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Introduction: In the year 2000, a set of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were presented as a way to channel global efforts into the reduction of poverty and the promotion of social development. A global discussion regarding how to renew these goals is underway and it is in this context that the Goals and Governance for Global Health (Go4Health) research consortium conducted consultations with marginalized communities in Asia, Latin America, the Pacific and Africa as a way to include their voices in world's new development agenda. The goal of this paper is to present the findings of the consultations carried out in Uganda with two groups within low-resource settings: older people and people living with disabilities. Methods: This qualitative study used focus group discussions and key informant interviews with older people in Uganda's Kamwenge district, and with persons with disabilities from the Gulu region. Thematic analysis was performed and emerging categories and themes identified and presented in the findings. Findings: Our findings show that a sense of community marginalization is present within both older persons and persons living with disabilities. These groups report experiencing political sidelining, discrimination and inequitable access to health services. This is seen as the key reason for their poor health. Clinical services were found to be of low quality with little or no access to facilities, trained personnel, and drugs and there are no rehabilitative or mental health services available. Conclusion: Uganda must fulfil its international obligations and take progressive measures to meet the right to health for all its peoples, but especially allocate its limited resources to proactively support its most marginalized citizens. The growing impetus within post-2015 development negotiations to redress in-country health and other inequalities through a comprehensive systems approach is of importance in the Ugandan development context. This approach reflects the participant's perspectives, which also calls for a more equitable approach to health and development as opposed to a narrow, vertical focus on specific population groups, as was the case with the MDGs. ; publishedVersion

National Council on Ageing and Older People РAnnual Report 2008 2008 was a year of change for the National Council on Ageing and Older People. In January the Government announced the establishment of the Office for Older People at the Department of Health and Children and that the Office would have a key role in progressing the Government̢?Ts agenda for older people. The decision provided that Council staff would be transferred to the Office and that the Council would be replaced by an Advisory Council. Although a sad day for the Council itself, we regard this as a significant step forward in bringing older people̢?Ts issues right to the centre of Government policy-making. Click here to download PDF 333kb

"The historiography of empire before the end of the eighteenth century lies in pieces," say Pincus et al., because historians, trapped in the teleology of nationhood, have failed to "think the Empire whole." A key part of the problem, they argue, is disciplinary. Imperial scholars are not trained in "political science, historical sociology, and institutional economies" ; they have been distracted by other putatively narrower concerns. For example, we have focused on networks rather than states As a result, we neglect the imperial state and fail to understand how people calculated their interests in an interconnected and imperial world – calculations that were suffused with keen interest in political economy, and with news of internecine metropolitan politics, scandal, profit and loss from other colonies. Metropolitans focused on empire too. It took up nearly 20 percent of Parliament's time, unless there was a crisis, when it occupied much more. Parliament was not alone in its concern with empire. A number of very popular eighteenth-century magazines were also full of empire. Proto-national blinkers have lead scholars to understate the British Empire's great strength, miss the impact two great schools of political economy (Walpole vs the Patriots) on imperial policy and everyday colonial life, and misinterpret theBoston Tea Party.

Older people in Britain are entitled to free off-peak travel by bus over the whole country in which they live. The introduction of the policy was a political decision with the stated objectives of increasing public transport usage by older people, improving their access to services and increasing social inclusion. The objective of this paper is to examine the available evidence to see whether these objectives have been realised. The paper also explores whether there have been other benefits for older people and for wider society. It is concluded that the objectives have been met to a large extent, but that many of the impacts might have happened anyway and that the impacts are probably less than many of the studies claim.

Internationally, health authorities and governments are warning older people that they are at a higher risk of more serious and possible fatal illness associated with COVID‐19. Mortality data from Oxford COVID‐19 Evidence Service (25/3/20) indicate a risk of mortality of 3.6% for people in their 60s, which increases to 8.0% and 14.8% for people in their 70s and over 80s. Therefore, the global recommendation for older populations includes social isolation, which involves staying at home and avoiding contact with other people, possibly for an extended period of time, currently estimated to be between three and four months.

This article was published in the journal, Gerontology [© S. Karger AG] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000353630 ; Digital technologies are becoming more pervasive in all areas of society. Enabling everyone to have access and capability to use the Internet and associated digital technologies, summed up in the term 'digital inclusion', is seen to have wide-ranging benefits to the individual, to the economy and to society. For older people, being digitally included can help them to maintain their independence, social connectedness and sense of worth in the face of declining health or limited capabilities, as well as also offering new opportunities to improve their quality of life. At present however, access to the technology and to the benefits is not equally distributed either between or within nations, and older people tend to be on the 'wrong' side of what is termed the 'digital divide'. Governments globally are developing strategies to promote digital inclusion and indeed Internet uptake is increasing steadily, including amongst older people. However, such strategies have focussed on getting people online, and there appears to be an assumption that once someone is online they will remain 'digitally engaged'. In fact statistics show that some users give up using the Internet, and there is emerging evidence that older people are more vulnerable to the factors which can lead to this outcome. The authors see this phenomenon as a potential but largely unrecognised 'fourth digital divide' which has serious implications for social inclusion. The objectives of this article are (a) to raise awareness of the phenomenon of digital disengagement by considering some of the emerging evidence, (b) to explore some of the potential implications of not recognising and therefore not addressing the needs of the digitally disengaged older population, and (c) to reveal the prevailing gap in knowledge which future research should address.

While care of older people involves both medical and social care nursing homes are essentially an extension of the functions of the home rather than of a hospital. The largest group of employees in residential care settings are nurses and care attendants. A medical model could be said to dominate not a social care approach. However there has been a move away from large institutional settings with a hospital atmosphere to smaller more homely units where there is more emphasis on purposive activity and links with the community. Traditionally many of the day services for older people were provided by voluntary organisations and nuns from religious orders provided much of the expertise. With the decline in the number of religious these services are increasingly coming under the remit of the health board and staffed by people from a variety of nursing and social care backgrounds. This articlel is based on an exploratory study of the provision of care for older people in residential and day settings with particular focus on recreational, social and creative activities. The services and programmes examined were mainly in the Dublin area. The aims of the article are: To outline the structure of provision of residential and day services for older people who need additional support in daily living. To give an overview of policy development in relation to these services. To examine quality of life in relation to provision of recreational and social activities in these services and To put forward an argument for social care education in the provision of training courses for staff working with older people. The article outlines the main institutional services for dependent older people, discusses the principal policy reports that have shaped the services, and describes the historical evolution of services and the main policy developments to date. The article contrasts services based on older concepts of care with more recent practices. The quality of care is examined with reference to legislative requirements and quality indictors particularly related to purposive recreation. The characteristics of a medical model of care are contrasted with a social care approach and an argument is advanced for adopting a social care approach for meeting the needs of the dependent older person. Finally the training implications of adopting a social care approach are considered.

Background: During the last three decades, Myanmar has faced a steadily growing population of older people as a result of sustained declines in mortality and fertility. Quality of life (QoL) is an important issue among older people as it reflects their health status and well-being. This study aimed to investigate the QoL of older people and analyze factors associated with QoL of older people in Taungu Township, Bago Region, Myanmar.Methods: The study is based on a cross-sectional study among 233 older people aged 60 years or above living in the Taungu Township. The data were collected through structured questionnaire using face-to-face interview, during March to April 2011. Questions on QoL were from the standard World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and bi-variate analysis (χ2 test) were employed.Results: The study revealed that 72.1% of older people had an average QoL (Mean - SD) to (Mean + SD), 14.2% and 13.7% had high and low QoL. QoL is significantly and positively (directly) associated (p<0.05) with older people's individual income. It is implied that appropriate implementation should increase its coverage both in terms of area and less opportunity for older persons.Conclusion: Government should expand older people's self-help group to improve livelihoods by creating job opportunities and income generate in all States and Regions. It is also suggested the WHOQOL-BREF, the standard questionnaires needs to be validated according to context of Myanmar cultures and norms, including the meaning of "quality of life".

Abstract Objective: Discuss how Brazilian public policies aimed at old people address the right of the old people to decent work, and the promotion of their insertion and maintenance at work. Method: Bibliographic research was carried out to analyze the Brazilian public policies aimed at old people. In order to deepen the analysis of these policies, they were consulted in full on Brazilian government websites. The data was analyzed based on content analysis. Results: Among the public policies aimed at the old people those having some type of work-related disposition provision are: the National Policy for Old People, State Policy for Old People, Statute of the Elderly, and National Health Policy for Old People. The work-related propositions were categorized into: I. Creation of working conditions for old people; II. Preventing discrimination and encouraging the hiring of old people; III. Continuing education for old people; IV. Retirement; V. Work as a choice. Conclusion: Over time, Brazilian public policies aimed at old people have been improving the approach to decent work, and the promotion of the insertion and maintenance of old people in their work. However, there is still a lack of better advances and clarifications about the guidelines and recommendations related to work for old people, emphasizing the importance of work contexts considering the conditions and organizations impacting the possibility of insertion and maintenance of old people at work.

The article shows how merit has been used to highlight pensioners as a special population in the claims-making activities of the senior rights movement in Sweden, as well as in debates about issues concerning old age. Simply put, merit refers to the claim that pensioners have built the society and they are entitled to special treatment – for instance welfare, reverence – for this reason. Merit is concluded to be a rhetorical tool with the potential of countering images of older people as a burden to the young. It portrays seniors as a population worthy of welfare and reverence. Social movements that emphasize merit among seniors will however risk isolation, since such claims to some extent have become associated with populist attacks on immigrants, politicians and other groups labeled as non-merited.

Demographic change has increased the need for research on healthcare for older people. Recently there has been a growing awareness that research might benefit from actively involving patients and the public in study design and conduct. Besides empowering patients and democratizing research, involvement enhances the quality of research and the development of equitable healthcare solutions. Little is known about how to involve older people. This review aims to support scientists intending to involve older people in health research by systematically identifying and describing studies involving older people and analyzing associated facilitators and challenges. Old people were operationalized as people living with old-age-related conditions. We conducted a systematic search in PubMed, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and Cochrane library for the period 2007 to July 2017 and also manually searched reference lists of the nine retrieved articles and other relevant sources. While involvement of older people in research is feasible, specific challenges related to this group need be taken into account. Strategies to enhance effective involvement comprise a thoughtful choice of location, use of visualization and accessible communication, building good relationships and flexible approaches. Further research is needed on the involvement of people in care homes or with vision, hearing or mobility limitations.

Summary: The study determined the spatial temporal characteristics of fall-related hip fractures in the elderly using routinely collected injury hospitalization and sociodemographic data. There was significant spatial temporal variation in hospitalized hip fracture rates in New South Wales, Australia. Introduction: The study determined the spatial temporal characteristics of fall-related hip fractures in the elderly using routinely collected injury hospitalization data. Methods: All New South Wales (NSW), Australia residents aged 65+ years who were hospitalized for a fall-related hip fracture between 1 July 1998 and 30 June 2004 were included. Bayesian Poisson regression was used to model rates in local government areas (LGAs), allowing for the incorporation of spatial, temporal, and covariate effects. Results: Hip fracture rates were significantly decreasing in one LGA, and there were no significant increases in any LGAs. The proportion of the population in residential aged care facilities was significantly associated with the rate of hospitalized hip fractures with a relative risk (RR) of 1.003 (95% credible interval 1.002, 1.004). Socioeconomic status was also related to hospitalized hip fractures with those in the third and fourth quintiles being at decreased risk of hip fracture compared to those in the least disadvantaged (fifth) quintile [RR = 0.837 (0.717, 0.972) and RR = 0.855 (0.743, 0.989) respectively]. Conclusions: There was significant spatial temporal variation in hospitalized hip fracture rates in NSW, Australia. The use of Bayesian methods was crucial to allow for spatial correlation, covariate effects, and LGA boundary changes. © 2009 International Osteoporosis Foundation and National Osteoporosis Foundation.

As a researcher and consultant I have coordinated local pilots and European research projects to analyse and improve long-term care for older people by better integrating health and social care systems. One of my conclusions from the wide range of initiatives that have been taken over the past two decades in Europe has been the need to treat long-term care as a system in its own right. Long-term care systems require a discernable identity; specific policies, structures, processes and pathways; and the leadership and resources that can underpin expectations, drive performance and achieve better outcomes for people that are living with (and working for those with) long-term care needs. Progress in developing LTC systems can be identified today in all European countries. Integrated care solutions at the interface between health and social care, and between formal and informal care, have appeared. These have been achieved partly by means of (slow) political reforms, partly as a response to market-oriented governance, and in many cases through pioneering community and civil society initiatives. It will depend on such initiatives, and their ability to convince both citizens and policy-makers, whether new societal approaches to long-term care are created that meet the demands of ageing societies.

Objective. To explore how older people who are "aging in place" are affected when the urban neighbourhoods in which they are aging are themselves undergoing socioeconomic and demographic change. Methods. A qualitative case study was conducted in two contrasting neighbourhoods in Montréal (Québec, Canada), the analysis drawing on concepts of social exclusion and attachment. Results. Participants express variable levels of attachment to neighbourhood. Gentrification triggered processes of social exclusion among older adults: loss of social spaces dedicated to older people led to social disconnectedness, invisibility, and loss of political influence on neighbourhood planning. Conversely, certain changes in a disadvantaged neighbourhood fostered their social inclusion. Conclusion. This study thus highlights the importance of examining the impacts of neighbourhood change when exploring the dynamics of aging in place and when considering interventions to maintain quality of life of those concerned.

International audience ; The social exclusion of older people challenges the notion of ag-ing well, both from a scientific and a political perspective. In this con-text, the responses brought to this issue through public policies may vary depending on the diverse scientific theories they are built upon. In France, the first political response to the social exclusion of older people has been the social inclusion policies of the 1960s. In later years, the growing medicalization of old-age policies contributed to relegating this issue to the background, until it resurfaced in the early 2000s with the abnormally high death toll of the 2003 heat wave. The notion of loneliness then replaced social exclusion, highlighting a lack of social cohesion where older people are concerned. The fight against isolation and loneliness became a national cause and was handed over to local stakeholders.This paper analyzes the design and implementation of projects and initiatives targeting older people, and discusses a survey of old-er people examining feelings of loneliness and/or uselessness. We will begin with a brief overview of theories on successful aging, to show how the question of social exclusion eventually came to the forefront. We will then examine the evolution of this notion in French old-age policies. Finally, we will present the findings of the VIEU project, offering avenues of reflection to consider social inclusion from a new perspective