Suchergebnisse

Abstract. Informal carers' telecare acceptance decisions
depend on how their care recipients perceive telecare,
yet this relationship has not been researched very much.
This article draws on qualitative data gathered from
informal carers to explore reciprocity in telecare perceptions
within dyads of informal carers and care receivers.
A 4-month intervention study was conducted from
2018 to 2019 in the Central Slovenia region. A purposive
sample of 22 older adults and their informal carers
tested two telecare solutions. Thematic analysis was
conducted using Atlas.ti 8, with four themes emerging:
1. the benefits of telecare use for older adults; 2. reluctance,
rejection or negative perceptions of telecare; 3.
the potential violation of older adults' privacy; and 4.
the importance of external and internal information
for effective telecare use. This study confirms that that
telecare perception is dyadically interdependent.
Keywords: assistive technologies, informal care, ageing
in place, dyads, older adults

In response to the global increasing age of the population, there is general agreement on the need to define what is meant by 'old.' Yet there is no consensus on age groups within the definition of old, which makes comparative studies of people of differing ages in advancing years impossible. Attempts to sub-categorize the 'old' also show little consensus. This article serves to open a dialogue, as an illustrative example of these inconsistencies. Specifically, the aim of this research was to examine definitions of the 'oldest old' and 'fourth age', in order to highlight such inconsistencies and the need for consistent age stratifications. The authors conducted a literature search from January 2003 to April 2015 using the six most highly-rated non-medical journals in gerontology; the search was conducted again in 2018–2019 for currency. Forty-nine articles in total were reviewed. The findings show little consensus on the age stratifications used to define the 'oldest old' and 'fourth age,' which ranged from seventy-five plus to ninety-two plus years. Dividing the 'old' population into the oldest old and/or fourth age still shows a lack of consensus, with some authors suggesting that such divisions have only served to move ageism into very old age. There are terms for ten-year cohorts, which - if universally used - will mean that comparative ageing studies are possible. This in turn will inform international and national strategy documents, policy initiatives, clinical guidelines, and service provision and design. Given the growth in the numbers of people classed as old and the time span being 'old' covers, there is a real need for consensus. Definite age groupings that define people as cohorts, with existing and agreed words — such as sexagenarians (60–69,) septuagenarians (70–79), octogenarians (80–89), etc. - will completely remove the need for the value-laden term 'old' (and all its derivatives) for this poorly-defined population.