This paper uses the living standards method to estimate the extra costs for older people with functional disabilities in urban areas in Northern China. The research finds that the cost for older people who live alone is higher than those who live with other family members, and their living standard is lower. The costs increase with the age, especially for the oldest old people who live alone. The cost for older women is higher than their male counterparts. The extra costs of support for people with functional disabilities decrease the overall living standard of the household.
Purpose Alienation and isolation is an off-seen social aspect of gerontological crises. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the social isolation and loneliness of older people that emerge from inadequate integration with the social network, coupled with increasing social chasm between the aged and the young. The sample population is Cooch Behar municipal town, West Bengal, India.
Design/methodology/approach To conduct the study, data have been collected through a questionnaire followed by purposive random sampling and analyzed with the help of loneliness scale and correlated variables.
Findings The study reveals that marital status, social network, social class and health are some of the parameters that influence the level of social isolation and loneliness among the older people.
Originality/value The result highlights the importance of social relationships and interaction on the ageing process.
This thesis aims to develop greater understanding of older people's livelihood strategies in Latin America. It asks whether their contributions to household and family are reciprocated with care and support. The thesis analyses the informal livelihood strategies used by poor older people in urban Bolivia in relation to the household, community, labour market and wider political environment. Drawing on a combination of the sustainable livelihoods and life course perspectives, the thesis examines the multiple survival strategies used by older people and analyses the factors affecting their access to different assets. The primary data come from a year's fieldwork in three contrasting urban zones of La Paz, where 600 household surveys, 16 focus groups and more than 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The thesis highlights the heterogeneity of older people in La Paz and the broad range of strategies used to maintain their livelihoods in the absence of state support. It shows that family support is not the reliable source of security that it is generally thought to be and that older people often continue to support their descendents rather than vice versa, in cash or in kind. It stresses the importance of continuing reciprocity: few older people can rely on receiving support from others unless they too continue to contribute. Adult children may have to continue relying on their parents because of the high cost of housing and scarce employment opportunities. The rise in single-parent families and increasing labour migration mean that older people may also be responsible for raising their grandchildren. After a lifetime of balancing family and work obligations, women may be better than men at combining different strategies in old age, and they have stronger social networks. Men's lifelong focus on income generation makes it harder for them to devise other survival strategies in old age.
AbstractThe decline in China's overall poverty rate in recent decades reflects the success of the economic reforms, but it is also important to examine the structure of poverty. Its incidence among older people can highlight where and how pension schemes and other mechanisms succeed in providing income adequacy in old age. This article compares poverty rates among the aged living by themselves (or with their spouse) in urban China with those existing in a range of other, mainly richer industrial countries. It uses data from a national survey of the aged in China conducted in 2000 and estimates derived from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), an international project that has set the standards for comparative research on economic well-being, poverty and inequality. The results provide a robust assessment of how well China has performed in reducing poverty among older people. Using poverty lines set at one-half of median and mean income, the analysis indicates that while relative poverty among older people in urban China exceeds that in other countries, the gap varies with living arrangements, where the poverty line is set and how older people are defined, but is far smaller than the underlying differences in per capita income.
Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. How can we design, develop and adapt urban environments to better meet the needs and aspirations of an increasingly diverse ageing population? This edited collection offers a new approach to understanding the opportunities and challenges of creating 'age-friendly' communities in the context of urban change. Drawing together insights from leading voices across a range of disciplines, the book emphasises the urgent need to address inequalities that shape the experience of ageing in urban environments. The book combines a focus on social justice, equity, diversity and co-production to enhance urban life. Exploring a range of age-friendly community projects, contributors demonstrate that, despite structural obstacles, meaningful social change is achievable at a local level
In: Murtagh , B , Ferguson , S , Cleland , C , Ellis , G , Hunter , R , Kou , R , Romelio , C , Becker , L , Hino , A & Siqueira Reis , R 2021 , ' Planning for an ageing city: Place, older people and urban restructuring ' , Cities and Health . https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2021.1914506
This paper is concerned with the strategic policy processes, economic structures and tactics within which age and place programmes are formed, implemented and evaluated. The research draws on the Multiple Streams Approach to understand the relationship between problem identification, policy processes and politics and how they come together to respond to the needs of older people. Drawing on Belfast (UK) the paper examines the interactions between planning, health and social policies in the creation of an age-friendly city. The data questions the claim to age-friendliness given the way in which older people are increasingly shifted from the asset-rich urban core to the suburban periphery. It highlights the need to understand how structural processes, the property economy and an emphasis on speculative development have favoured policies based on gentrification in general and youthification in particular. The paper reflects on the limitations of MSA but also shows that the challenge of ageing and place is not simply one of weak integration or poor governance. The way in which interests, policies and politics shape better outcomes for older people needs to be factored into initiatives to create a more inclusive approach to urban planning.
Background: The number of older people living in urban environments throughout the world will increase in the coming years. There is a trend in most European countries towards improved health among older people, and increased life expectancy for both women and men. Norway has experienced less increase in life expectancy than some other European countries, and it is therefore important to investigate older urban Norwegian people's health and ways of living in a self-care environment, with special regard to health promotion. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe self-care ability among home-dwelling older (65+ years) individuals living in urban areas in southern Norway in relation to general living conditions, sense of coherence (SOC), screened nutritional state, physical activity, perceived self-reported health, mental health, and perceived life situation. Methods: In 2010, a randomized sample of 1044 men and women aged 65+ years who were living in urban areas in southern Norway answered a postal questionnaire consisting of five instruments, some background variables, and 17 health-related questions. Univariate and multivariate statistical methods were used in the analyses of the data. Results: The mean age of the participants was 74.8 years (SD = 7.1). Eighty-three percent of the participants had higher abilities to care for themselves. Self-care agency, perceived good health, being active, being frequently active, good mental health, not being at risk of undernutrition, and satisfaction with life were all positively related to self-care ability. Negative factors were perceived helplessness, receiving home nursing, being anxious, and being at a more advanced age. People aged 85+ years had worse mental health, were less physically active, and more at risk of undernutrition. Conclusion: Health professionals should focus on the health-promoting factors that reinforce older people's ability to care for themselves, and be aware of important symptoms and signs associated with a reduction in a person's self-care ability. Politicians should assume responsibility for health care with a special regard to senior citizens.
Kari Sundsli1,2, Ulrika Söderhamn2, Geir Arild Espnes1,3, Olle Söderhamn21Department of Social Work and Health Science, Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway; 2Centre for Caring Research – Southern Norway, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder, Grimstad, Norway; 3Research Centre for Health Promotion and Resources HiST-NTNU, Department of Social Work and Health Science, Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management, NTNU, Trondheim, NorwayBackground: The number of older people living in urban environments throughout the world will increase in the coming years. There is a trend in most European countries towards improved health among older people, and increased life expectancy for both women and men. Norway has experienced less increase in life expectancy than some other European countries, and it is therefore important to investigate older urban Norwegian people's health and ways of living in a self-care environment, with special regard to health promotion.Aim: The aim of this study was to describe self-care ability among home-dwelling older (65+ years) individuals living in urban areas in southern Norway in relation to general living conditions, sense of coherence (SOC), screened nutritional state, physical activity, perceived self-reported health, mental health, and perceived life situation.Methods: In 2010, a randomized sample of 1044 men and women aged 65+ years who were living in urban areas in southern Norway answered a postal questionnaire consisting of five instruments, some background variables, and 17 health-related questions. Univariate and multivariate statistical methods were used in the analyses of the data.Results: The mean age of the participants was 74.8 years (SD = 7.1). Eighty-three percent of the participants had higher abilities to care for themselves. Self-care agency, perceived good health, being active, being frequently active, good mental health, not being at risk of undernutrition, and satisfaction with life were all positively related to self-care ability. Negative factors were perceived helplessness, receiving home nursing, being anxious, and being at a more advanced age. People aged 85+ years had worse mental health, were less physically active, and more at risk of undernutrition.Conclusion: Health professionals should focus on the health-promoting factors that reinforce older people's ability to care for themselves, and be aware of important symptoms and signs associated with a reduction in a person's self-care ability. Politicians should assume responsibility for health care with a special regard to senior citizens.Keywords: activity, aged, health promotion, mental health, perceived health, undernutrition