Impacts of biophilic design on the development of gerotranscendence and the Profile of Mood States during the COVID-19 pandemic

To live in a good mood is not only a key consideration for future age-friendly communities, but also a critical necessity for positive ageing. Despite growing evidence of correlations between contact with nature and stress reduction, little is known about the effect of nature integration in indoor environments. Thus, this study aimed to answer the following research questions: (a) How do biophilic characteristics of home environments correlate with older adults’ experience of the multiple levels of the theory of gerotranscendence? and (b) What is the relationship between these experiences and the mood states of these older adults? The study was based on a comparative analysis to scrutinise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these questions. The data were gathered through questionnaires with 450 older adults aged between 65 and 95 years, and stratified by the biophilic characteristics of their living environments: indoor biophilic, outdoor biophilic and non-biophilic. Two sets of data were collected with the same participants, respectively, before the COVID-19 pandemic (June to October 2018) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (June to October 2020). It found that the biophilic characteristics of home environments are correlated dynamically with older adults’ ageing experience and mood states. The study indicates that outdoor biophilic features facilitate the recovery of tension mood effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas indoor biophilic features facilitate recovery from depression and anger.

Absolutely Positively Ageing: Positive ageing and volunteering in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

<p>Population ageing is a key development issue worldwide, and governments around the world are working to address the changing needs that accompany this demographic shift (Vos, Ocampo & Cortez, 2008). In New Zealand, the Government and the Wellington City Council have developed the Positive Ageing Strategy (2001) and the Positive Ageing Policy (2012) respectively in response to population ageing. Both the Strategy and the Policy pay particular attention to the importance of the continued social inclusion of older people in their communities. One of the ways that this inclusion is encouraged is through older people’s participation in voluntary activities. This research explores the lived experiences of older people who volunteer in the Wellington region to understand the nature of the relationship between volunteering and positive ageing. The exploratory nature of the research necessitated a qualitative research design. Through semi-structured interviews with 12 members of the volunteer community I explored the underlying themes of this research project including motivations for participation in voluntary work, skills and knowledge brought to and developed through volunteering, challenges and barriers to participation in voluntary work, and the participants’ awareness of representations and stereotypes around ageing. The research findings illustrate the complexities inherent in the relationship between volunteering and positive ageing and show how volunteering was used by the participants as a means to resist and challenge negative stereotypes and representations of ageing. There was a fine balance between the promotion of volunteering as one of a multitude of ways in which older people can participate in their communities and overstating the benefits of volunteering to individuals and their communities without revealing the potential challenges.</p>

Absolutely Positively Ageing: Positive ageing and volunteering in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

<p>Population ageing is a key development issue worldwide, and governments around the world are working to address the changing needs that accompany this demographic shift (Vos, Ocampo & Cortez, 2008). In New Zealand, the Government and the Wellington City Council have developed the Positive Ageing Strategy (2001) and the Positive Ageing Policy (2012) respectively in response to population ageing. Both the Strategy and the Policy pay particular attention to the importance of the continued social inclusion of older people in their communities. One of the ways that this inclusion is encouraged is through older people’s participation in voluntary activities. This research explores the lived experiences of older people who volunteer in the Wellington region to understand the nature of the relationship between volunteering and positive ageing. The exploratory nature of the research necessitated a qualitative research design. Through semi-structured interviews with 12 members of the volunteer community I explored the underlying themes of this research project including motivations for participation in voluntary work, skills and knowledge brought to and developed through volunteering, challenges and barriers to participation in voluntary work, and the participants’ awareness of representations and stereotypes around ageing. The research findings illustrate the complexities inherent in the relationship between volunteering and positive ageing and show how volunteering was used by the participants as a means to resist and challenge negative stereotypes and representations of ageing. There was a fine balance between the promotion of volunteering as one of a multitude of ways in which older people can participate in their communities and overstating the benefits of volunteering to individuals and their communities without revealing the potential challenges.</p>

Coping with Job Loss Between 50 and 65: Applying a Positive Ageing Framework

<p>The aim of the research was to explore predictors of positive ageing in a sample of 50 to 65 year old New Zealand displaced workers. The main focus of the research was to ascertain the mechanisms used by individuals to age positively when faced with situations characterized by limited control. Of the 174 respondents, 103 were male, 7l female. Of this sample, 8l individuals (47 males, 34 females) also took part in an interview evaluating cognitive aspects of wisdom. The survey contained a mixture of standardized measures (ABS and CES-D and a Life Satisfaction Scale as measures of wellbeing; OPS-JL and the Coping Humour Scale for measurement of coping) in addition to a number of closed and open-ended questions. Areas evaluated in the research were divided into three parts: opportunities (non-work and work based activities, roles, social resources, humour, wisdom and generativity), coping (using the newly developed 'Optimization in Primary and Secondary Control Job Loss Scale' (OPS-JL)) and constraints (job-related strain and other life transitions), and it was predicted that bidirectional links would be found between these three areas. Evidence for lack of control over re-employment in this age group and gender differences in coping with job loss (as a function of differences in central identity, coping, work history and socialization) were also predicted. Results found evidence for systematic differences between the sexes, in particular - males appeared to have more complex coping hierarchies. Substantial evidence was found for lack of situational control over re-employment and bi-directional links between opportunities, coping and constraints were demonstrated, indicating a holistic approach to evaluating positive ageing is warranted. Among outcomes unique to the thesis were a correlation between wisdom and the impact of life transitions, the moderating role of wisdom between coping and wellbeing, and the necessity to distinguish flexible goal adjustment into two forms: horizontal goal adjustments (HGA) (i.e. different jobs but similar rewards) and downward goal adjustments (DGA) (i.e. different jobs with lower rewards). DGA's were generally associated with lower levels of wellbeing for males, with outcomes contingent on factors such as whether HGA's were used first, levels of job related strain and current work status. It was concluded that older workers use many resources to aid positive ageing, but society must work to remove age-related blocks if this is to be achieved at an optimal level.</p>

Coping with Job Loss Between 50 and 65: Applying a Positive Ageing Framework

<p>The aim of the research was to explore predictors of positive ageing in a sample of 50 to 65 year old New Zealand displaced workers. The main focus of the research was to ascertain the mechanisms used by individuals to age positively when faced with situations characterized by limited control. Of the 174 respondents, 103 were male, 7l female. Of this sample, 8l individuals (47 males, 34 females) also took part in an interview evaluating cognitive aspects of wisdom. The survey contained a mixture of standardized measures (ABS and CES-D and a Life Satisfaction Scale as measures of wellbeing; OPS-JL and the Coping Humour Scale for measurement of coping) in addition to a number of closed and open-ended questions. Areas evaluated in the research were divided into three parts: opportunities (non-work and work based activities, roles, social resources, humour, wisdom and generativity), coping (using the newly developed 'Optimization in Primary and Secondary Control Job Loss Scale' (OPS-JL)) and constraints (job-related strain and other life transitions), and it was predicted that bidirectional links would be found between these three areas. Evidence for lack of control over re-employment in this age group and gender differences in coping with job loss (as a function of differences in central identity, coping, work history and socialization) were also predicted. Results found evidence for systematic differences between the sexes, in particular - males appeared to have more complex coping hierarchies. Substantial evidence was found for lack of situational control over re-employment and bi-directional links between opportunities, coping and constraints were demonstrated, indicating a holistic approach to evaluating positive ageing is warranted. Among outcomes unique to the thesis were a correlation between wisdom and the impact of life transitions, the moderating role of wisdom between coping and wellbeing, and the necessity to distinguish flexible goal adjustment into two forms: horizontal goal adjustments (HGA) (i.e. different jobs but similar rewards) and downward goal adjustments (DGA) (i.e. different jobs with lower rewards). DGA's were generally associated with lower levels of wellbeing for males, with outcomes contingent on factors such as whether HGA's were used first, levels of job related strain and current work status. It was concluded that older workers use many resources to aid positive ageing, but society must work to remove age-related blocks if this is to be achieved at an optimal level.</p>

Not that old person: Older people’s responses to ageism revealed through digital storytelling

One of the issues limiting prevention of elder abuse in Australia is lack of a strong evidence base to target social drivers of abuse, particularly ageism. This evidence gap is exacerbated by social discourses that perpetuate negative representations of older age as a time of vulnerability and physical decline, often in opposition to people’s actual experience of ageing. This article presents findings of the ‘OPERA Project’, which used co-designed digital storytelling to explore how ageing and ageism are perceived by older people. The project findings indicated that preventing elder abuse requires discursive intervention to combat negative social discourses representing older people, and to frame social acceptance of the inherent complexity of experiences of ageing. Using a social constructionist approach, this article puts forward a ‘middle path’ through traditional theories of ageing and associated ‘positive ageing’ discourses, which often problematise ageing itself.

A Siege on Positive Ageing: COVID-19 as Exacerbating Age-based Stereotype Threats among Older Adults

Older adults face significant challenges in regards to the various stereotypes associated with ageing, which have consequences for their mental health and wellbeing. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened these age-based stereotypes due to older adults’ proportionally higher vulnerability to the virus. The present research explored how the pandemic has exacerbated the challenges of ageing by impacting on the social identities of older adults and how these challenges have been met. Eleven focus groups were conducted with 32 UK older adults from a range of household compositions. Guided by the social identity approach, a thematic analysis found that participants faced a number of recognisable stereotype threats: loss of opportunities to enact meaningful identities, loss of autonomy and loss of usefulness. Despite these threats, we also found participants used identity management strategies and mobilised existing or new social identities to give and receive of support and to retain a meaningful and purposeful life. The implications of this research are that governments and those supporting older adults can attend to the negative psychology impact of protective policies and know that fostering group connections can be a source of pandemic resilience.

Ageing in the time of COVID-19: the coronavirus pandemic exacerbates the experience of loneliness in older people by undermining identity processes

Loneliness can develop as a result of the identity transitions accompanying older adulthood, including the onset of health conditions and loss of social connections. The current study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected these identity change processes among older adults thereby impacting their experience of loneliness. In this longitudinal qualitative study, we use a theoretically-guided thematic analysis, applying insights from the Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC). Interviews were conducted before the pandemic, after the first UK national lockdown, and during the third national lockdown (N=9, Mage=78.7). The themes identified were: threatened social contact; being categorised as a vulnerable older adult; restricted ability to gain and maintain identities; undermined reciprocal social support; and wellbeing hindered by loneliness related fears. Implications discussed include how the pandemic recovery effort will require facilitating positive ageing identities to counteract the vulnerabilities introduced by the pandemic.

Successful ageing in the oldest old: objectively and subjectively measured evidence from a population-based survey in Germany

Despite rapid increase of people aged 80 and over, concepts of successful ageing (SA) are primarily examined for people below that age. Therefore, successful ageing was examined in a population-based representative sample of N = 1863 people aged 80 to 102 (NRW80+) with 11% living in institutionalized settings. In this survey on quality of life and well-being, multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to calculate the distribution of successful agers. According to Rowe and Kahn’s objective definition, 9% of the sample aged successfully, but one-third (33%) still met four to five SA criteria. This is in line with the theoretical a priori criterion of 10% in a normal distribution of a sample, while 80% age normally and 10% pathologically. However, averages of life satisfaction, affective well-being, positive ageing experience and valuation of life were high. The majority of the oldest old (65%) are successful agers in their own subjective perception, which is not in line with objective measurements. Moreover, 11% of objectively measured successful agers do not meet subjective criteria. These empirical findings reveal a remarkable discrepancy between objective and subjective criteria of SA. Future research on concepts that define successful ageing for the oldest old should consider more holistic markers of success, e.g., outcomes of productive social engagement.