Older Women Living Alone in the UK: Does Their Health and Wellbeing Differ from Those Who Cohabit?
AbstractWith an increased prevalence of people living alone in later life, understanding the health and wellbeing of older women living alone in the UK is an important area of research. Little is known about health and wellbeing in this population and whether they differ from those who cohabit. This paper fills this research gap. Analysis was undertaken of Wave 8 of the Understanding Society Household Panel Survey, including variables such as internet use and volunteering. Differences were found between those who live alone and cohabit. Volunteering was a predictor of better health outcomes for those who lived alone but no...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - August 8, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
How do Older Adults Spend Their Time? Gender Gaps and Educational Gradients in Time Use in East Asian and Western Countries
This study is the first to document how older adults in East Asian and Western societies spend their time, across four key dimensions of daily life, by respondent ’s gender and education level. To do this, we undertook a pioneering effort and harmonized cross-sectional time-use data from East Asian countries (China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) with data from the Multinational Time Use Study (Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom, United States; to which we refer as Western countries), collected between 2000 and 2015. Findings from bivariate and multivariate models suggest...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - August 8, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
The Darker Side of Ageing: Towards an Ethics of Suffering that Emphasises the Primacy of Witnessing
This article seeks to address this darker side of ageing. It discusses probing questions including: what can we learn from the stories of those who severely struggle with the consequences of old age? And how might these stories guide us in finding ways how we – both as fellow human beings and as a society – can face and respond to suffering in old age? To achieve this, this article first briefly outlines the scholarship on suffering and explores the idea of suffering from life in old age. Secondly, drawing on empirical work, it reflects on the phenom enological question: what is it like to suffer from life in old age? ...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - August 4, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
How Does Multi-Morbidity Relate to Feeling of Loneliness among Older Adults? Evidence from a Population-Based Survey in India
AbstractWe aim to examine multimorbidity as a risk factor for feeling of loneliness among older adults in India. Further, we investigate the interactive effects of sex and living arrangements in the association of multimorbidity and feeling alone in old age. The study involved a cross-sectional design of baseline data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI, 2017 –18). A single-item measure was used from the 10-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10) to capture the feeling of loneliness among older adults. Model 1 in the multivariable analysis (Wald χ2 = 6.50, p < 0.05, ...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - August 3, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Great-Grand Parents in Brazil? A Socio-Demographic Contextualization
AbstractBrazil is often viewed in a stereotyped manner, being considered a rather young country, evoking questions regarding the existence of great-grandparents in Brazilian society. The aim of this review article was to explore the socio-demographic context regarding great-grandparenthood in Brazil. An analysis of population ageing shows that, due to a reduction in mortality rates for all age groups, combined with a drop in fertility rates, the resulting increase in life expectancy in Brazil has created a demographic background which allows for an increasing proportion of older persons to become great-grandparents. This r...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - July 22, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Healthy Ageing in India; A Quantile Regression Approach
AbstractOlder adults are noted for the high prevalence of health risks, and recent public health policies targets achieving healthy ageing. The present study aims to understand healthy ageing and its determinants among Indian older adults using a nationally representative large sample data- Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) —wave 1. A Healthy Ageing Index (HAI) ranged between 0 and 100 was constructed based on 28 variables representing multiple dimensions of healthy ageing. Descriptive statistics and quantile regression analysis were performed. The mean HAI was 81.40, which indicates that, on average, the study p...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - July 20, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
‘Elderhood’ and Sabbath Rest as Vocation: Identity, Purpose, & amp; Belonging
AbstractRecognizing the challenges associated with aging in western culture and its particular vulnerability to despair, this paper turns to an Augustinian theological anthropology in conjunction with Geriatrician Louise Aronson ’s social and medical description of aging among the human life stages. With Aronson, an Augustinian anthropology critiques western assumptions that autonomy, self-determination, and productivity are the primary arbiters of value. Instead, an aging anthropology marked by dependent participation, m eaning found through purpose aimed at Sabbath rest, and an identity held secure through communal bel...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - July 19, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Illuminating the Darker Side of Ageing A Special Issue of the Journal of Population Ageing
(Source: Journal of Population Ageing)
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - July 12, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Should we Pursue Success and Spirituality in Ageing? Framing Religious Contributions to Ageing Research
This article reflects on possibilities for religious contributions to and engagement with gerontology. First, the article outlines some of the factors leading to gerontology ’s emergence as a distinct discipline. Second, it traces the increasing pursuit of ‘successful’ or ‘positive’ ageing in gerontology, focusing on the work of John W. Rowe and Robert Kahn. Third, the article suggests how this pursuit has influenced religious scholars and practitioners aiming to contribute to scholarship on ageing. In particular this section focuses on recent research in the area of ageing and spirituality, and on how scholars w...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - July 10, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
The Effects of Retirement on Health and Health Behaviour among Retirees and their Partners: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
AbstractRetirement from paid work is a major transitional point and can have large impacts on lifestyle choices and subsequent health. Using eight waves of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), this paper assesses impacts of both own and partner ’s retirement on health and health behaviour by examining heterogeneous effects. We focus on individuals who retired from paid work and estimate fixed effects regression using state pension age (SPA) as an instrumental variable. Our results suggest that whilst own retirement improves health outcom es and increases the probability of engaging in more physical ...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - July 8, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Suffering from or in Old Age? The Existential Gravity of Ageing
Abstract‘Ageing is a disease, disease is suffering, and suffering should be minimized.’ Old age as an equivalent of suffering to be eliminated, is a well-known scheme of thought in contemporary culture. This ‘suffering from old age’ argument, however, as is argued in the first section of this articl e, obscures and denies the reality and complexity of the human condition and the place of suffering in it. Old age is to be understood as the radicalization and intensification of the human condition. Sufferingin old age, as argued in the second part, can therefore best be conceived in terms of existential threats to th...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - June 27, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Changes in family structures and roles, and its impact on older people in displacement in Abuja, Nigeria
This study was aimed at investigating the changes in family structures and roles as a result of displacement, and the impact on older people. Qualitative data was collected from ten displaced older adults using interviews. The collected data was analyzed thematically using Nvivo 12. Findings show that a greater proportion of the sampled older persons lost their family members during the events leading to displacement; limiting the family ’s ability to support older people in displacement, as support for older people from the family greatly depreciated after displacement. With this, the study recommends the need for more ...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - June 21, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Bearable and unbearable suffering in later life
AbstractThis paper is concerned with the nature of suffering and its judged intractability and unbearability, with relevance to debates about assisted dying and the place of age in this wider debate. Framed by the idea that thoughts about death, and the experience of suffering become more common in later life, the paper addresses the assessment of suffering, the sources of suffering and the distinction between suffering experienced and suffering witnessed in the context of those older people seeking medically assisted death. While suffering can be seen to challenge human dignity, the capacity to bear suffering is widely he...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - June 20, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Global Population Ageing
(Source: Journal of Population Ageing)
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - May 22, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Older Adults ’ Views of the Connections between Neighbourhood Built Environment and Health in Singapore
This study explores community-dwelling older adults ’ (n = 80; aged 52 and above) perceptions of the links between neighbourhood built environment and their physical, social and mental health in Singapore. Content analysis of focus group discussions reveals that Singaporean older adults associate different but overlapping built environment factors wi th the physical, social and mental dimensions of health. Safety, amenities, pedestrian-friendly spaces, transport infrastructure, and social and public spaces are most frequently identified with older adults’ health. In particular, safety and pedestrian-friendly spaces...
Source: Journal of Population Ageing - March 24, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
