Pub Date : 2025-10-28DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101333
Alejandro Juárez-Carrejo , Angel Collazo , Renée L. Beard
Centering a first-person narrative of discovering one was intersex at 56 years of age, this paper examines how assumptions that gender is binary and that male is superior to female led to a childhood of reproductive injustices, family secrets, and psychosocial pain. Placed in the context of identity destruction, the narrative engages nonbinary experiences of aging, including vis a vis gender, sexuality and chronological age, that generated a unique bodily lived experience and social reality of being in limbo or “betwixt and between” for over half a century. Drawing on Sandberg & Marshall's, 2017 call for “queering ageing futures” to disrupt normative notions that celebrate some bodies and subjectivities while silencing others, this narrative begins to answer the call for sociocultural gerontology's “revisioning ageing futures” (Jones et al., 2022) that is attuned to a spectrum of aging experiences. The path to realizing more diverse and inclusive understandings of aging within our social imaginations is far overdue and starts one story at a time. Andrea's testimonial, one such story, is followed by a question and answer between the first and third authors. Insofar as aging begins the day we are born, this is as much a story about aging as it is further support for reframing gender as a continuum and a reminder of the potential complicity in mistreating intersex people that we must all fight to resist.
{"title":"‘I am a 46,XY person’: Aging out of binaries","authors":"Alejandro Juárez-Carrejo , Angel Collazo , Renée L. Beard","doi":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101333","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101333","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Centering a first-person narrative of discovering one was intersex at 56 years of age, this paper examines how assumptions that gender is binary and that male is superior to female led to a childhood of reproductive injustices, family secrets, and psychosocial pain. Placed in the context of identity destruction, the narrative engages nonbinary experiences of aging, including vis a vis gender, sexuality and chronological age, that generated a unique bodily lived experience and social reality of being in limbo or “betwixt and between” for over half a century. Drawing on <span><span>Sandberg & Marshall's, 2017</span></span> call for “queering ageing futures” to disrupt normative notions that celebrate some bodies and subjectivities while silencing others, this narrative begins to answer the call for sociocultural gerontology's “revisioning ageing futures” (<span><span>Jones et al., 2022</span></span>) that is attuned to a spectrum of aging experiences. The path to realizing more diverse and inclusive understandings of aging within our social imaginations is far overdue and starts one story at a time. Andrea's testimonial, one such story, is followed by a question and answer between the first and third authors. Insofar as aging begins the day we are born, this is as much a story about aging as it is further support for reframing gender as a continuum and a reminder of the potential complicity in mistreating intersex people that we must all fight to resist.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47935,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging Studies","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 101333"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145415432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-25DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101379
Minghui Sun
In response to the call for more research on the processes of how aging assemblages entwine, unwind, and mutually flourish, this paper examines older adults' participation in garage sales (an event not unlike yard, tag, or moving sales), which serves as social spaces where humans and non-humans come together to co-create interactions and connections. Drawing on the concept of “affinity space,” this paper presents a case study of the Garage Sale, a decades-long community signature event of a continuing care retirement community in the northeastern United States. Data collection occurred between August 2022 and April 2025, including semi-structured interviews with 32 residents who participated in the Garage Sale, ethnographic field notes and photographs, and event promotion materials. A combined deductive and inductive approach was adopted for data analysis. Findings reveal that the Garage Sale is a multi-functional semiotic social space where 1) newcomers, experts, and every participant share a common space with fluidity in role switching, 2) distributed and dispersed knowledge with objects and technologies are encouraged through collaborative networks, 3) different routes to a sense of belonging and recognition pointing to participatory adaptation and inclusion can be identified, and 4) participants and objects create sustained generativity by reshaping the Sale's internal structure. This study reconceptualizes older adults' social participation from a novel and transformative perspective of affinity space, revealing how garage sales function as a more-than-human affinity space where informal engagements, affective ties, and relational ethics between humans, non-humans, and more-than-humans emerge through practice. Practical suggestions for aging services institutions were provided to empower older adults and diversify their social participation.
{"title":"Garage sales as more-than-human affinity spaces: Reimagining social participation in later life","authors":"Minghui Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101379","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101379","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In response to the call for more research on the processes of how aging assemblages entwine, unwind, and mutually flourish, this paper examines older adults' participation in garage sales (an event not unlike yard, tag, or moving sales), which serves as social spaces where humans and non-humans come together to co-create interactions and connections. Drawing on the concept of “affinity space,” this paper presents a case study of the Garage Sale, a decades-long community signature event of a continuing care retirement community in the northeastern United States. Data collection occurred between August 2022 and April 2025, including semi-structured interviews with 32 residents who participated in the Garage Sale, ethnographic field notes and photographs, and event promotion materials. A combined deductive and inductive approach was adopted for data analysis. Findings reveal that the Garage Sale is a multi-functional semiotic social space where 1) newcomers, experts, and every participant share a common space with fluidity in role switching, 2) distributed and dispersed knowledge with objects and technologies are encouraged through collaborative networks, 3) different routes to a sense of belonging and recognition pointing to participatory adaptation and inclusion can be identified, and 4) participants and objects create sustained generativity by reshaping the Sale's internal structure. This study reconceptualizes older adults' social participation from a novel and transformative perspective of affinity space, revealing how garage sales function as a more-than-human affinity space where informal engagements, affective ties, and relational ethics between humans, non-humans, and more-than-humans emerge through practice. Practical suggestions for aging services institutions were provided to empower older adults and diversify their social participation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47935,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging Studies","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 101379"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145360984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101377
Yaira Obstbaum , Lotta Hautamäki , Kaijus Ervasti , Minni Teerikangas , Henna Nikumaa , Sanna Ahola , Laura Kalliomaa-Puha , Anna Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen
In the last two decades, the question of older people's legal rights and their access to justice have attracted increasing research attention. However, there is little comprehensive, current research on what older people themselves consider important for accessing justice in the many everyday situations that have legal dimensions. This article presents a thematic analysis of elicited narrative data consisting of 324 stories about legal problems experienced by older adults, written by the older adults themselves (78 %), and their loved ones (22 %). The collected stories describe a wide range of problems, particularly regarding social care and healthcare, respect for older adults' self-determination, economic difficulties, family conflicts, and sometimes abusive situations. Frequently mentioned barriers to resolving these problems included difficulties navigating the bureaucratic “systems” of authorities and service providers, digital challenges, financial issues, the impact of physical or cognitive constraints, and, ageist attitudes. We argue that these barriers to justice, often considered in the context of problem-solving, are also connected to how the problems arise in the first place. Everyday events, such as trying to access healthcare or manage financial matters, can turn into legal problems when faced with such barriers. We conclude that older people's access to justice may be limited by ageist attitudes and societal failures to accommodate their needs. Studies that listen to older individuals are essential for an in-depth understanding of the factors that influence their access to justice.
{"title":"“Are you able to walk? Asked the bank clerk.” Everyday legal problems and access to justice from the perspective of older people","authors":"Yaira Obstbaum , Lotta Hautamäki , Kaijus Ervasti , Minni Teerikangas , Henna Nikumaa , Sanna Ahola , Laura Kalliomaa-Puha , Anna Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen","doi":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101377","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101377","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the last two decades, the question of older people's legal rights and their access to justice have attracted increasing research attention. However, there is little comprehensive, current research on what older people themselves consider important for accessing justice in the many everyday situations that have legal dimensions. This article presents a thematic analysis of elicited narrative data consisting of 324 stories about legal problems experienced by older adults, written by the older adults themselves (78 %), and their loved ones (22 %). The collected stories describe a wide range of problems, particularly regarding social care and healthcare, respect for older adults' self-determination, economic difficulties, family conflicts, and sometimes abusive situations. Frequently mentioned barriers to resolving these problems included difficulties navigating the bureaucratic “systems” of authorities and service providers, digital challenges, financial issues, the impact of physical or cognitive constraints, and, ageist attitudes. We argue that these barriers to justice, often considered in the context of problem-solving, are also connected to how the problems arise in the first place. Everyday events, such as trying to access healthcare or manage financial matters, can turn into legal problems when faced with such barriers. We conclude that older people's access to justice may be limited by ageist attitudes and societal failures to accommodate their needs. Studies that listen to older individuals are essential for an in-depth understanding of the factors that influence their access to justice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47935,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging Studies","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 101377"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145360983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101378
Helen McLaren , Jenny Richards , Emi Patmisari
As prison populations age, correctional systems face mounting challenges in meeting the complex needs of older people in custody. This study co-produced a conceptual model for prison-based aged care through a Delphi-inspired, multi-stakeholder process. Building on a prior systematic review, we proposed a baseline model comprising three foundational pillars – People (relational care), Purpose (meaning), and Place (safe environment). Through five iterative focus group discussions with a total of 17 participants involving family members, aged care professionals, advocates, and mental health workers, the model was refined to reflect lived realities, systemic gaps, and transformative possibilities. Participants identified widespread ageism and neglect in current practices, such as inadequate health provision and age-appropriate care, isolation, poor staff training, and the absence of meaningful activity or rehabilitative support. However, they also envisioned alternatives, including peer-led care, secure aged care units, and trauma-informed workforce strategies. The resulting model offers a rights-based, relational, and rehabilitative framework to guide policy and practice, centring dignity, wellbeing, and purpose in the experience of ageing in prison.
{"title":"A concept evolution inspired by Delphi: The quest for a fair and dignified model for ageing in prison","authors":"Helen McLaren , Jenny Richards , Emi Patmisari","doi":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101378","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101378","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As prison populations age, correctional systems face mounting challenges in meeting the complex needs of older people in custody. This study co-produced a conceptual model for prison-based aged care through a Delphi-inspired, multi-stakeholder process. Building on a prior systematic review, we proposed a baseline model comprising three foundational pillars – People (relational care), Purpose (meaning), and Place (safe environment). Through five iterative focus group discussions with a total of 17 participants involving family members, aged care professionals, advocates, and mental health workers, the model was refined to reflect lived realities, systemic gaps, and transformative possibilities. Participants identified widespread ageism and neglect in current practices, such as inadequate health provision and age-appropriate care, isolation, poor staff training, and the absence of meaningful activity or rehabilitative support. However, they also envisioned alternatives, including peer-led care, secure aged care units, and trauma-informed workforce strategies. The resulting model offers a rights-based, relational, and rehabilitative framework to guide policy and practice, centring dignity, wellbeing, and purpose in the experience of ageing in prison.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47935,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging Studies","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 101378"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145319775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-07DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101376
Laura Hurd, Catherine Tran, Maya Willis-Fry
Romantic relationships are an important source of companionship, intimacy, and social support in later life. To date, few studies have explored how older adults who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or members of other gender or sexual minorities (LGBTQ+) perceive and experience dating and/or romantic partnerships. Moreover, the bulk of the extant research has been conducted in the United States, and little is known about older LGBTQ+ Canadians' perceptions and experiences of intimate relationships and their related sense of social inclusion, acceptance, and visibility. To address these gaps in the literature and drawing on queer theory, we conducted 113 hours of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of 30 LGBTQ+ Canadians aged 65 to 83 years (average age of 71). The data were analyzed using descriptive thematic analysis, resulting in the identification of two overarching themes. The first theme, “There have been a lot of changes”, encompassed the participants' accounts of how aging-related physical and health changes had impacted their sex lives and romantic relationship priorities. The second theme, “Coming home to an empty house is very, very difficult” referred to the participants' sense of vulnerability and isolation as they navigated the complexities of older LGBTQ+ intimate relationships. We discuss our findings in relation to the existing research as well as theorizing about queer temporalities, heterosexism, and the diversity and fluidity of sexual experiences in later life. Highlighting the unique needs of older LGBTQ+ persons, we consider the implications of our findings for health and social service professionals.
{"title":"Older LGBTQ+ Canadian adults' perceptions and experiences of dating and intimate partnerships","authors":"Laura Hurd, Catherine Tran, Maya Willis-Fry","doi":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101376","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101376","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Romantic relationships are an important source of companionship, intimacy, and social support in later life. To date, few studies have explored how older adults who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or members of other gender or sexual minorities (LGBTQ+) perceive and experience dating and/or romantic partnerships. Moreover, the bulk of the extant research has been conducted in the United States, and little is known about older LGBTQ+ Canadians' perceptions and experiences of intimate relationships and their related sense of social inclusion, acceptance, and visibility. To address these gaps in the literature and drawing on queer theory, we conducted 113 hours of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of 30 LGBTQ+ Canadians aged 65 to 83 years (average age of 71). The data were analyzed using descriptive thematic analysis, resulting in the identification of two overarching themes. The first theme, “There have been a lot of changes”, encompassed the participants' accounts of how aging-related physical and health changes had impacted their sex lives and romantic relationship priorities. The second theme, “Coming home to an empty house is very, very difficult” referred to the participants' sense of vulnerability and isolation as they navigated the complexities of older LGBTQ+ intimate relationships. We discuss our findings in relation to the existing research as well as theorizing about queer temporalities, heterosexism, and the diversity and fluidity of sexual experiences in later life. Highlighting the unique needs of older LGBTQ+ persons, we consider the implications of our findings for health and social service professionals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47935,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging Studies","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 101376"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145265653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-03DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101375
Valerie Keller, Malte Völk
Based on statements from people with dementia on the positive impact of reflecting on one's own biography, this study examines the ways in which life story narration can help those affected make sense of a disrupted present and a fragmented life characterised by forgetfulness. In this paper we analyse both oral and written accounts of everyday life as told by people living with dementia. In doing so we apply a heuristic based on the notion of key (auto)biographical strands in order to make clear how the individuals in question link their current experience of dementia with previous experiences and thereby revise the way they see themselves. Whether this occurs in an erratic, associative manner or in a more structured and connected fashion, there are varied ways in which people with dementia come to an emotional and cognitive appreciation of their life. The main aim of the analysis is not to establish biographical accuracy but rather to identify elements of self-care: a creative act of appropriating one's own life story, and the communicative presentation of a self-image.
{"title":"Autobiographical accounts of living with dementia: Life story narration as self-care","authors":"Valerie Keller, Malte Völk","doi":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101375","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101375","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Based on statements from people with dementia on the positive impact of reflecting on one's own biography, this study examines the ways in which life story narration can help those affected make sense of a disrupted present and a fragmented life characterised by forgetfulness. In this paper we analyse both oral and written accounts of everyday life as told by people living with dementia. In doing so we apply a heuristic based on the notion of key (auto)biographical strands in order to make clear how the individuals in question link their current experience of dementia with previous experiences and thereby revise the way they see themselves. Whether this occurs in an erratic, associative manner or in a more structured and connected fashion, there are varied ways in which people with dementia come to an emotional and cognitive appreciation of their life. The main aim of the analysis is not to establish biographical accuracy but rather to identify elements of self-care: a creative act of appropriating one's own life story, and the communicative presentation of a self-image.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47935,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging Studies","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 101375"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145219194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101374
Femke De Sutter
Cinema provides a flow of images of older adults, showing us how aging and older adults are constructed in a certain place and time. This study addresses two significant gaps in existing literature on the representation of older adults by (I) focusing on a longitudinal perspective, and (II) examining a small national film context. Using a quantitative content analysis, we examined 133 Belgian fiction films released between 1945 and 2022. The analysis revealed that 13 % of the characters were aged 65 years and above. However, this indicates an underrepresentation of older adults, as they made up an average of 15 % of the general Belgian population over the same period. Findings from our study indicate several key patterns. First, our study revealed an unexpected gender bias, with women aged 65 and above being statistically overrepresented in comparison to men of the same age cohort. Second, this overrepresentation was multifaceted, as older women were frequently typecast into negative stereotypes, routinely portrayed as shrews or cranky older adults. Third, we found a notable lack of diversity in the representations of older adults overall, with characters being predominantly “young-old”, Caucasian, middle-class, non-disabled and heterosexual (if sexuality was addressed at all). Finally, we observed that 64.8 % of the older adults were portrayed according to at least one positive stereotype. The most prevalent positive stereotypes were the golden ager, John Wayne conservative, perfect grandparent, and the sage. Although our analysis spans 77 years, marked by considerable demographic and socio-economic changes, older adults continue to be underrepresented and misrepresented in Belgian fiction films.
{"title":"‘I don't like old women’: A longitudinal analysis of older adults' portrayals on the Belgian silver screen (1945–2022)","authors":"Femke De Sutter","doi":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101374","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101374","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cinema provides a flow of images of older adults, showing us how aging and older adults are constructed in a certain place and time. This study addresses two significant gaps in existing literature on the representation of older adults by (I) focusing on a longitudinal perspective, and (II) examining a small national film context. Using a quantitative content analysis, we examined 133 Belgian fiction films released between 1945 and 2022. The analysis revealed that 13 % of the characters were aged 65 years and above. However, this indicates an underrepresentation of older adults, as they made up an average of 15 % of the general Belgian population over the same period. Findings from our study indicate several key patterns. First, our study revealed an unexpected gender bias, with women aged 65 and above being statistically overrepresented in comparison to men of the same age cohort. Second, this overrepresentation was multifaceted, as older women were frequently typecast into negative stereotypes, routinely portrayed as shrews or cranky older adults. Third, we found a notable lack of diversity in the representations of older adults overall, with characters being predominantly “young-old”, Caucasian, middle-class, non-disabled and heterosexual (if sexuality was addressed at all). Finally, we observed that 64.8 % of the older adults were portrayed according to at least one positive stereotype. The most prevalent positive stereotypes were the golden ager, John Wayne conservative, perfect grandparent, and the sage. Although our analysis spans 77 years, marked by considerable demographic and socio-economic changes, older adults continue to be underrepresented and misrepresented in Belgian fiction films.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47935,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging Studies","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 101374"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145219193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101373
Graham D. Rowles , Malcolm Cutchin
This article presents a novel perspective from which to study aging and place. Adopting a Deweyan pragmatist perspective, aging and place are viewed through the lens of ongoing situations. Each situation is the dynamic expression of a co-constituted relationship between the aging person and place, a relationship shaped by processes of place integration in a quest for a sense of being in place. Habit and constant adaptation to changing circumstances are key elements of maintaining person/place harmony. In a world of constant uncertainty, change resulting in disharmony becomes problematic, provoking a need to act in response on an individual, community, or societal level. We illustrate how contemporary mega-trends, including accelerating technological advance (especially artificial intelligence), climate change, and evolving 21st century neoliberal and populist political economies, threaten the places where older adults reside as they shape the life course of societies, with the potential for a dystopian future. The threat is increasingly acute in places where changes are exacerbating longstanding generational, ethnic, economic, social, cultural, and regional disparities and generating new ones. An alternative path is possible. Adopting a progressive pragmatist approach to social inquiry and problem solution on the level of the community, we suggest the possibility of a more positive future. Engaging older adults, an important source of social capital, in this endeavor will be critical. Significant change in the current situation, with the objective of enhancing person/place harmony with equity and social justice for all, may not be rapid. It may take generations.
{"title":"Aging, place, and the life course of societies","authors":"Graham D. Rowles , Malcolm Cutchin","doi":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101373","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101373","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article presents a novel perspective from which to study aging and place. Adopting a Deweyan pragmatist perspective, aging and place are viewed through the lens of ongoing situations. Each situation is the dynamic expression of a co-constituted relationship between the aging person and place, a relationship shaped by processes of place integration in a quest for a sense of being in place. Habit and constant adaptation to changing circumstances are key elements of maintaining person/place harmony. In a world of constant uncertainty, change resulting in disharmony becomes problematic, provoking a need to act in response on an individual, community, or societal level. We illustrate how contemporary mega-trends, including accelerating technological advance (especially artificial intelligence), climate change, and evolving 21st century neoliberal and populist political economies, threaten the places where older adults reside as they shape the life course of societies, with the potential for a dystopian future. The threat is increasingly acute in places where changes are exacerbating longstanding generational, ethnic, economic, social, cultural, and regional disparities and generating new ones. An alternative path is possible. Adopting a progressive pragmatist approach to social inquiry and problem solution on the level of the community, we suggest the possibility of a more positive future. Engaging older adults, an important source of social capital, in this endeavor will be critical. Significant change in the current situation, with the objective of enhancing person/place harmony with equity and social justice for all, may not be rapid. It may take generations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47935,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging Studies","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 101373"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145099060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-08DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101362
Hanne Marlene Dahl , Morten Balle Hansen , Andrej Christian Lindholst
This article examines the COVID-19 pandemic as a large-scale natural experiment, presenting unique opportunities for reflection and insights into what constitutes ‘good care’ for front-line managers in Danish nursing homes. Using care and institutional theory, this exploratory study delves into how professional judgment and innovation redefine practices in nursing homes to provide quality care based upon qualitative questions in a national quantitative survey. Our analysis complements prevalent negative lessons on infections, high mortality, and moral distress by highlighting positive lessons about achieving intimacy and tranquillity during an extraordinary period. The article offers insights into the emergence of new care logics in a situation of rupture, as well as insights into the values and tensions inherent in good care work that are worth considering far beyond the pandemic. We offer lessons that relate to the role of professional judgment, the value of ‘active life’ in relation to a diversity of needs, as well as sufficient time and continuity of care logics.
{"title":"Tinkering with good care: Professional judgment and innovations in Danish nursing homes","authors":"Hanne Marlene Dahl , Morten Balle Hansen , Andrej Christian Lindholst","doi":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101362","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101362","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article examines the COVID-19 pandemic as a large-scale natural experiment, presenting unique opportunities for reflection and insights into what constitutes ‘good care’ for front-line managers in Danish nursing homes. Using care and institutional theory, this exploratory study delves into how professional judgment and innovation redefine practices in nursing homes to provide quality care based upon qualitative questions in a national quantitative survey. Our analysis complements prevalent negative lessons on infections, high mortality, and moral distress by highlighting positive lessons about achieving intimacy and tranquillity during an extraordinary period. The article offers insights into the emergence of new care logics in a situation of rupture, as well as insights into the values and tensions inherent in good care work that are worth considering far beyond the pandemic. We offer lessons that relate to the role of professional judgment, the value of ‘active life’ in relation to a diversity of needs, as well as sufficient time and continuity of care logics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47935,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Aging Studies","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 101362"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145010049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2025.101353
Nicole Haring
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