The proposal that older people should engage in “active aging” has come to dominate local, national, and international policy agendas. This encompasses a variety of ways that older persons might maintain active citizenship, but invariably promotes physical activity and exercise as having health and social benefits, despite a lack of conclusive evidence to support such claims. In this paper, I further examine the meaning of these claims through an analysis of policy documents, reports, and media articles which promote the perceived benefits of physical activity in later life. I revisit Cohen’s (2002) concepts of folk devils and moral panics to understand how these messages simultaneously problematize older people while creating a market for emergent moral entrepreneurs who claim to have the solution to the problem they have in part created. I conclude with recommendations for improved understanding of the benefits and appropriate provision for active aging.

/pdf/the-active-aging-agenda-old-folk-devils-and-a-new-moral-1qqbhbow5a.pdf

The active aging agenda, old folk devils and a new moral panic

This article examines the intercontinental contacts of South Asian migrants living in Birmingham (UK) with relatives abroad. A sample of 300 elders (aged 55+) were interviewed in the UK: 100 each of Gujaratis, Punjabis and Sylhetis. The study refers to contact with children, siblings and other relatives abroad. It examines contact through letters, phone calls, sending or receiving money and gifts and visiting. We hypothesize that (i) most remittances would be sent to relatives abroad (rather than received from relatives abroad) due to the expectations in the sending countries; (ii) that the frequency of visits to relatives abroad would be greater than the frequency of visits to the UK; (iii) that all types of contact would be greater between children and parents than between siblings, and other relatives. None of the hypotheses was supported in full, and highlight important distinctions between the South Asian groups in the study.

Transnationalism, economic transfers and families’ ties: Intercontinental contacts of older Gujaratis, Punjabis and Sylhetis in Birmingham with families abroad

Britain’s minority ethnic groups are numerous and diverse, and among them there are complex relationships between their origins, the timing of their arrival by decade and the age of the migrants, their geographical distribution in Britain, and gender differences in their occupational status distributions. All of these lifecourse attributes have implications for the migrants’ situations as they reach old age. To advance our knowledge and understanding of these factors, this paper examines the lifecourse of a sample of 303 South Asian older migrants living in Birmingham, England’s second largest city. The sample included 103 Gujaratis, 100 Punjabis, and 100 Sylhetis. The paper examines their living arrangements, education and language abilities, occupational status, and settlement and moves within the United Kingdom. The associations between ethnic group membership, gender and pre-migration histories are related to differences in their settlement patterns and residential mobility in Britain. The findings show variations in the timing, chronology and locations of each ethnic group’s major lifecourse events, in the meanings associated with the events, and in the outcomes in late life. The similarities and differences between the ethnic groups and between men and women are discussed with regard to the current socio-economic situation of ethnic older people in the UK and the prospect for continuing inequalities.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0144686X04002119

The settlement patterns and residential histories of older Gujaratis, Punjabis and Sylhetis in Birmingham, England

Determining the quality of life of depressed patients in Singapore through a multiple mediation framework

This article introduces the seven specially commissioned papers in this special issue of Ageing & Society from the projects funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council's Growing Older Programme. The ESRC Programme has been the largest single investment in social sciences research on ageing in the United Kingdom. It comprised 24 projects and, when operating at full capacity, 96 researchers. The article details the background to the Programme, its commissioning process, its eventual structure and how it operated. Then a selection is made of some of the ways in which the Programme has contributed new knowledge to social gerontology. No attempt is made to achieve comprehensive coverage of the Programme's topics but rather a selection is presented of the new insights generated under its six themes: defining and measuring quality of life, inequalities in quality of life, technology and the built environment, healthy and active ageing, family and support networks, and participation and activities in later life. The projects were spread unevenly across these themes but important new knowledge has been produced under each theme. The conclusion emphasises the scientific contribution of the Programme and especially the extent to which older people's own attitudes, aspirations and preferences have been at the forefront, but it questions whether or not policy makers and practitioners will use this major evidence base.

The ESRC Growing Older research programme, 1999–2004

This study set out to explore quality of life and social support among older people from different ethnic groups We carried out in-depth interviews with 203 older people from Caribbean, Asian (including Chinese), African and white communities aged 55 and over The study suggests that ethnicity influences both collective and personal responses to perceptions of quality of life Summary of key findings Health, income and social support were generally agreed to be important components of quality of life but the importance participants assigned to each of these aspects varied Expectations played a significant part in determining the extent to which people assessed their quality of life as being good Past experiences, current and future prospects, and considerations about other paths that their lives might have taken were all used as ways of setting markers for assessing quality of life Ethnicity appeared to have a significant bearing on quality of life White participants tended to report better levels of health and higher incomes than participants from other ethnic groups At the same time, participants from other ethnic groups tended to view the process of growing older more positively More consideration needs to be given to the impact of discrimination upon quality of life Just under half of the sample of minority ethnic people said that they had experienced racism with almost twothirds of those who had experienced racism suggesting that they had done nothing about it Almost one in five participants reported that ageism or being judged by their age had made their experiences of growing older more negative Levels of social support were generally high across all participants but this may be experienced differently between different ethnic groups For all older people practical and emotional support was most often provided by families and friends, but for minority ethnic older people voluntary organisations played a vital role in providing support in terms of information and advice Exploring ethnicity, social support and quality of life

http://growingolder.group.shef.ac.uk/GOFindings23.pdf

Quality of life and social support among people from different ethnic groups

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Quality of life and social support among people from different ethnic groups