scholarly journals Trajectories of social participation in old age: a systematic literature review

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Martins Pinto ◽  
Anita Liberalesso Neri

Abstract Objective: the present study aimed to identify patterns of social participation in old age and the theories used to explain them. Method: A systematic review was performed using the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE / PUBMED), Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo) and Web of Science (ISI Web of Knowledge) databases. The keywords used were: social participation, social engagement, social involvement and social activities; combined with seniors, the elderly, older adults, older people and aging. Research was performed between January and February. Results: thirty-one longitudinal studies on social participation among old and healthy middle-aged adults were included for analysis. In three studies social engagement levels increased, especially at the beginning of old age (up to 75 years). Twenty-one studies presented results that described the reduction of social engagement levels in old age, and five studies found that there was no change in levels of social involvement. The most used theories were: the activity theory, the social disengagement theory, the continuity theory and the theory of socioemotional selectivity. Conclusion: the results point to the need for reflection on what is envisioned and what is practiced in terms of policies and practices aimed at achieving successful aging. Future attempts should include not only incentives to remain active, but a description of factors that influence the social disengagement associated with poor adaptation in old age.

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Victor ◽  
Linda Grenade ◽  
Duncan Boldy

The social environment is one of the key factors determining the quality of life of older people. Research has consistently demonstrated a strong and positive relationship between social engagement in all forms but especially participation within kin and wider social networks, and a high quality of life. However, this recognition of the importance of this relationship is not new. In the early 1960s, the ‘activity theorists’ of aging posited that the key to a good old age was the maintenance of high levels of activity, including social participation and the maintenance of kin- and friendship-based relationships. This resonates with the ideas of Rowe and Kahn who suggest that a high level of social engagement is a key factor in achieving the individually and socially desired goal of ‘successful aging’. Furthermore, they argue that, with advanced age, the social context, in combination with the physical environment, exerts a more potent influence upon the experience of later life than either intrinsic genetic or biological factors. Whilst the prescriptive strictures of activity theory and successful aging remain the subject of debate, there seems little doubt that the social environment continues to exert both a powerful influence upon, and provides a context within which people experience old age, both individually and collectively.


2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-74
Author(s):  
Senka Kovač

The paper presents the results of several years’ fieldwork among the elderly population in Belgrade. The study examines the attitudes towards old age of elderly Belgraders living alone, those living with their families, and also those living in the Gerontology Center nursing home. The position of elderly people in the social network in the Belgrade municipality of Vračar is also explored. In this era of longevity and at a time of global economic crisis which is also affecting Serbia, it would be useful to reconsider the concepts of successful aging, well-aging and healthy aging.


Author(s):  
Malek Alaoui ◽  
Myriam Lewkowicz

Encouraging elderly people to stay at home as long as possible is associated with a higher risk of social isolation. Nowadays, aging well at home cannot be reduced to the management of physical and cognitive frailties and technologies should also tackle the quality of life of the elderly by fostering their social interactions. However, designing appropriate services and ensuring their adoption remain open questions, to which we try to provide answers at the methodological and instrumental levels. The authors present here a Living Lab approach to design communication services for elderly people at home. They illustrate this approach by describing their participation in a European project aiming at developing and evaluating Social TV services and they conclude with recommendations for the successful socio-technical design of services that foster the social engagement of elderly people.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liudmila Kirpitchenko ◽  
Fethi Mansouri

This article explores migrant young people’s engagement, participation and involvement in socially meaningful activities, events and experiences. This type of social participation is approached in the social inclusion literature using the notions of social capital and active citizenship (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 1993; Putnam, 2000). A key objective, therefore, is to explore the attitudes, values and perceptions associated with social participation for young people. They include the meanings that social engagement has for migrant young people, along with drivers and inhibitions to active participation. The article focuses on both the motives for being actively engaged as well as perceived barriers to social engagement. It is based on a large study conducted among migrant young people of African, Arabic-speaking and Pacific Islander backgrounds in Melbourne and Brisbane, and presents both quantitative and qualitative (discursive) snapshots from the overall findings, based on interviews and focus groups. While many studies have centred on the management of migration and migrants, this article draws attention to the individuals’ active position in negotiating, interpreting and appropriating the conditions of social inclusion. Accounting for the multidimensional and multilayered nature of social inclusion, the paper highlights the heuristic role of social engagement in fostering the feelings of belonging and personal growth for migrant youth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 51-67
Author(s):  
Marek Klimek

The obligation to develop a county (powiat) strategy for solving social problems results from the provisions of the Act of March 12, 2004 on social assistance. This article presents the role of this strategy in the process of reducing social problems: unemployment, poverty, homelessness, addictions, problems of the elderly and disabled, orphans, etc. It indicates the role of social participation in the process of developing the strategy and implementing its objectives. The cooperation of local authorities, social assistance units, NGOs and many other institutions remains a basic condition for the effective implementation of the strategy.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1003-1014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehud Bodner

ABSTRACTBackground: Ageism is apparent in many social structures and contexts and in diverse forms over the life cycle. This review discusses the development and consequences of ageism toward elderly people by others of any age, according to the Terror Management Theory (TMT) and the Social Identity Theory (SIT).Method: A systematic search of the literature was carried out on the social and psychological origins of ageism in younger and older adults.Results: Studies on the reasons for ageism among older adults point to attitudes that older adults have toward their own age group, while studies on ageism in young adults explain it as an unconscious defensive strategy which younger adults use against death anxiety. In other words, TMT can serve as a suitable framework for ageism in younger adults, and SIT appears to explain ageism in older adults.Conclusions: A dissociation of the linkage between death and old age in younger adults can be achieved by changing the concepts of death and old age. For older adults, it is recommended to improve self-worth by encouraging social contacts in which older adults contribute to younger adults, weaken the effects of age stereotypes in TV programs, and prepare middle-aged adults for living healthy lives as older adults. However, these conclusions should be regarded with caution, because several key areas (age related cues, activated cognitive processes, impact of death awareness on ageism) need to be investigated in order to validate this understanding of the origins of ageism among younger and older adults.


Author(s):  
Agostinho Both

Resumo: O texto compreende um discurso analítico sobre a realidade daqueles que trabalham com os idosos ou com questões voltadas para o envelhecimento e a velhice, avaliando o atual perfil profissional e a oportunidade de pensar sobre sua formação e sua identidade. O autor acredita que a atual realidade profissional em gerontologia é incipiente e que a visibilidade da velhice e suas demandas ampliarão novos horizontes pela profissionalização dos serviços e pelos conhecimentos desta área. É observado que existe apenas um sistema profissional e um sistema de ocupações que aos poucos se delineiam no atendimento e no aperfeiçoamento social em relação ao envelhecimento e à velhice, e cuja formação é híbrida, não existindo, portanto, um profissional cuja formação seria formalizada num curso de graduação e com atribuições oficialmente reconhecidas. Ao final são levantadas questões para se pensar a possibilidade da existência de um profissional com formação específica em Gerontologia. Palavras-chave: Profissionalização. Gerontologia. Profissão. Abstract: The text consists of an analytical speech about the reality of those who work with the elderly or with issues directed to aging and old age, by assessing the current professional profile and the chance to think about their shaping and their identity. The author believes that the current professional reality in gerontology is incipient and that the visibility and the demands of old age will widen new horizons by means of professional services and the knowledge of this field. One notices that there is only one professional system of occupations which little by little are outlined in the service and in the social improvement regarding aging and old age, and whose shaping is hybrid and, therefore, there is no practitioner whose shaping would be formalized by a graduation course, and with officially accredited assignments. Questions are raised in the end in order to think about the possibility of practitioner with a specific major in gerontology. Keywords: Professionalization. Gerontology. Profession.


Retos ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 118-121
Author(s):  
Luis Javier Ruiz Cazorla ◽  
José Luis Chinchilla Minguet ◽  
Manuel Ruiz Cazorla

En el presente trabajo analizamos la función social de la Educación Física y el deporte respecto a las personas mayores. Se trata de una relación mediatizada por las representaciones sociales que los agentes implicados poseen sobre la vejez, el cuerpo, la salud y el deporte, no exentas de estereotipos y prejuicios que condicionan sus prácticas sociales. Constituye un problema social y a la vez un reto para las instituciones erradicar las prácticas sociales de exclusión a que dan lugar. Para ello resultan imprescindibles dos pasos. En primer lugar denunciar los contenidos de las representaciones sociales sobre la vejez y las actividades físico-deportivas que favorecen la exclusión social, especialmente desde el Sistema Educativo y los medios de comunicación. En segundo lugar promover los medios materiales y condiciones estructurales necesarias para el cambio social.Palabra clave: Vejez, deporte, educación física, representación social, función social.Abstract: In the present work we analyzed the social function of the Physical Education and the sport with respect to the elderly people. One is a relation hyped by the social representations that the implied agents own on the old age, the body, the health and the sport, nonfree of stereotypes and prejudices that condition their social practices. It constitutes a social problem and simultaneously a challenge for institutions to eradicate the social practices of exclusion to that they give rise. For it two steps are essential. In the first place to denounce the contents of the social representations on the sport old age and activities physical that favor the social exclusion, especially from the Educative System and mass media. Secondly to promote the average materials and necessary structural conditions for the social change.Key words: Old age, sport, physical education, social representation, social function.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-60
Author(s):  
Szende-Karolina György

This study provides insight into the intervention results of my dissertation. The main topic of the dissertation is the mental health care for older people, especially in coping and in maintaining their mental health. Right at the start, I briefly present the literature review of the topic: I write about the concept of mental hygiene, aspects of successful aging, coping strategies, tasks of the old age and the role of a mental health professional in their life. In the intervention section, I shortly summarize the conversations with three elderly people, in the end I describe the results, my own experiences, opinion and draw conclusions. Keywords: old age, coping, resources, life story work, mental health care


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayan Nandia Sari ◽  
Christiana Hari Soetjiningsih

This study aims to determine whether or not there is a relationship between family social support and successful aging in the elderly. Successful aging is meant to achieve success in old age with one of the factors being family social support. The subjects of this study were elderly aged between 60-85 years in RW 06 Desa Bulu kec. Argomulyo Salatiga. Data use taken quantitative method with a sample model of saturated and sampling nonprobability sampling. Based on the results of the study the results of correlation coefficient (r) = 0.042; p <0.05 with the influence of social support on successful aging at 4.8% and 95.2% influenced by other factors. The researcher concluded that there was a positive relationship between social support and successful aging in the elderly in RW 06 Desa Bulu Kec. Argomulyo Salatiga. Keywords: Family Social Support; Successful aging


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document