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Drawing on case studies of two ageing rural communities in north-east Victoria, Australia, this article explores how older volunteers both contribute to, and are supported by, third sector activities and services within rural environments. As such, volunteer activities build healthy ageing in rural settings, and contribute to community viability. However, further analyses suggest that reliance on third sector voluntarism also presents serious challenges for the future. This is particularly the case in relation to the sustainability of healthy ageing in rural settings where public sector resources are being rationalised. Our findings show that there are risks associated with an over-reliance on volunteers in rural communities and with the excessive regulation of volunteers unless appropriate infrastructure and support are provided.

Winterton R, Warburton J, Oppenheimer M. The future for Meals on Wheels? Reviewing innovative approaches to meal provision for ageing populationsThe global phenomenon of population ageing is impacting on how community care is delivered, and a key component of health and social care services for the frail elderly is Meals on Wheels (MOW), a service that has traditionally encompassed delivering meals to older people in their homes. However, aspects of this conceptualisation of MOW are being redefined in order to address challenges posed by tightening global financial contexts, a reliance on volunteers and increasing social isolation among ageing populations. Through a review of the literature and websites from selected countries (UK, USA, Canada, Australia), this article explores and critically evaluates models of MOW delivery addressing these challenges. Findings suggest that MOW services are utilising a marketised approach, moving outside of the home and incorporating diverse volunteer roles. These findings demonstrate how services such as MOW can develop sustainable approaches to service delivery in a contemporary context.Key Practitioner Message:•A review of innovative MOW highlights service models of broader applicability;•Varied delivery models and more diverse volunteer roles appeal to new sources of volunteers;•Research into the development of sustainable models with positive client social outcomes is now required.

This book provides the first foundation of knowledge about the intellectual traditions, contemporary scope and future prospects for the interdisciplinary field of rural gerontology. With a focus on rural regions, small towns and villages, which have the highest rates of population ageing worldwide, Rural Gerontology is aimed at understanding what it means for rural people, communities and institutions to be at the forefront of twenty-first-century demographic change. The book offers important insights from rural ageing studies into today's most pressing gerontological problems. With chapters from more than 65 established and emerging rural ageing researchers, it is the first synthesis of knowledge about rural gerontology, harnessing a burgeoning interdisciplinary scholarship on the rural dimensions of ageing, old age and older populations. With a view to advancing a critical understanding of rural ageing populations, this book will have an overreaching impact across the social sciences by drawing on advancements in understandings of rural ageing from social, environmental, geographical and critical gerontology to facilitate a comprehensive exploration of the diversity, complexity and implications of the ageing process in rural settings. Bringing together valuable international perspectives, this book makes a timely contribution to gerontology, rural studies and the social sciences, and will appeal to scholars and researchers across USA and Canada, UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, China and countries in Africa, South America and South-East Asia.

Current Australian policy directives are aimed at building older people's capacity to remain independent, healthy, and productive. However, in the context of increasing populations, climate variability, declining water supplies, and water price increases, there is concern that issues relating to water access and usage will impact capacity for healthy ageing in rural locations. Drawing on environmental gerontology, focus groups were used to explore the attitudes and behaviors of rural seniors relating to water use and management strategies in four rural communities located in north-east Victoria. Findings indicate that water is significant in the lives of rural seniors from both an aesthetic and resource-based perspective, and related to cultural and historical values. Thus, individual ability to manage water was a source of identity, with some water management policies seen as unjust and dissonant with current practices. These findings are critical in considering how macro-level policies impact human-environment interactions among vulnerable groups.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to present an Australian case study and to explore how social enterprises may be conceptualised as spaces of well-being, that is the ways in which social enterprises, not explicitly delivering health services, may be producing health and well-being benefits for those who come into contact with them.Design/methodology/approach– A case study in Australia is used to explore in depth the mechanisms of well-being production. Data were collected using ethnographic observation, focus groups and walking interviews. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, GIS and the lens of therapeutic assemblage.Findings– The case study social enterprise produces well-being as integration, capability, security and therapy. The social enterprise acts as a therapeutic assemblage with well-being "spoken", "practiced" and "felt" within the social enterprise. The ways in which well-being is generated are often linked to the productive element of enterprise – and have the potential to contribute to tackling several contemporary health challenges and inequalities relating to, for example, a lack of physical activity and levels of social isolation.Research limitations/implications– This paper draws on a single Australian case study but points to the need for further in-depth work in the area of social enterprise and health.Originality/value– The paper advances our understanding of how social enterprises may be linked to health and well-being. It goes beyond quantification of, for example, number of clients helped, to consider the wider experience of well-being for those who come into contact with social enterprises.

Populations around the globe are ageing rapidly. This demographic shift affects families, market structures and social provisions. This timely volume, part of the Ageing and the Lifecourse series, argues that the lifecourse perspective helps us understand the causes and effects of population ageing. The lifecourse perspective suggests that individuals' experiences at an early age can influence their decisions and behaviour at a later age. This much-needed volume combines insights from different disciplines and real-life experiences to describe the theories and practices behind this idea. It therefore caters to the needs of scholars, practitioners and policy makers in a range of areas including sociology and political science