsibility within politics and the welfare state, the responsibility is both self-taken and designated to other institutions held responsible for not initiating sufficient measures to reduce loneliness. In the discourse of responsibility within societal and evolutionary perspectives on loneliness, developments beyond the individual's control are considered to contribute to loneliness. At the same time ‘we’ in ‘society’ are considered capable of reducing loneliness, thereby constructing individuals as responsible actors. Within the discourses of responsibility within senior organisations, both senior organisations and people who participate in activities are constructed as responsible actors. In conclusion, the responsibility for reducing loneliness is, apart from the discourse on senior organisations, designated to those working with older people.
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Macdonald S, Cunningham Y, Patterson C, Robb K, Macleod U, Anker T, Hilton S. Mass media and risk factors for cancer: the under-representation of age. BMC Public Health 2018; 18:490. [PMID: 29695238 PMCID: PMC5918870 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-018-5341-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2017] [Accepted: 03/20/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Increasing age is a risk factor for developing cancer. Yet, older people commonly underestimate this risk, are less likely to be aware of the early symptoms, and are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage cancer. Mass media are a key influence on the public's understanding health issues, including cancer risk. This study investigates how news media have represented age and other risk factors in the most common cancers over time. METHODS Eight hundred articles about the four most common cancers (breast, prostate, lung and colorectal) published within eight UK national newspapers in 2003, 2004, 2013 and 2014 were identified using the Nexis database. Relevant manifest content of articles was coded quantitatively and subjected to descriptive statistical analysis in SPSS to identify patterns across the data. RESULTS Risk was presented in half of the articles but this was rarely discussed in any depth and around a quarter of all articles introduced more than one risk factor, irrespective of cancer site. Age was mentioned as a risk factor in approximately 12% of all articles and this varied by cancer site. Age was most frequently reported in relation to prostate cancer and least often in articles about lung cancer. Articles featuring personal narratives more frequently focused on younger people and this was more pronounced in non-celebrity stories; only 15% of non-celebrity narratives were about people over 60. Other common risks discussed were family history and genetics, smoking, diet, alcohol, and environmental factors. Family history and genetics together featured as the most common risk factors. Risk factor reporting varied by site and family history was most commonly associated with breast cancer, diet with bowel cancer and smoking with lung cancer. CONCLUSION Age and older adults were largely obscured in media representation of cancer and cancer experience. Indeed common risk factors in general were rarely discussed in any depth. Our findings will usefully inform the development of future cancer awareness campaigns and media guidelines. It is important that older adults appreciate their heightened risk, particularly in the context of help-seeking decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Macdonald
- Institute of Health & Wellbeing, General Practice and Primary Care, 1 Horselethill Rd, Glasgow, G12 9LX Scotland
| | - Yvonne Cunningham
- Institute of Health & Wellbeing, General Practice and Primary Care, 1 Horselethill Rd, Glasgow, G12 9LX Scotland
| | - Chris Patterson
- Institute of Health & Wellbeing, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3QB Scotland
| | - Katie Robb
- Institute of Health & WellbeingMental Health & Wellbeing, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Administration Building, 1st floor, 1055 Great Western Road, Glasgow, G12 0XH Scotland
| | - Una Macleod
- Hull York Medical School, Allam Medical Building, Univrsity of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX UK
| | - Thomas Anker
- Adam Smith Business School, Gilbert Scott Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ Scotland
| | - Shona Hilton
- Institute of Health & Wellbeing, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3QB Scotland
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