Suchergebnisse

Worldwide the population is ageing and data concerning how people want to age actively is limited. The paper is a description of an inductive interpretive-descriptive study of how a sample of older retired teachers in Fiji viewed ageing and their lives as older people. The objectives were to determine and describe perceptions of ageing held by a sample of retired teachers. The methodology consisted of responses to an open ended questionnaire similar to a phenomenographic approach and the analysis was interpretive – descriptive. A purposive sample of 30 retired teachers between the ages of 55 and 60 responded to the questionnaire. The results indicate that most of the respondents were positive about lifelong learning and in particular learning new things; that they were involved in a range of post retirement activities for personal and financial reasons; that there were some barriers and facilitators to their activities; that they generally accepted ageing and being older; and that more should be done by Government and other agencies to provide for a better life for older people in Fiji. These results should be considered in future planning for ageing populations in Fiji, the Pacific region and in other developing countries.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need to challenge ageism and to draw attention to how art, especially art activism, can challenge Ageism and bring about a new personal understanding of ageing.


Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a summary of personal reflections by the author.


Findings
The pervasive, ageist, stereotypical attitudes developed at an early age and the possible means to challenge and transform thinking through Art.


Practical implications
Artist and Arts organisations, their commissioners and funders could consider focussing upon ageing across the life course and commission and create work which challenges thinking and the status quo on ageing, reflecting society's adjustment to an Ageing society.


Social implications
Art and especially art activism could make a fundamental contribution to a raft of strategies to not only combat ageism but assist personal understanding of our ageing.


Originality/value
Currently there are relatively few artists and arts organisation focussing upon ageing across the life course. The paper states the view that such art activity could assist with new ways of understanding personal ageing and challenge ageist attitudes.

What do literary texts tell us about growing old? The essays in this volume introduce and explore representations of ageing and old age in canonical works of English and postcolonial literature. The contributors examine texts by William Shakespeare, Daniel Defoe, Julian Barnes, Thomas Kinsella, Seamus Heaney, J.M. Coetzee, Alice Munro, Witi Ihimaera and Patricia Grace and, together with a medical study, they suggest solutions to the challenges arising from the current demographic change brought about by ageing Western populations.

AbstractTo shed light on the quality of the ageing experience in Europe and its heterogeneity, this study adapts and computes the Active Ageing Index—an index constructed at the country level to monitor ageing quality in Europe—at the individual level. This strategy allows the measuring of inequality in the experience of active ageing and is flexible enough to consider different value judgements in the overall assessment of the quality of life while ageing. The study examines the predictors of this inequality by using regressions with a Gini-recentred influence function. It finds that education plays a very significant role in reducing inequality, though its influence varies across countries. Furthermore, the study uncovers large variance in the quality of the ageing experience across Europe. For instance, more than 50% of the populations of Romania, Lithuania and Bulgaria show a level of active ageing quality lower than that of the bottom decile of the distribution in Sweden.

"A comprehensive textbook that provides an invaluable introduction to the major issues involved in the study of ageing from a sociological perspective. Sociology of Ageing seeks to analyse the biological, psychological and sociocultural aspects of ageing problems in India. Spanned over 13 chapters, the textbook extensively covers theoretical and demographic perspectives on ageing, social dimensions, social support, and state policies. It describes the challenges faced by the elderly and avenues of opportunities available to them to remain actively engaged in life. This textbook widely refers to research works beyond the disciplinary boundary of sociology to help develop a lucid yet critical understanding of sociological ageing. This textbook will be of interest to the students of sociology, gerontology, health and social care, and professionals working with older people. Key Features. First-of-its-kind textbook focused on the Indian context. Highlights variability and diversity in ageing processes Provides a holistic understanding of each topic. Each chapter aided by insightful pedagogical features such as learning outcomes, key terms and points for classroom discussion"--

1. Introduction / Christian Aspalter and Alan Walker -- 2. The concept of active ageing / Alan Walker -- 3. New perspectives for active ageing : the normative approach of developmental social policy / Christian Aspalter -- 4. Active ageing in South Korea / Sung-Jae Choi -- 5. Active ageing in Taiwan / Wan-I Lin -- 6. Active ageing in Hong Kong / Joe C.B. Leung -- 7. Active ageing in mainland China / Vivian W.Q. Lou -- 8. Active ageing in Malaysia / Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abdul Rashid -- 9. Active ageing in Singapore / Kalyani K. Mehta -- 10. Active ageing in Indonesia / Evi Nurvidya Arifin -- 11. Conclusion : the way forward for active ageing / Alan Walker and Christian Aspalter.

"East Asian societies are changing rapidly, and one of the most important facets of this transformation is the ageing of society. 'Active ageing' is one of the few concepts available today to effectively address the problems arising from a highly-aged and, particularly in East Asia, fast-ageing society, offering a new social policy paradigm to redirect and innovate new social policies, particularly social services, social transfers, social regulations and laws, towards more investment in and support of the fast rising number of elderly citizens. This book focuses on the experiences of East Asian societies where active ageing has been implemented. It presents a thorough analysis of the concept of active ageing and its potential and problems of implementations in different stages of development in East Asia, whilst providing theoretical clarity to, and broadening the concept of, active ageing. Further, the country-focused case studies explore how to design, pursue, measure and evaluate social policies, highlight the problems related to the implementation of the concept of active ageing in social policy and outline the practical implications of active ageing theory in policy making. Active Ageing in Asia will appeal to students and scholars of social and public policy, social work, gerontology and health and social administration, as well as to policy makers working in the field"--

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Original Title Page -- Original Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Notes on Contributors -- Introduction -- 1 The Study of Age and Ageing -- 2 Ageing and Vulnerability -- 3 Acceptable Risk, Assessment and Resources -- 4 Risk and Social Work Stewart Pritchard and Paul Brearley -- 5 Risk and Mental Disorder Peter Jefferys and Rosemary Jennings -- 6 Risk and Health Care Michael Hall -- 7 Concluding -- Bibliography -- Index.

Population ageing, in both the developed and developing world, has put increasing demands on health resources; this has brought to the fore various ethical issues related to ageing. This paper examines moral issues that confront people as they grow old as well as those who are involved with them. The concepts of autonomy, dignity, justice and intergenerational solidarity are explored. Living wills and the role of a proxy could help to deal with the common ethical dilemmas related to death and dying. Positive action by governments to overcome ageism is recommended. The need to establish ethical guidelines, which take into consideration differences in religion, culture, ethnicity and race, is highlighted.