Grandparenting, health, and well-being: a systematic literature review

Whether grandparenting is associated with improved health or well-being among older adults is a salient question in present-day aging societies. This systematic review compiles studies that consider the health or well-being outcomes of grandparenting, concerning (1) custodial grandparent families, where grandparents are raising grandchildren without parental presence; (2) three-generation households, where grandparents are living with adult children and grandchildren; and (3) non-coresiding grandparents, who are involved in the lives of their grandchildren. Review was based on literature searches conducted in September 2019 via Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Ebsco. We screened 3868 abstracts across four databases, and by following the PRISMA guidelines, we identified 92 relevant articles (117 studies) that were published between 1978 and 2019. In 68% of cases, custodial grandparenting was associated with decreased health or well-being of grandparents. The few studies considering the health or well-being of grandparents living in three-generation households provided mixed findings (39% positive; 39% negative). Finally, in 69% of cases, involvement of non-coresiding grandparents was associated with improved grandparental outcomes; however, there was only limited support for the prediction that involved grandparenting being causally associated with grandparental health or well-being. Despite this, after different robustness checks (counting all nonsignificant results, taking into account the representativeness of the data and causal methodology), the main finding remains the same: the most negative results are found among custodial grandparents and three-generation households and most positive results among non-coresiding grandparents.

Funded Pension Schemes in Aging Societies: A Pure Economic Argument?

This study enables different angel to explore central planners’ considerations regarding pension systems in a modern western market with aging influence. In particular, considerable weight has been given to the effect of the crisis due to the pandemic and frequent market turmoil. This study expands the number of players analyzed in the field and takes into consideration different interests among the current and future generations. In addition, we allow differentiation among earning cohorts. By using the overlapping generation model and Monte Carlo simulations, we find that in a wide macroeconomic range, pension equilibrium surprisingly stands with unfunded pension schemes despite the heavy aging influence. Contrary to the classic economic arguments by the World Bank and IMF that were widespread during the 1980s and 1990s, the choice of a pension system is much more complex. We find that the central planner must take into account not only the aging rhythm and market yield but also other parameters, such as the current and future utility perspective, the government’s debt price, GDP per capita growth rate, risk aversion, and the possibility of market turmoil.

The Role of Civil Society Sector in the Development of Art-Driven Regional Social Innovation: The Case of Benesse Art Site Naoshima and Art Setouchi

Recently art is increasing its presence as an “creative industry” to sustain local communities, by generating socio-economic values. Still, whether art can be a tool for social innovation to regenerate communities, especially in rural areas in aging societies, is an unanswered question. In this paper, we take the example of Benesse Art Site Naoshima and Art Setouchi in the island area of Western Japan, viewing how it transformed from a corporate-established museum to a regional initiative involving various stakeholders, including local residents and thus creating the process of dialogues and collaboration. By reconstructing the existing evidence with supplementary fieldwork and interviews and applying a tri-sectoral analysis of the processes, we present how the art sites developed to become a social innovation. We then illustrate the role of two key individuals, Soichiro Fukutake and Fram Kitagawa, and shed light on the different values and methodologies they brought into these art sites. We argue that such contributions from the civil society and philanthropy sector made a critical contribution to characterize BASN and Art Setouchi, in addition to the well-documented and recognized efforts from local government and business sectors. Finally, we propose that such values, methodologies, and persons who can embody and implement such values are crucial if other countries and areas are to replicate the model.

Home and Community Features, Perceived Age-Friendliness, and Intention Toward Aging in Place

Promoting age-friendliness of communities and supporting aging in place (AIP) are of great importance in aging societies. However, little is known about the mechanism linking home and neighborhood features, older adults’ global assessment of community, and their willingness to age-in-place despite the importance in developing policies and interventions. This study used the 2015 AARP Age-Friendly Community Survey, which includes 66 home and neighborhood features under the eight domains specified by the WHO’s Age-Friendly Cities Guidelines. A series of linear regression models were estimated to examine the interrelationship between the availability of age-friendly features in eight domains, perceived age-friendliness of community, and intention toward AIP. Overall, a greater availability of age-friendly features was positively associated with perceived age-friendliness of community and AIP intention. The relationship between age-friendly features and AIP intention was mediated by perceived age-friendliness of community (50.3% to 96% of the total effects). When perceived age-friendliness of community was introduced to models, the direct effects of housing, outdoor spaces and buildings, and transportation domains remained significant. Findings suggest that a greater availability of age-friendly features influence older adults’ perception on their community, leading to the development of a desire to age-in-place. Domains of housing, outdoor spaces and buildings, and transportation may be the most importance features in promoting age-friendliness of community and the key determinants of aging-in-place. Policy makers and practitioners may need to prioritize promoting age-friendly built environment before social environment in building age-friendly communities.

Social Trust, Literacy, and Lifelong Learning: A Comparison of the U.S. and Nordic Countries

Societal social trust has been shown to be related to economic growth and equality. Low levels of social trust are especially consequential in aging societies and can result in low levels of social capital and greater inequality at older ages. Nordic countries are known for their greater social trust, access to education, economic productivity, and social equality. To better understand social trust promoters, we explored data from the 2012/2014 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to examine relationships among social trust, basic skills (i.e., literacy), and non-formal education (NFE) participation for adults ages 45 to 65, in the U.S., Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Additionally, through 19 key informant interviews and a review of the literature, we investigated the structure and availability of NFE across the five nations. As compared to the U.S., adults ages 45 - 65 in Nordic countries have higher levels of social trust (all Nordic countries; p < 0.001), lower rates of poor literacy skills (Finland, Norway, and Sweden; p <.001), greater rates of participation in NFE (Denmark and Sweden; p < 0.05). Through the availability of NFE, such as folk high schools and learning circles in Nordic countries, adults can participate in NFE at little or no cost. Similar programs are not available in the U.S. This research informs policy and practice for the provision of NFE, which is critical to increase levels of social trust, and in turn, to promote economic development, social equality and positive aging in the U.S.

The extension of late working life in Germany: trends, inequalities, and the East-West divide

The extension of late working life has been proposed as a potential remedy for the challenges of aging societies. For Germany, surprisingly little is known about trends and social inequalities in the length of late working life. Here, we use data from the German Microcensus to estimate working life expectancy from age 55 onwards for the 1941-1955 birth cohorts. We adjust our calculations of working life expectancy for working hours, and present results for western and eastern Germany by gender, education, and occupation. While working life expectancy has increased across cohorts, we find strong regional and socioeconomic disparities. Decomposition analyses show that among males, socioeconomic differences are predominantly driven by variation in employment rates; whereas among women, variation in working hours is also highly relevant. Older eastern German women have longer working lives than older western German women, which is likely attributable to the GDR legacy of high female employment.

WHO’s Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide: Its Implications of a Discussion on Social Exclusion among Older Adults

This study analyzed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide to observe its role in embodying social inclusion of older adults in attempts to prevent social exclusion. Social exclusion refers to the marginalization of individuals and groups from important economic and social opportunities in the society. Many aging societies are implementing social inclusion of older adults as one of their key policy agendas to create a more sustainable and healthy society, in recognition that age functions as one of the essential factors accelerating social exclusion and declining physical and mental health of those affected. In order to explore the pertinence of the WHO guidelines to social inclusion of older adults, content analysis was conducted on each checklist item in the WHO guideline to identify its relation to the four dimensions of social exclusion, which are social interaction, production, consumption, and political engagement. The results showed comprehensive coverage of each dimension by the guideline, although the relative importance of each dimension was unequal. Additional insights were suggested to promote further social inclusion of older adults in the context of an age-friendly environment.

Current Advances in Spinal Diseases of the Elderly: Introduction to the Special Issue

Spine-related disorders often impair quality of life (QOL) and the ability to perform activities of daily living and are a problem in rapidly aging societies [...]

Brain Repair by Cell Replacement via In Situ Neuronal Reprogramming

Neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by progressive neural loss, have been some of the most challenging medical problems in aging societies. Treatment strategies such as symptom management have little impact on dis-ease progression, while intervention with specific disease mechanisms may only slow down disease progression. One therapeutic strategy that has the potential to reverse the disease phenotype is to replenish neurons and re-build the pathway lost to degeneration. Although it is generally believed that the central nervous system has lost the capability to regenerate, increasing evidence indicates that the brain is more plastic than previously thought, containing perhaps the biggest repertoire of cells with latent neurogenic programs in the body. This review focuses on key advances in generating new neurons through in situ neuronal reprogramming, which is tied to fun-damental questions regarding adult neurogenesis, cell source, and mecha-nisms for neuronal reprogramming, as well as the ability of new neurons to integrate into the existing circuitry. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Genetics, Volume 55 is November 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.