Things and possessions

2018 ◽  
pp. 29-44
Author(s):  
David J. Ekerdt
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Concern ◽  
Standard View ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Important Material ◽  
Material Basis ◽  
Material Agency ◽  
The Life Course

Researchers commonly chart the life course as a progression of intangibles, yet the life course also has an important material basis: it is enacted and embodied with things and sometimes in the service of things, possessions in particular. A material convoy of possessions accompanies social actors from cradle to grave, and the materiality of these things necessitates labour on their behalf. In later life, the convoy has added characteristics: it is an accumulation of things that have endured and are perhaps more “sticky”; it is more challenging to accommodate; and its eventual disposition becomes a shared, social concern. The standard view, which is difficult to doubt, is that possessions cohere around a person or household and these persons’ subjectivity gives meaning to the objects. At the same time, it is possible to maintain that things have a ‘material agency’ that shapes older adults’ behavior in ways unintended by human subjectivity.

scholarly journals FAMILY-MEMBER LOSS AS A CUMULATIVE BURDEN FOR HEALTH AMONG BLACK AND WHITE OLDER ADULTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S604-S604
Author(s):  
Rachel Donnelly
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Family Member ◽  
Functional Limitations ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Cardiometabolic Health ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Family Loss ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract The health consequences of multiple family member deaths across the life course has received less attention in the bereavement literature. Moreover, recent research shows that black Americans are more likely than white Americans to lose multiple family members. I analyze longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (1992-2014) to assess how multiple family member losses across the life course are associated with declines in health among older adults. Findings suggest that multiple family losses prior to midlife are associated with a number of indicators of poor health (e.g., functional limitations, cardiometabolic health) and steeper declines in health as individuals age. Losses after midlife additionally undermine health declines for older adults. Thus, family member loss functions as a cumulative burden of stress across the life course that erodes health in mid- and later-life. Family loss disproportionately burdens black Americans and serves as a unique source of disadvantage for black families.

scholarly journals Transitions, generations andinformal learning in later life

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
John Field
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Demographic Change ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Identity Change ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
The Life Course

The nature of transitions across the lifecourse is changing, as are the ways in which these transitions are understoodand investigated by social scientists. Much earlier debate on older adults’ transitions has tended to be rooted in acco-unts of relatively fixed social roles and age-based social stages. However, while we can detect some tendencies towardsdestandardization and restandardization of the lifecourse in later life, we can also see significant continuities in theinfluences of socio-economic position, gender, and ethnicity, as well as of generational position, that continue to affectpeople’s life chances, as well as the expectations and experiences of transition of older people. The paper examines theinterplay of these complex and contradictory structural positions and cultural locations on transitions, and considersthe ways in which older people use and understand learning, formally and informally, as a way of exercising agencyand recreating meaning. It will draw on recent research into the life histories of adults in Scotland, a relatively smallcountry with a typically European pattern of demographic change. The study was concerned with agency, identity,change and learning across the life course, and this paper will concentrate on the evidence relating to experiences oftransition in later life. It will particularly focus on the idea of ‘educational generations’ as a key concept that helps usunderstand how adults use and interpret learning in later life.

scholarly journals AGING SEXUAL STEREOTYPES AND SEXUAL EXPRESSION IN MID- AND LATER LIFE: EXAMINING THE STEREOTYPE MATCHING EFFECT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S888-S888
Author(s):  
Maggie Syme ◽  
Tracy Cohn
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Sexual Stereotypes ◽  
Matching Effect ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Sexual Stigma ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Ageist sexual stereotypes are culturally embedded and may prohibit midlife and older adults from achieving sexual wellness when internalized over the life course (i.e., stereotype embodiment), which was examined in the current study. A cross sectional, convenience sample of 972 adults aged 50 and older was recruited online via a crowdsourcing platform. Participants completed an online survey assessing aging sexual stigma and their participation in a spectrum of sexual and intimate behaviors. Two hierarchical linear regressions examined study hypotheses predicting a) sexual and b) intimate behaviors among middle age and older adults, while accounting for several known covariates (e.g., education, relationship status, health). Results suggest that older age (β = -.24, p < .001), being a woman (β = -.29, p < .001), and higher levels of aging sexual stigma (β = -.30, p < 0.001) were associated with less sexual activity (F(19, 945) = 32.51, p < .001, R2 = 0.40). For intimate behaviors, older age (β = -0.14, p < .05) and higher levels of aging sexual stigma (β = -0.24, p < .001) were significantly associated with lower levels of intimate activity (F(19, 945) = 39.80, p < .001, R2 = 0.45). Contrary to expectations, neither gender nor age cohort moderated the effect of aging sexual stigma. Ageist sexual stereotypes appear to affect individual sexual health and wellness via internalized beliefs. Future studies should focus on the potential malleability of aging sexual stigma beliefs, and at what point(s) in the life course they are modifiable.

scholarly journals ESPO and Social Research, Policy, and Practice Section Symposium: It’s a Practice, Not an End State: Centering Equity in Gerontological Research and Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 318-318
Author(s):  
Sarah Dys ◽  
Claire Pendergrast
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Grant Writing ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Services And Supports ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Social, economic, and health inequities shape the experience of aging, reflecting a landscape of unequal resources, opportunities, and stressors that accumulate over the life-course. These inequities are not accidental, but rather reflect systems of power that act through institutions, policies, and people to simultaneously privilege some groups and disadvantage others based on socially constructed categories. These systems include, but are not limited to, racism, ageism, and capitalism. The unequal and unjust distribution of resources and opportunities over the lifespan results in health, social, and economic disparities in older adulthood. For example, Black older adults are at higher risk of experiencing chronic disease burden and shorter life expectancy than white older adults due to greater economic disinvestment, interpersonal and systemic racial discrimination, and lower health services access over the life course. This symposium features three leading scholars whose work centers racial and health equity in later life. The symposium will engage with issues related to long-term services and supports infrastructure, community-engaged and culturally relevant programs and education, and research activities (e.g., recruitment, study design, grant writing, dissemination). Panelists will also discuss their research agendas and recent scholarship, career trajectories, insights, and practices. We hope symposium attendees will identify opportunities and strategies for focusing on elimination of health disparities across the life-course in their own work. We believe this symposium can serve as an opportunity for SRPP members and emerging scholars and practitioners to center equity, highlight intersectionality, and amplify our colleagues at the forefront of addressing inequity through their work.

scholarly journals Economic Inequality Over the Life Course: Causes and Effects of Cumulative Dis/Advantage Processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 585-586
Author(s):  
Jessica Kelley ◽  
Stephen Crystal ◽  
Jessica Kelley
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Student Loans ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Economic inequality has grown rapidly in all age groups in the past several decades. In each successive cohort, the wealth gap grows for young people and seems to accelerate faster over the life course. While rising inequality has taken its toll on Baby Boomers, we have become acutely aware of the increasing economic pressures across the entire life course (work precarity; student loans) that will manifest in the greatest degree of inequality in older adulthood seen to date. This session explores the forces that have shaped the degree of inequality among current older adults and are setting the stage for future cohorts of older adults. Presenters will explore several aspects of this issue: the growing state of the “risk retirement,” the impact of income inequality on later-life wealth and health, the structural racism written into economic policies intended to help Americans accumulate wealth and maintain health, and the market disadvantage for GED recipients compared to high school diploma recipients.

Associations between life-course frailty and later-life heart size and function in the 1946 NSHD British birth cohort-an epidemiological study

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.C Topriceanu ◽  
J.C Moon ◽  
R Hardy ◽  
A.D Hughes ◽  
N Chaturvedi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Frailty Index ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Left Ventricular ◽  
Step Change ◽  
Deficit Accumulation ◽  
Heart Size ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Background Cardiovascular diseases are an important component of the multi-morbidity syndrome which is associated with negative health outcomes resulting in a major societal economic burden. An objective way to assess multi-morbidity is to calculate a frailty index based on medical deficit accumulation. Late-life frailty has been validated to predict mortality, but little is known about the association between life-course frailty and cardiovascular health in later-life. Purpose To study the association between life-course frailty and later-life heart size and function using data from the world's longest running birth cohort with continuous follow-up. Methods A 45-deficit frailty index (FI) was calculated at 4 age-intervals across the life-course (0 to 16 years old, 19 to 44 years old, 45 to 54 years old and 60 to 64 years old) in participants from the UK 1946 Medical Research Council (MRC) National Survey of Heath and Development (NSHD) birth cohort. The life-course frailty indices (FI0_16, FI19_44, FI45_54 and FI60_64) reflect the cumulative medical deficits at the corresponding age-intervals. They were used to derive FImean and FIsum reflecting overall-life frailty. The step change in deficit accumulation between age-intervals was also calculated (FI2-1, FI3-1, FI4-1, FI3-2, FI4-2, FI4-3). Echocardiographic data at 60–64 years provided: E/e' ratio, ejection fraction (EF), myocardial contraction fraction index (MCFi) and left ventricular mass index (LVmassi). Generalized linear mixed models with gamma distribution and log link assessed the association between FIs and echo parameters after adjustment for sex, socio-economic position and body mass index. Results 1.805 NSHD participants were included (834 male). Accumulation of a single deficit had a significant impact (p<0.0001 to p<0.049) on LVmassi and MCFi in all the life-course FIs and overall FIs. LVmassi increased by 0.89% to 1.42% for the life-course FIs and by 0.36%/1.82% for FIsum and FImean respectively. MCFi decreased by 0.62% to 1.02% for the life-course FIs and by 0.33%/ 1.04%. for FIsum and FImean respectively. One accumulated deficit translated into higher multiplicative odds (13.2 for FI60-64, 2.1 for FI4-1, 75.4 for FI4-2 and 78.5 for FI4-3) of elevated filling pressure (defined as E/e' ratio >13, p<0.0.005 to p<0.02).A unit increase in frailty decreased LV EF (%) by 11%/12% for FI45-54 and FI60-64 respectively, by 10% to 12% for FI2-1, FI3-1, FI4-1 and FI4-2, and 4%/15% for FIsum and FImean respectively (p<0.0014 to p<0.044). Conclusion Frailty during the life-course, overall life-frailty and the step change in deficit accumulation is associated with later-life cardiac dysfunction. Frailty strain appears to have its greatest impact on pathological myocardial hypertrophy (high LVmassi and low MCFi) potentially paving the way to later-life systolic or diastolic dysfunction in susceptible individuals. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

scholarly journals Body size throughout the life-course and incident benign prostatic hyperplasia-related outcomes and nocturia

BMC Urology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saira Khan ◽  
K. Y. Wolin ◽  
R. Pakpahan ◽  
R. L. Grubb ◽  
G. A. Colditz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Prostate Volume ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Normal Weight ◽  
Prostatic Hyperplasia ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Background Existing evidence suggests that there is an association between body size and prevalent Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)-related outcomes and nocturia. However, there is limited evidence on the association between body size throughout the life-course and incident BPH-related outcomes. Methods Our study population consisted of men without histories of prostate cancer, BPH-related outcomes, or nocturia in the intervention arm of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) (n = 4710). Associations for body size in early- (age 20), mid- (age 50) and late-life (age ≥ 55, mean age 60.7 years) and weight change with incident BPH-related outcomes (including self-reported nocturia and physician diagnosis of BPH, digital rectal examination-estimated prostate volume ≥ 30 cc, and prostate-specific antigen [PSA] concentration > 1.4 ng/mL) were examined using Poisson regression with robust variance estimation. Results Men who were obese in late-life were 25% more likely to report nocturia (Relative Risk (RR): 1.25, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.11–1.40; p-trendfor continuous BMI < 0.0001) and men who were either overweight or obese in late-life were more likely to report a prostate volume ≥ 30 cc (RRoverweight: 1.13, 95% CI 1.07–1.21; RRobese: 1.10, 95% CI 1.02–1.19; p-trendfor continuous BMI = 0.017) as compared to normal weight men. Obesity at ages 20 and 50 was similarly associated with both nocturia and prostate volume ≥ 30 cc. Considering trajectories of body size, men who were normal weight at age 20 and became overweight or obese by later-life had increased risks of nocturia (RRnormal to overweight: 1.09, 95% CI 0.98–1.22; RRnormal to obese: 1.28, 95% CI 1.10–1.47) and a prostate volume ≥ 30 cc (RRnormal to overweight: 1.12, 95% CI 1.05–1.20). Too few men were obese early in life to examine the independent effect of early-life body size. Later-life body size modified the association between physical activity and nocturia. Conclusions We found that later-life body size, independent of early-life body size, was associated with adverse BPH outcomes, suggesting that interventions to reduce body size even late in life can potentially reduce the burden of BPH-related outcomes and nocturia.

Sex in an ideology of love

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjörn Bildtgård ◽  
Peter Öberg
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Sexual Intimacy ◽  
Sexual Norms ◽  
Gerontological Research ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Loving Relationship

Until recently the sex life of older people was more or less invisible in family and gerontological research. This chapter contributes to breaking this silence by focusing on the role and meaning of sex in intimate relationships in later life. Based on biographical case studies, the chapter investigates how sexual norms have changed over the life course of contemporary cohorts of older people and how they have experienced this change. The chapter considers sexual intimacy as part of new intimate relationships established late in life and questions the persistent assumption that older people who date are primarily looking for companionate relationships. It is shown that older people’s ideas about sex are deeply embedded in an ideology of love, where sex tends to be viewed as a natural part of a loving relationship, while sex outside of a loving relationship – also in a loveless marriage – is frowned on.

scholarly journals Life-course burden of health deficits associates with later-life heart size and function in the 1946 British birth cohort

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantin-Cristian Topriceanu ◽  
James C Moon ◽  
Rebecca Hardy ◽  
Nishi Chaturvedi ◽  
Alun Hughes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Myocardial Contraction ◽  
Left Ventricular ◽  
Heart Size ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Myocardial Contraction Fraction

Aim: To study the association between the life course accumulation of health deficits and later life heart size and function using data from the 1946 National Survey of Heath and Development (NSHD) British birth cohort, the longest running birth cohort with continuous follow up in the world. Methods and Results: A multidimensional health deficit index (DI) looking at 45 health deficits was serially calculated at 4 time periods of the life course in NSHD participants (0 to 16, 19 to 44, 45 to 54 and 60 to 64 years), and from these the mean and total DI for the life course was derived (DImean, DIsum). The step change in deficit accumulation from one time period to another was also calculated. Echocardiographic data at 60-64 years provided: ejection fraction (EF), left ventricular mass indexed to body surface area (LVmassi, BSA), myocardial contraction fraction indexed to BSA (MCFi) and E/e. Generalized linear models assessed the association between DIs and echocardiographic parameters after adjustment for sex, socioeconomic position and body mass index. 1,375 NSHD participants were included (46.47% male). For each single new deficit accumulated at any one of the 4 time periods of the life course, LVmassi increased by 0.91 to 1.44% (p<0.013), while MCFi decreased by 0.6 to 1.02% (p<0.05 except at 45 to 54 years). One unit increase in DI at age 45 to 54 and 60 to 64 decreased LV EF by 11 to 12% (p<0.013). A single deficit step change occurring between 60-64 years and one of the earlier time periods, translated into significantly higher odds (2.1 to 78.5, p<0.020) of elevated LV filling pressure defined as E/e>13. Conclusion: The accumulation of health deficits at any time period of the life course associates with a maladaptive cardiac phenotype in older age, dominated by myocardial hypertrophy and poorer function. The burden of health deficits appears to strain the myocardium potentially leading to future cardiac dysfunction. Keywords: frailty; cardiovascular disease; ejection fraction; left ventricular mass index; myocardial contraction fraction; E/e.

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