Centre for Ageing and Biographical Studies (CABS)

Some gerontological thoughts on The Iron Lady

2012-01-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

I went to the cinema this week and saw The Iron Lady, Phyllida Lloyd's biographical(ish) film about Margaret Thatcher. There's lots I could comment on, but I'll limit myself here to some things that struck me as a gerontologist and someone who is particularly interested in normative and non-normative life courses.

(cc) Joybot

One of the things I really liked about the film was the fact that the central character was (when not in flashback) an old woman. So few films have protagonists even in mid-life that it was really refreshing and interesting to see one in deep old age (for further discussion of older people in films, can I recommend ageing, ageism and feature films and the work of Josie Dolan at UWE). One of the things I've been thinking a lot about in the last couple of years is how people can be enabled to better imagine their own ageing and eventual old age. Fictional portrayals of later life are an obvious way of helping with this but there aren't many out there (although the FCMAP project has a collection of novels here). While I loathed the real Margaret Thatcher in her heyday with all the fervour of a leftie teenager and young adult, I found the fictional portrayal of her old age deeply moving and sympathetic.

As I understand it, hallucinations are rare in most common forms of dementia, including the form that Margaret Thatcher is thought to have, but I'm not talking here about the reality or correctness of what is portrayed. As a way of representing the sheer impossibility of believing that someone who has been an intimate part of your life for 50 years is no longer there, I thought the hallucinations of Dennis worked really well. I don't know whether that is how people feel after such a bereavement but it certainly made me imagine being in that situation.

I also thought the film did a good job of conveying the ways in which older people are so often treated as incompetent, irrelevant and foolish. Scenes such as the one in the corner shop - when she is pushed out of the way by the man on his mobile phone - are entirely everyday. For example, the Research on Age Discrimination research, undertaken by members of the Centre for Ageing and Biographical Studies a few years ago, found that being treated as seemingly invisible was reported as one of the most prevalent forms of everyday ageism. But seeing this happen to someone who used to be the prime minister makes even clearer the fact that it doesn't matter who you used to be, once you are put in the category 'old person' you are at risk of being treated in this way.

(cc) rileyroxx

I was also interested in (but much less keen on) the way the film ended up focusing so much on her personal life, especially her relationships with her father, husband and children. I am suspicious that one of the reasons the film-makers decided to do this was because if they had failed to do this for a woman who was known to have been married and to have had children, it would have felt like too incomplete an account of her life. Filming a biography of a male public figure with only passing reference to his private life would probably be unremarkable but, since they wanted to make her at least somewhat sympathetic, I wondered whether this partly pushed them into featuring her private life more heavily. I don't know. I may be coming over all second-wave feminist on this one. It has been known.

And this made me think about the cultural difficulty of telling a story of someone's old age that doesn't make it seem as if it was their family and any descendants that really mattered in the end. In societies such as the UK, where paid employment is so highly valued, I wonder whether, once you are beyond paid employment, the main culturally available narrative is of the significance of family. As you may have read in the entry previous to this one, my colleague Jill Reynolds has found that some older people without children report that their friends with children and grandchildren seems to have lives (boringly) limited to their families. I'm sure that, for many people, their family does become the main focus of their lives when they are old. And that's fine. But for other people, such as those who haven't had children, who are estranged from their families and whose lives have not revolved around their families, such as Margaret Thatcher, I'd like there to be a greater range of ways of telling the story of someone's life.

Accounting for being single without children in later life

2012-01-09T07:56:00.000-08:00

When I originally researched singleness among women in their middleyears I talked both to women who had always been single and to those who weresingle again following marriage or a long term relationship see The Single Woman: a DiscursiveInvestigation, Jill Reynolds published by Routledge.

Somehad children, many did not and I noticed that these latter had a double set ofaccounting to do. They often felt required to explain why they were single.They also found it hard to respond to questions on whether they had children,which were sometimes actually followed up with a 'why not?', although moreoften this unspoken query remained implicit.

This brief video gives some examples of how participants responded in myinterviews.

I have interviewed many of these women a second time in 2011, now thatthey are aged more than 60 years. In further analysing data from otherresearchers (Arber and Davidson*, Bowling**) who included childless people intheir research samples of those aged 65+, I noted that while most participantsintroduced references to their children and grandchildren into discussions onthe quality of their life and what made them happy, it was rare forparticipants to be asked how they felt if they were without children at thispoint in their lives.

My follow up interviewshighlighted that those without children did not lack for activities thatcontributed to happiness: nice walks and sunshine were often mentioned; andmany felt their quality of life had increased, giving up work had meant aweight lifted from their shoulders, and they described themselves as moreconfident than when younger. Since my original interviews some 13 yearsearlier two participants had, like myself, married someone they had beenseeing regularly. While for some there was no regret about not having children,a question on 'what if?' produced a number of responses such as 'who will bethere to do for me what I did for my mum?'

In contrast to discomfort felt when younger in comparisons between their lifeand that of friends with children, many were more comfortable with their own situation and might refer to good relationships with their friends' now adult children. Interestingly, a number of participants mentioned talk by their friends inolder age about younger family members as something of a nuisance that couldmake for tedious conversation: 'I wish we could talk about something other thantheir grandchildren', or 'it cuts down their self-awareness as if they can onlyfocus on somebody else'. Something had changed in their balance of accountingso that some participants positioned themselves as companionable, free andactive, while positioning their friends with grandchildren as burdened by a sense of dutythat required them to prioritise time caring for them and a narrowconversational focus.

*85 interviews men over 65 years (UKDA 6011 Arber, S. andDavidson, K., Older Men: their Social Worlds and Healthy Lifestyles,1999-2002 of whom 15 had no children
** 80 interviews men and women over 65 years (UKDA 5237, Bowling, A. AddingQuality to Quantity: Quality of Life in Older Age, 2000-2002) of whom14 had no children

Meet the authors

2011-12-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

CABS members Julia Johnson and Bill Bytheway at a recent 'meet the authors' event.

Both 'Residential Care Transformed' and 'Unmasking Age' were published in 2011 to great reviews.

New report on quality of life

2011-12-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday saw the launch of a new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the quality of life of older people with high support needs. CABS members Jeanne Katz, Caroline Holland and Sheila Peace were the researchers and lead authors of this study. They undertook a literature review and also interviewed a diverse group of 26 people with high support needs aged between 40 and 93.

Key points from the report include:

The views of older people with high support needs have rarely been sought. Reasons for this include their invisibility, communication issues and the lack of a collective voice.

Participants in the study wanted and valued different things in their lives, but all expressed common human needs for social, psychological and physical well-being.

People valued their close emotional relationships, though some expressed concerns about 'imposing' on family and friends. Many had made new friends as a result of their increasing support needs.

Having control over their lives was important but meant different things to different people. Adjusting well to change was also central to psychological well-being, and this might require support.

Participants valued getting out and about, keeping mentally and physically active and having contact with nature.

Care, support and other people's time were key factors that enabled or prevented people doing things that mattered to them.

Participants faced various challenges and difficulties, some a result of illness, disability and ageing but many because of lack of access to information, money, technology, equipment and transport.

The summary is available here and the full report here.

CABS member on You & Yours

2011-11-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

This morning, long-standing CABS member, Professor Sheila Peace was a guest on BBC Radio 4's You & Yours programme. She was talking about home care for older people.

For the next 7 days, you can listen to the clip here. The programme discusses home care at various points but Sheila appears from around 46 minutes in until the end.

Theorising Age in Maastricht

2011-10-08T05:04:00.000-07:00

Several CABS members are in Maastricht this week, taking part in the 7th International Symposium on Cultural Gerontology which is also the inaugural conference of the European Network in Ageing Studies. The title of the conference is Theorizing Age: Challenging the Disciplines and you can see the conferenc programme and all the abstracts here.

It's a conference that many CABS members have a soft spot for. We even went so far as to host it ourselves back in 2005. CABS has a symposium later this afternoon 'Critical reflections on biography and biographical methods' as well as CABS members having presented in other streams (because so many of us wanted to come that we couldn't all fit in one panel).

I've been periodically taking notes throughout, but there have been far too many interesting things to write them all up here (although there is more over on my personal blog, rememberingmyhat, if you are interested). What follows is some notes from just a few of the sessions that I thought might be of general interest.

I went to an extremely interesting panel called 'Critique of Ageing Well' which was mainly about critiquing what is variously known as active ageing, successful ageing, positive ageing, productive ageing and so on. There are, of course, nuances between these phrases, but the critique can be general as well as specific to particular approaches. This is something I've written about myself for K319, (in Learning Guide 2 - out this coming February!) but I wish I'd been able to attend this symposium first.

Just picking out bits from two of the abstracts gives you a nice, if very dense, summary:

[Debbie Laliberte Rudman, The University of Western Ontario, Canada]
... ‘positive aging’ discourses [can be] conceptualized as technologies of government. Such discourses enlist aging citizens in a duty to age well through shaping and idealizing possibilities for identity and activity. This [...] raises concerns regarding ways ‘positive aging’ discourses create demands for ‘aging well’ which are differentially achievable and narrowly defined.

[Thibauld Moulaert, K.U. Leuven, Belgium]
...International discourses of AA have slowly moved from a general framework supporting many dimensions of ageing toward a concentration of the active side, thanks to the confusing notion of "activity". Would it be possible that this trend consequently neglects some major aspects of ageing like its diversity and inequality? [yes!]

The final speaker, Silke van Dyk, University of Jena, Germany was the most challenging. It was difficult stuff and I was tired at the end of a long day (I'm going to ask her if she has a written copy of her paper) but what I took from it was a challenge not only to active ageing but also to where the critics of active-ageing often (probably inadvertently) end up.

Her argument was that active ageing is a paradigm of sameness - older people should be as much like middle-aged people as possible. But, in resisting this, critics of active ageing end up positioning older people as too different from younger people. They end up renaturalising old age as a homogenous category with its own characteristics distinct from those of younger people. Her answer was deconstructing chronological age and theorising midlife, via postcolonial and queer perspectives, which I think are good projects (although not as novel as she positioned them to be) but I'm struggling with quite how that would play out and how you could use that to challenge mandatory active ageing in practice contexts. I'd like to think more about this, though, as I do think she is on to something.

Phew! That was long and difficult, sorry. For some light relief (although also making serious points), and especially for Caroline Holland:

(cc Capital M)

I also went to a paper about cultural representations of the ageing of Lemmy from Motorhead. It was by Magnus Nilsson from Karlstad University, Sweden. I won't try to cover everything he said, just pick out some bits I was particularly interested in. Lemmy (or rather, Lemmy in his fans' imaginations) is the antithesis of healthy ageing. He's still drinking and taking drugs and having as wild a life as ever. In the famous song Ace of Spades he has apparently changed a clause so he now sings 'I don't wanna live forever ... but apparently I am'. His fans view him as indestructible, telling a joke that only two things will survive a nuclear holocaust, cockroaches and Lemmy.

I was interested that some audience members were quite uncomfortable with this. One commented that it was very ageist of his fans not to let him age and another pointed out how dangerous a role model he provided to other people who wouldn't be able to continue to abuse their health in these ways without major health problems or death. I can, of course, see their points of view entirely, but my own response was to enjoy the transgressive figure as a ripost to the pressures on people to age healthily. I mean, I wouldn't want to do it myself, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I knew (or even to Lemmy himself, if it is indeed true - this presentation made no claims to be about the real Lemmy, just about his cultural representation) but I think we benefit from a wider range of models of ways of being older, including Lemmy.

United Generations and Anglea Rippon

2011-10-05T09:31:00.001-07:00

Angela Rippon at the OPT-in technology workshop - United Generations event in Milton Keynes.

United Generations and Angela Rippon

2011-10-05T09:27:00.001-07:00

And here we are with Angela Rippon

At United Generations

2011-09-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

Staff from The Open University from Health and Social Care, Centre for Widening Participation and Maths and Computing Sciences have been at United Generations today celebrating International Older People's Day. We have had younger and older learners playing with the Kinnect, I pods. I pads and Face-timing. We also met Angela Rippon who was really interested in the OPT-in project.

The Hair and Care Project

2011-08-09T05:22:00.000-07:00

CABS associate Dr Richard Ward (previously researcher on the 'RoAD' research on age discrimination project) is undertaking an exciting new project exploring the role of hairdressing and bodywork in the lives of people with dementia. Sarah Campbell is working with him on this project, based at Manchester University. They told us:
"We would like to build links with interested individuals and groups as well as encourage debate around the issues of ageing, dementia, self-image and appearance".
A link to the project website can be found on this page - go to Other Bloggers We Like

Residential Care Transformed: an accolade

2011-07-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

The recent book by Julia Johnson, Sheena Rolph and Randal Smith has been awarded the newly established British Academy Peter Townsend Policy Press Prize. The prize will be awarded biennially to the author of what the Academy judges to be a piece of outstanding work with policy relevance and academic merit, on a topic falling within one or more of the fields to which Townsend made a major contribution - poverty and inequality, ageing and the lives of older people, disability, or inequalities in health.

In this book Julia, Sheena and Randal revisit Peter Townsend's classic study of residential care in England and

Wales

, The Last Refuge, published in 1962. With the help of a hundred older volunteer researchers, they traced what happened to the 173 homes that Townsend visited. They also revisited 20 of the surviving local authority, voluntary and private homes so as to compare them then and now. The book includes some previously unpublished photographs from the Peter Townsend Collection which when set beside those taken in the early 21st century illustrate not only continuity and change in residential care but also in visual representations of older people.

And the Peter Townsend inaugural award goes to....Johnson, Rolph and Smith

2011-07-22T05:05:00.000-07:00

New Book

2011-07-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to announce the publication of a new book by Bill Bytheway, CABS member and Visiting Research Fellow at the Open University.

What is age? A simple question...but not that easy to answer.

'Unmasking Age' addresses it using data from a series of research projects, supplemented by material from a range of other sources including diaries and fiction. Drawing on a long career in social research, Bill critically examines various methods and discusses ways of uncovering the realities of age.

"Fine reading, indeed!" Jay Gubrium, University of Missouri, USA

'Unmasking Age' is published by Policy Press [ISBN 9781847426178].

Working with older people’s organisations

2011-05-17T04:25:00.000-07:00

On the 12th of May CABS and the Centre for Policy on Ageing ran a study day that explored methodological and practical issues when user involvement had been achieved through links with existing older people’s organisations and groups.

The day was constructed to critically explore a range of ways in which older people had engaged with research. Julia Johnson started the day by reflecting on her experiences of working with volunteer researchers as part of her work with Sheena Rolph and Randall Smith in which they revisited Peter Townsend's study of residential care for older people. http://www.open.ac.uk/hsc/research/research-projects/the-last-refuge-revisited/the-last-refuge-revisited.php

Bill Bytheway then drew on his experiences of working with older people's groups as part of the RoAD project which investigated how age discrimination is experienced by older people. http://www.open.ac.uk/hsc/research/research-projects/road/home.php

In the afternoon I (Josie Tetley) gave a presentation along Stephanie Warren and Joan Walker from from Age UK Milton Keynes. In our presentation we described how members of Age UK had participated in a European technology project OPT-in. Our presentation can be accessed via the OPT-in project wiki website http://mcl.open.ac.uk/OptIn

The day concluded with a presentation from Jackie and Tony Watts who described the work of Enfield Borough Older People's forum and their European Over 50s project that is campaigning for a higher level of service for older people across Europe. http://www.enfieldover50sforum.org.uk/
http://www.eur50plus.org/

Throughout the day there was lively questioning and discussion amongst participants. It was our first event at The Open University Camden office and whilst there were a few technical issues, the central London location was seen as a positive location for future seminars.

2011-04-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

It is a month today since the massive Tohoko earthquake and the shocking tsunami that followed it. Since then there have been almost 400 aftershocks, some of them very large (including one today at 7.1 magnitude) Japan Meterological Agency. The focus of media attention in the west quickly shifted to concerns about the conditions at the Fukushima nuclear power plant and the struggle there to contain leaks. Meanwhile, in north-east Japan, snow and freezing weather hampered relief and recovery efforts. It will come as no surprise that many of the people affected both by the catastrophes and by the difficult conditions of the following days and weeks have been older people: and in spite of a traditional Japanese respect for older people there have inevitably been heartbreaking stories of abandonment and trauma.
Age Scotland - article
The Independent - article

A few years ago, CABS member Bill Bytheway wrote an article about the impact on New Orleans of Hurricane Katrina, the subsequent flooding caused by breaching of the levees, and events during and after evacuation Bill Bytheway on Katrina evacuations. He pointed out that while the victims had often been portrayed as mainly poor and black, in fact age and physical ability were the key issues in survival, and the highest rates of death were among older people in hospital and nursing homes.

Japan has the highest percentage of older people in the world, reflecting a population that has been ageing faster than other developed countries. Over 23% of the population were already over 65 in 2009 (compared with 16% in the UK) - and this is projected to increase to almost 40% by 2050. While most older Japanese people live with someone else (child, spouse, etc) 23% now live alone - and women, especially very old women, are much more likely to live alone than men (ILC Japan data).

Hence Japan takes ageing very seriously as a social reality, just as it takes seriously the seismic reality of its location. While Tohoko 2011 was quite exceptional, I hope that the famous Japanese preparedness for earthquakes and tsunamis will increasingly lead the way on evacuation protocols that work better for older people. It seems to me that the discussion about interdependence posted below by Jill Reynolds is highly relevant here. When taken-for-granted support structures fail, the limitations of 'independence' are all too obvious.

If we're used to being independent can we do interdependence?

2011-03-11T10:08:00.000-08:00

Being independent has a very high value in most western civilisations. Many people hope to remain in their own home in later life - but can promoting independence among adults aged 75+ also create pressures for individuals? Elena Portacolone http://www.elenaportacolone.com/ has some interesting ideas on how older people may find themselves regulated by policies that effectively make independence a moral imperative. For instance requirements in some supportive housing may mean that those residents considered more at risk are debarred. In an article to be published in Ageing & Society Portacolone suggests that more attention to interdependence could be fruitful.

The idea of interdependence certainly has some resonance for me following some interviews I've held with women in a transitional phase of entering retirement. My focus in on the experience of ageing for people without children, and many of the participants in my study are also without current partners. Women who had moved to a new area talked about how they went about making new contacts through pursuing interests such as singing or country walks. One remarked on how during her recent period of illness neighbours had helped out and how she tended to do the same for them 'I realise however independent I am ... we all depend on one another and any of us could be in need of some help at any time'.

I’m wondering what the boundaries are between independence and interdependence. Are they opposites or can one thing shade into the other? Women on their own are often thought of as quite independent. In research on older people, never-married women have been found to have the highest levels of organisational membership (Arber 2004). While being prepared to join could show independence there’s also a strong sign of interdependence there surely? The same category of women also have the highest proportions in residential care (Wenger et al.2000). And while that suggests some dependence – the decision to seek care and support can also signal independence – like Diana Athill opting in a rational way for a life ‘free of worries’.

Perhaps it would be good to independently arrive at a degree of interdependence?

Hair today, gone tomorrow?

2011-03-02T08:40:00.000-08:00

(cc) imakecontent

We were delighted to hear recently that one of CABS' associate members, Dr Richard Ward, now at the University of Manchester, was successful in getting funding from the ESRC for his research about the role of hairdressing in the lives of older people with high support needs. He says:

"The purpose of this research is to explore the role that hairdressing plays in the lives of older people who are high-level users of health and social care. This will include investigating the formal/paid services provided by hairdressers, as well as the styling and management of hair undertaken by care workers. The research will take account of how image and appearance is managed and maintained by older service users, the importance attached to hairstyles in care settings and explore the links between how we look and how we feel.

Existing research has shown that hair is important to our self-image and that hairdressing is associated with improvements to self-esteem, especially for women and that this increases with age. As hairdressing has not been viewed as a crucial feature of health and social care provision it has tended to be overlooked by research. This means little is known about good practice or what potential it has to support positive outcomes for older service users in respect to promoting a positive self-image in the context of deteriorating health and limiting long-term and mental health conditions such as dementia.

The importance of the research is that it will provide evidence and insights to support an on-going debate over how to balance the needs of service users with pressures of time and funding in the organisation of care. It will also help to better understand the importance of the 'body-work' undertaken by care workers and how this work can support positive relationships in care and help to avoid decline, depression and neglect. The research will also have direct benefits to the hairdressing industry as little is currently known about the experiences of care-based hairdressers and how best to support them"

He and one of CABS' core members, Caroline Holland, have an article out in the current issue of the journal Ageing and Society

Ward, Richard and Holland, Caroline (2011). 'If I look old, I will be treated old': hair and later-life image dilemmas. Ageing and Society, 31(02), pp. 288–307.

I'm looking forward to learning more about this neglected topic.

Lenses on a life

2011-02-15T07:01:00.000-08:00

An elderly relative of mine died recently and it’s made me think about the different lenses with which you can review someone’s life, and how that enables you to focus on different things.

(cc) freephoto

Looking through my family member spectacles, I focus on my feelings toward her, my memories of her, my sense of the sort of person she was and her place in the complex web of emotions that makes up any family.

Wearing my historian’s glasses, I think about the times she lived in and how that illuminates my sense of the past. When I think about non-conformist working class life in the early 20th century, I picture her birth family. When I think about changing attitudes to disability, I remember her exclusion from elementary school, and hence formal education, for a relatively minor disability. When I think about the impact of the NHS, I think about her recurring hospital treatments, both pre and post-NHS, and how those treatments shaped and improved her life.

If I put on my social gerontologist’s spectacles, I feel angry and despairing about her low quality of life in her later years, even in a relatively ‘good’ care home and in a much less socially isolated context than many care home residents. I also remember what a lot I learned about being an informal carer from just a fortnight of living with her after she came out of hospital one time.

With my feminist spectacles on, I think about how her female gender intertwined with her disability and her status as ‘youngest child of large family’ to position her within the family as the one who needed looking after. I speculate about how differently this might have played out had she been born a disabled boy.

As a sociologist with a particular interest in sexuality and relationships, I think about how a working class woman came to marry a much older widower from a wealthy family. And think about how complex her class position ended up being, with not much money but some fabulous Victorian furniture.

(cc) Tom

I don’t know whether my relative is going to have an obituary published anywhere, but if she does, it will probably talk about her love of music, her decades of service as a churchwarden and organist, her employment as a physiotherapy assistant, her short but happy marriage, her love of dogs and her sense of humour.

I’m struck by how partial all these pairs of spectacles are. Each of them brings only one aspect of her life into focus. While you can combine some of the lenses without giving yourself too much of a (theoretical) headache, they still do not even approach the rich complexity of a single, unremarkable woman’s life.

I guess that’s something of the enduring fascination to me of biographical approaches to the study of social life.

Cross-posted from rememberingmyhat.wordpress.com

Ageing in perspective

2011-02-14T06:18:00.000-08:00

We social gerontologists talk about ageing and reckon a centenarian or supercentenarian to be pretty old, but when biologists talk about ageing they mean REALLY old.

I loved this sequence of oldest living things, starting with a self-cloning plant reckoned now to be 43,000 years old and ending with Galapagos tortoises, mere striplings at 150-odd years old.

I also enjoyed this Radio 4 programme about yew trees, the oldest of which they reckoned to be 5,000 years old.

(cc)(Alex)

I was amused that the website makes no reference to yew trees, and the Radio 4 programme made a claim for the 5,000 year old yew tree to possibly be the world's oldest living thing. I guess biologists don't always do their lit reviewing properly, just like social gerontologists.

The case against the BBC

2011-01-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

Did anyone see Jon Snow interviewing Mariella Frostrop on Channel Four News two nights ago. It was following the O'Reilly case and the issue of gender was raised in a peculiarly self-regarding sexist way. Was this just another example of ageism hitting the media headlines to be immediately upstaged by sexism?

CABS 15th Anniversary Event

2010-11-19T04:02:00.000-08:00

This event was such a feast of fascinating perspectives on research projects, biographical approaches, and their contribution to challenging understandings and changing practice. I loved what all the different speakers said and I've just been catching up by reviewing the videos on http://stadium.open.ac.uk/stadia/preview.php?whichevent=1583&s=1

I was particularly fascinated by the audio extract played to us by Joanna Bornat from one of the South Asian doctors who came to the UK to work in the NHS and found a future in geriatric medicine. He was interviewed by Parvati of Joanna's team, and he told of his transformation of a centre for 'incurables' - where he was supposed to just keep an eye on hopeless cases in a ward which no one had ever left - into a rehabilitation mode that gave people the opportunity to do physiotherapy and improve. His first quadriplegic man who had been written off progressed to the point where he was able to walk and return to his business as a butcher!

This took place in the 1970s and I remember my first job as a medical social worker at an orthopaedic hospital at that time - I don't recall the patients I saw ever being given the terminology of incurable but I do remember thinking that orthopaedic surgeons were at a bit of a loss if they couldn't find an operation to do.

Well done CABS - as well as many other virtues, biographical approaches give us the opportunity to revisit our own biographies and understand a little better the unfolding of history in our time.

Jill Reynolds

Are biographical methods still relevant?

2010-09-24T15:08:00.000-07:00

CABS is 15 years old this year.
Since 1995 members of the research group have used biographical methods to investigate issues relating to ageing and later life including; new family forms, housing and care homes, sexuality, end-of-life issues, age discrimination, and medication in everyday life.
Our 15th anniversary event will be held on Tuesday 2nd November, from 2-6pm in the Berrill Lecture Theatre at The Open University campus in Milton Keynes. Speakers will include Professor Mim Bernard, the President of the British Society of Gerontology: and founder members of CABS - Professors Malcolm Johnson and Joanna Bornat, Dr Bill Bytheway and others tbc. There will be an opportunity to view posters about the current research projects of CABS members, as well as to think about the challenges and opportunities of using biographical methods in research. Drinks and nibbles from 5pm onwards. There is no charge for this event.

If you would like to attend, please contact Katherine Perry k.d.perry@open.ac.ukmailto:k.d.perry@open.ac.uk

The Young Ones

2010-09-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

CABS Blog
Did any one else see The Young Ones (14, 15 and 16 September 2010)?

The show featured Dickie Bird (former cricket umpire), Lionel Blair (actor, dancer, choeograher), Derek Jamieson (newspaper editor and broadcaster), Sylvia Sims, Liz Smith (both actors – although Sylvia Sims is described as an actress on the website and Liz Smith as best know for playing Nana in the Royal family)and Kenneth Kendall (newsreader).

The Young Ones had the six in a house decorated and furnished to make it look as it might have been in 1975 when, apparently the 6 of them were in ‘their prime’. We were told that some of the wall paper had to be specially made. They even arrived at the house in cars from the period playing music of the time. We were told that part of the experiment was to show how positive thinking and particularly imagining themselves back to their ‘heydays’ could improve physical and cognitive functioning.

While in the house they were under constant CCTV observation from BBC One’s ‘resident man of science’ Dr. Michael Mosley and Ellen Langer from Harvard University. The audience were told that the ‘show’ planned to replicate work done by Ellen in the 1970s. Gerontologist Ian Phelps appeared at the beginning of the first programme and at the end of the third to test what progress the six older celebrities had made of the course of the week long experiment.

In the control room the lead seemed to be taken by Mosley who would from time to time pronounce on what was revealed by the observation cameras and attempt to get assent from the slightly bemused Langer. Any one who has seen Mosley’s antics on The One Show will know is he has penchant for organising small scale experiments. These are often the basis of claims that men and women are completely different from each other. I may be biased – I know a colleague was quite impressed by his History of Science series. I’m afraid my prejudices were reinforced by Mosley telling one of ‘victims’ that he was there “to teach you independence”.

So I approached The Young Ones with a number of reservations. I think the whole notion of ‘positive thinking ‘as a panacea is questionable (see Barbara Ehrenreich, Smile or die: How positive thinking fooled America and the World). Equally questionable was the idea that all six of the celebrities would be in their prime (in 1975) just because they happened to be aged between 41 (Dickie Bird) and 53 (Liz Smith) was. I also thought that the notion that putting people in ‘the 1975 house’ would be of dubious benefit. As this was not something that I could find in Langer’s original research I assume if was to make the series more visually appealing

Despite everything some interesting things did come out of The Young Ones

It was clear that most of the participants did benefit by having the chance to make decisions, have some level of control over their lives and to be able to do the things that they had enjoyed when they were younger. For example as a result of falls Kenneth Kendall had decided he would not have a dog again. However the programme gave him a chance to look after dogs and he subsequently decided he wanted to be a dog-owner. Much the same could be said of Liz Smith taking up painting again and Dickie Bird resuming pub lunches with cricket ‘chums’. In a similar vein, Derek Jameson gave a lecture to journalism students while Lionel Blair joined with cast members from the West End show Tap Dogs.

At one level the show was inherently ageist – thinking as they had when younger selves was argued to be the reason why improvement had occured. I think this rather missed the point of what was actually happening. Each of the six had retired from work that had been hugely meaningful to them. Added to this had been physical problems including strokes, falls and diabetes (to name but a few). This had made it increasingly difficult to resist offers of care which (although well meant) had contributed to them seeing themselves just as someone to be cared for.

To its credit these programmes did challenge that and provided a space in which people could have fun, express themselves and wonder what their choices really were and how they could be exercised. Maybe there are messages here for how old people are perceived and how services that are supposed to help them are provided.

Jonathan Hughes 20/09-10

Ageing and gay

2010-08-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

Recently a Radio 4 programme highlighted the issues of identity in relation to older gay and lesbian people finding suitable accommodation in care homes and sheltered housing schemes. The programme included a broad discussion of the difficulties gay and lesbian people face in being open about their sexuality in predominantly heterosexual care settimgs. Contributors to the programme spoke about their concerns around being accepted and how, for some, this in fact meant they had to camouflage or deny their sexuality. This is a 'hidden' issue and I was struck by the way in which some older gay and lesbian people would feel they were trapped and excluded by being different to the majority. The potential for social isolation came across strongly and I was left feeling a sense of sadness that being gay in old age is something that might have to be covered up.

3 Counties Radio Launch 'Who Cares?' Campaign

2010-06-16T02:25:00.001-07:00

3 Counties Radio have launched a 'Who Cares?' campaign, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/threecounties/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8558000/8558229.stm

Part of this campaign involves a joint initaitive with Action on Elder Abuse, who are campaigning for changes in the law to improve older peoples rights with regards to protection from abuse, harm and neglect. The need to promote high quality care that respects individual choice, privacy and dignity is also recognised as part of this campaign.

This 1 year campaign was launched last night at The Open University. Members of CABS took part in this launch, with Caroline Holland giving an impressive contribution to a Question and Answer session with Ronnie Barbour, the morning DJ from 3 Counties Radio.

Postgraduate Student Poster Competition Winner!

2010-06-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

CABS member Caroline Moore has been awarded the prize for Best of Category (Social Sciences) in the Open University's annual poster competition for postgraduate students. Caroline is in her second year of study, working on her thesis about the experiences of being a woman caring for both children and older relatives. Caroline's poster explains her study and quotes some of the participants that she has interviewed so far.
Exploring the experiences of female multi-generational carers

“The Last Refuge Revisited”

2010-06-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

OPAN Seminar - Friday 25th June 2010

Julia Johnson

Time: 3.30pm
Venue: Open University Regional Office
18 Custom House Street, Cardiff, CF10 1AP

This seminar is hosted jointly by OPAN and the Open University in Wales, and focuses on findings from the new publication Residential Care Transformed by Julia Johnson, Sheena Rolph and Randall Smith (Palgrave Macmillan) which revisits Peter Townsend's classic study of residential care for older people conducted in the late 1950s.

To confirm attendance, contact Sarah Cole at: S.Cole@swansea.ac.uk

The CABS/CPA Book Series

2010-06-03T05:43:00.000-07:00

In the second of our 'home-made' podcasts, Rebecca Jones chats to Joyce Cavaye about our book series published by the Centre for Policy on Ageing.

What do we know about being old and childless?

2010-05-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

The advertisement from John Lewis that is also on YouTube has attracted much comment in the media.
Never Knowingly Undersold shows, to the tune of Billy Joel's 'Always a woman', a life course from babyhood to old age – she finally strides across the field with husband and grandchildren. I would show you the video here, but it seems the British Democracy Forum –said by some to be 'a far right web forum' – had the ad on their website, apparently promoting their politics until someone reported it to the store, who immediately had the ad removed. I expect you've seen it already anyway: 100,000 people have looked at it on YouTube and no doubt many more on TV.

Most of the comment is positive, and it is strangely moving. The Guardian's Libby Brooks

agrees that it prompts a visceral response, but demurs that it hasn't moved with developments for women in terms of career and other kinds of recognition:

'In many ways, it proffers a terribly old-fashioned take on modern womanhood: pair-bonding and breeding are the significant milestones, not making CEO of the company. At no point is there any suggestion our heroine might enjoy an existence without her beautifully decorated four walls – in one segment she is seen attending to a laptop but, who knows, she was probably just browsing the John Lewis website.'

Genius of John Lewis's everywoman ad wins female vote
I've seen nothing that points out that the normative life course it portrays shows ageing as something only done by people deep in the heart of their families.

Perhaps the ad can remind us that the life course is almost always thought of as involving, particularly for women, an ageing process that includes marriage, childbearing, childrearing, children leave home, grandchildren come to visit, and finally death brings that life to an end. So no wonder that this single track normative portrayal hasn't aroused critical comment. It simply shows what we all imagine life stages to be about.

We don't often hear about those who are old and childless. See my recent post for discussion of ideas from Joanna Lumley and Diana Athill on what this experience might involve.
What can we do if we're not grannies?
I'm interested in finding out more about the experience of ageing for those who don't have children. I'd like to hear from people in a range of ages over 60 years. And to start myself off, I've made contact with my future self, and carried out an interview with this future Jill. Have a look and let me know what you think.

Solidarity between Generations

2010-04-29T08:33:00.000-07:00

Today is apparently the Second European Day on Solidarity between Generations.

You can see the press release here but in summary, it comes from a coalition of European NGOs who see solidarity between generations as a key way of society becoming more inclusive and equal.

I'm interested to see the language of 'solidarity' reappearing in 2010.

More frivolously, thinking about how I might express solidarity between generations in my own life, I wondered whether that meant I should give in to my 3 year old's constant desire to play on the computer, since he's a digital native and I'm not.

2010-04-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

Hi folks

Under Jill's watching eye and tutelage Rebecca and I managed to make a podcast about the CPA book series. Not sure if it will be worth using but it was certainly a learning experience. Thanks to Jill and Caroline for support and encouragement.

Interviews at Age Concern MK

2010-04-22T00:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Josie Tetley, Caroline Holland and I held a number of interviews with people who are involved with the Opt-In (Grundtvig funded) Project which is looking at how older people interact with technology.

I did two of the interviews. It was fascinating to see how some older people (and I accept that they might be a minority) use technology extensively. Both the two people I talked to had been involved with changing technologies throughtout their (paid) working lives. In 'retirement' technology is centrally involved in enabled them to engage in a wide range of activity - technologies were clearly underpining and make possible all sorts of things.

Jonathan Hughes

Oral History and Ageing

2010-04-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

Just out: a new book from CABS/CPA:
'Oral History and Ageing' edited by Joanna Bornat and Josie Tetley
No 9 The Representation of Older People in Ageing Research Series. £10.00

For both gerontology and oral history, the interview is a key research tool, both focus on remembering and both show concern for issues raised by participation, ownership and the presentation of the outcomes of their engagement with the lives of older people.

The authors, all leading UK oral historians, illustrate four very different approaches within an oral history tradition, yet each has resonance and relevance for gerontologists. The aim in presenting this collection is to stimulate further discussions and opportunities to share research approaches and findings amongst oral historians and gerontologists in the hope that creative research partnerships may ensue in the future.

Contents: Introduction, Joanna Bornat and Josie Tetley. Transnational families, ageing and realising dreams of home, Paul Thompson. Remembering in later life: Some lessons from oral history, Al Thomson. Sex, lives and videotape: Oral history group work and older adult education groups, Graham Smith. Experience shared and valued: Current development of personal and community memory, Pam Schweitzer.

The book is on sale at the Centre for Policy on Ageing and at Central Books.

What can we do if we're not grannies?

2010-04-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

If we've never had children, it's unlikely we'll have grandchildren. Is not being a granny a deficit identity these days? Several papers have picked up a comment from Joanna Lumley recently on the usefulness of old people. Apparently she has suggested older people could provide a care system for children coming home from school:

'They could be adoptive grannies, they would be the most wonderful care system for children when the school day is ended – before their parents have come home from work, how lovely to have a million grannies making them apple pie and sitting with them doing their homework'.

See Bell, IoS Diary 11 April for more detail, online:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-bell-the-iiosi-diary-110410-1941242.html
Matthew Bell also mentions that there is a comedy currently running at the National Really Old, Like Forty Five: the elderly are expected to adopt a grandchild as a way of deferring death. Black humour indeed.

Lumley probably sees this adoptive granny proposal as a way of helping older people feel purposeful and valued, as well as part of the community. While this might work for some, I'd hate to see it becoming a widely shared expectation that this is what you do to earn your place as a fully paid-up member of the community. I understand from friends that having children is the best experience that life has to offer, but personally I'm rather happy to have avoided all those chores, all those times of feeling a dimwit because I've spoken to no one but a three year old all day, all that anxiety on behalf of children who I'd (no doubt) continue to think of as children even as they themselves approach middle age.

How terrific then, in the same week to see an article by Diana Athill on moving herself into an old people's home (Guardian Weekend 17.04.10, online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/17/diana-athill-move-old-peoples-home). Athill has always forged her way through challenging events, surviving what are widely regarded as deficit identities, for instance giving uncompromisingly honest and reflective accounts of what it is like to be single, and how she came through after the loss of an early love and accepted her role as career woman, having never held any ambition other than that first articulated at twelve years 'To marry a man I love and who loves me'.

So Athill continues in the same vein of having things happen and dealing with them, and her decision to move into an old people's home was brought about through her recognition that in her 90s, dealing with a bout of flu left her without energy and feeling a need to be looked after. She had been part of a team of friends supporting an old friend, just three months younger than herself, as she wrestled with breast cancer and a broken hip following a fall. Athill knew she didn't want to be a burden to her friends if she became dependent in a similar way. She made her plans in a rational way, but still experienced moments of complete rejection of 'an act of what amounted to self-destruction...I won't, I'd rather die'. Now she has moved into a 'snug little nest' she can think of it as a life free of worries, doing everything she's capable of and knowing she'll be beautifully looked after if need be. 'What could be better?' she says.

We need people like Athill to go before us and point the way to surviving dispreferred options in life. Yet I'm puzzled by her belief that she might have reluctantly accepted being looked after by her children, if she'd had them, but determination that she could not allow herself to become dependent on her friends. There is, after all, a greater possibility of reciprocity with friends, and the acts of mutual helping might be less distant than those enacted as a parent; we choose our friends while we don't choose our family; and it's always possible that children called on in times of great need may have other agendas on their minds. But at the same time as being puzzled, I do have some empathy with Athill's perspective. Having been part of my mother's supportive network, even though at a distance, as well as a first-line advocate for her with the health and social care services, I have often wondered whether there might be anyone available to do similar things for me should I reach a time of great need. Inspired by Athill's example, I plan to think more positively about the option of deciding I need to be looked after and choosing the caring environment that I'm comfortable with. And while I'll hope for some people I'm close to continuing to be around and be affectionate, I will also hope to avoid becoming a number one worry in their lives.

Jill Reynolds

I'm afraid we need to talk

2010-03-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

The King’s Fund has just published ‘Securing Good Care for More People’, its update to the 2006 ‘Wanless’ review - taking the opportunity at the same time to comment on the options described in the UK government’s 2009 Green Paper on the future funding of care for older people. Between the politically unpalatable options of keeping the status quo and introducing free personal care to all, there lies the minefield of determining who should pay what in a reformed system, and thereby deciding who will be the ‘winners’ and who the ‘losers’? The King’s Fund Partnership Model proposed here, a more modest version of that suggested in 2006, would see everyone entitled to 50% of their eligible care costs. The remaining 50% would be met by the individual or their family, but with some matched funding from the state – £1 for every £2 spent is suggested here. Or else the need would be unmet, with all that that implies.

Our survey on this issue (Price of Old Age) shows that while most people want to accept joint responsibility between individuals and the state, there is little consensus on the details of how the responsibility should be divided. This is hardly surprising given a general lack of knowledge about the real costs of long-term care, the uncertainties caused by the current economic crisis, the weight of debt felt by many younger people, and the pressures on providers of care. In the run-up to an election, serious and measured political discussion of this very serious issue is being lost, and I’ll be very surprised if the King’s Fund proposal is greeted with cross-party approval, let alone implemented. Agreement in the House of Commons about a timetable to introduce free personal care for ‘the most vulnerable’ has already failed several times to get through the Lords because of concerns about how local authorities can actually meet the costs.

The all-party commission on 2020 public services led by Sir Andrew Foster, former CE of the Audit Commission, gave a stark warning this week that the real debate about rising costs has not yet really started, and that the British public is unprepared for what must be major changes; ‘If citizens refuse to pay more, they have to contribute more’. This implies, of course, that if families or communities don’t or can’t provide care themselves, then individuals’ needs may not be met at all. The King’s Fund report, aside from suggesting their costing model, also makes some good points about the reform of delivery as not a once-and–for-all event, but as a measured, staged process, taking on board the bigger picture: a process that will take many years, transcend the lifetime of any parliament, and require proper political consensus to achieve fairness within and between generations. As a country we are already coming very late to this, so let’s not drop the ball now.

How do we pay for care?

2010-02-19T04:45:00.000-08:00

The debate about the future of social care in England has reached a (another?) critical place this week with high-level discussion between care providers and charities, the Labour party and the Lib Dems. The Conservatives are currently refusing to take part, apparently over the issue of having the option of a compulsory fee on the table - what a pity, when we so desperately need an honest and wide-thinking discussion right now, before political and media interest moves on.

I believe that people generally do want to find a better way to provide and pay for care, especially if they have been involved in trying to give it or organise it. We are currently analysing data from an on-line survey about the 'price of old age', from which it is already clear that most of the people who took part in that survey think there is a middle ground between state organised and private provision where a fair balance of responsibility can be negotiated. But it's also clear that many people have too little information about what help is available and what care might be needed in certain conditions, so it's hard to get a consensus view on where that fair balance lies.

I think that we are just beginning this national conversation and there will have to be changes and adjustments in the years ahead, but we need two things now: better access to information for people who find themselves needing care services, and more direct routes for people to raise problems when the services on offer don't match what people actually want.

Raising the profile of LGBT ageing and later life

2010-02-03T07:44:00.000-08:00

LGBT Lives
Symposium on Ageing
Raising the Profile of LGBT Ageing and Later Life

As part of the seminar LGBT lives: The biographies and life course of sexual/gender dissidents, the organisers would like to invite papers for a parallel session devoted to exploring issues of LGBT ageing and later life. The session will include up to 10 short (ten minutes) papers that directly address LGBT ageing and later life. Contributors will be asked to provide written versions of their papers and these will be compiled in the form of a briefing to be circulated to relevant stakeholders in Scotland. Papers may take any form including:

• Case-studies from practice or research
• ‘Think-pieces’ on how LGBT ageing is understood and responded to
• Summaries of research
• Reviews of the literature
• Methods used to investigate LGBT ageing and the challenges faced

Papers detailing work from across the UK (and beyond) are invited, however the organisers particularly welcome contributions detailing work undertaken in Scotland or with direct relevance to the Scottish context. Deadline for submission is Monday 29 March 2010.

This event is free to attend.

Further details here

Ageing issues and end of life care

2010-02-02T04:17:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of activity in the press of late about care and treatment in later life. It was interesting to hear Terry Pratchett's views about assisted death/suicide, see for example:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/michaeldeacon/100024694/sir-terry-pratchett-is-right-lets-legalise-assisted-death/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8490062.stm

Assisted suicide/death is very topical, but of greater concern to me is how we work towards improving care in later life. It was interesting to read recent press reports and the Royal College of Physicians report on oral feeding difficulties towards the end of life. See:
http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/media/Press-releases/Pages/06-Jan-2010-Nil-by-mouth-should-be-last-resort-according-to-RCP-report.aspx

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/06/care-homes-elderly-feeding-tubes

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/6944814/Those-with-dementia-are-people-not-objects.html

This would not seem to be a new challenge as Florence Nightingale in her Notes on Nursing wrote:
‘Every careful observer of the sick will agree in this that thousands of patients are annually starved in the midst of plenty, from want of attention to the ways which alone make it possible for them to take food. This want of attention is as remarkable in those who urge upon the sick to do what is quite impossible to them, as in the sick themselves who will not make the effort to do what is perfectly possible to them.’ (Nightingale 1860, p. 63)

It will be interesting to see whether the recent press interest in ageing issues in anyway impacts on quality of care.

Lifelong learning and technology project

2010-02-02T03:31:00.001-08:00

Members of CABS are currently leading a lifelong learning and technology project. The OPT-in project (Older People and Technological innovations) is funded by Grundtvig through the European Union Lifelong Learning Programme.

The project is led by a team from The Open University including: Nursing, Health & Social Care and the Centre for Widening Participation and involves collaboration with Age Concern Milton Keynes and colleagues from the Faculty of Maths, Computing and Technology. The other project partners are:
The Department of Nursing and Midwifery University of Stirling (Highland campus) - Scotland
The Institute of Gerontology at The Technical University of Dortmund - Germany
The Verwey Jonker Institute - The Netherlands
The Faculty of Health Sciences at The University of Maribor - Slovenia

Our project website is:
http://www.opt-in.si/

2010-01-13T16:08:00.000-08:00

The Centre for Ageing and Biographical Studies at The Open University and the Centre for Policy on Ageing invite you to the 13th seminar in the Representation of Older People in Ageing Research series

on Thursday, 11 February 2010

IMAGINING FUTURES

At the Centre for Policy on Ageing, 19-23 Ironmonger Row, London EC1V 3QP, from 10.30 to 4.30

Fee of £30 (£25 for registered students) payable to Centre for Policy on Ageing, refreshments and sandwich lunch included.

Email Angela Clark aclark@cpa.org.uk to reserve a place and request a booking form or access programme/form at http://www.cpa.org.uk/events/events.html

‘Imagining Futures’ will look at methodological issues in asking people to imagine the future and their own ageing. Speakers will address issues such as:

· What research methods can be used to help people think about the future?

· How has the future been conceptualised and articulated in research targeted at older people?

· Is it possible to move people beyond stereotyped and negative expectations of their own ageing and of later life?

· Do particular types of research methods affect how people tend to envisage the future and their own older age?

· What are the ethical issues in asking people to think about their own ageing?

The aim of the day is to explore both practical and theoretical issues in asking people to think about their own ageing, in order to improve practice in both research and practice/policy contexts. Seminar participants will be invited to share their views and experiences throughout the day. The seminar will be of relevance to practitioners, policy makers, academics and students.

10.30 Registration and Coffee

10.45 INTRODUCTION

Morning Chair, Dr Rebecca Jones, CABS, The Open University

11.00 RESEARCHING THE FUTURE WITH OLDER PEOPLE: EXPERIENCES WITH

‘THE OLDEST GENERATION’

Professor Joanna Bornat and Dr Bill Bytheway, The Open University

12.05 FUTURE MATTERS FOR AGEING RESEARCH

Professor Barbara Adam, Cardiff University

1.05 lunch

Afternoon Chair, Professor Joanna Bornat

2.00 ‘Erm, I don't know... It's not something that I really think about’: Facing the Fear in research on ageing

Dr Cassandra Phoenix, Exeter University

3.05 GUIDED DISCUSSION INVITING VIEWS AND EXPERIENCES OF RESEARCHING THE FUTURE

Seminar participants are invited to bring along examples of their own or other people's research where the future has been a focus. We will use these examples, in combination with the day's papers, to further examine the seminar themes.

4.10 CLOSING REMARKS

Abstracts

Researching the future with older people: experiences with ‘The Oldest Generation’

Professor Joanna Bornat and Dr Bill Bytheway

'The Oldest Generation', one of seven projects in the Timescapes programme, has been researching the everyday lives of 12 people over the age of 75. Our methods are qualitative and longitudinal. We have used life history interviews, followed by a second interview eighteen months later, and diaries covering the intervening period. While time past and time being experienced was built into data collection we realised that the future was a missing feature. In this paper we reflect on some of the reasons why the future was not included in our research design and then go on to discuss how we re-focused our attention, by direct and indirect means. In so doing we came to recognise the extent to which future time is immanent in talk and how in research with older people, the social meanings of time have a complexity which challenges assumptions of finitude.

Future matters for ageing research

Professor Barbara Adam

The futurity of action is a challenging domain for social inquiry; it necessitates an openness to rethink the subject matter of sociology, its epistemology and its methodology. For ageing research the difficulty is intensified. To gain some anchorage points for study, the paper outlines past and present approaches to the future, maps the complexities involved, identifies some of the sensitive issues associated with studying approaches to the future in older people, and seeks to identify some openings for investigation.

‘Erm, I don't know... It's not something that I really think about’: facing the fear in research on ageing

Dr Cassandra Phoenix

Over the last decade I have been inviting people to tell me stories about their perceptions and experiences of ageing. This has involved speaking with the young, and old, about their past, present and anticipated future body-selves. My ‘qualitative tool kit’ has included life history interviews, longitudinal interviews, the use of biographical objects, ethnography, focus groups and more recently, visual methods. With a particular interest in narrative research, I have interpreted these stories using multiple forms of analyses to explore the ‘hows’, and ‘whats’ of storytelling, identity construction through the use of big and small stories, and the ways in which such ageing identities are contextually situated through examining ‘where’, ‘when’, and by ‘who’ cultural context is produced. Central to all of this has been the notion of ‘facing a fear’ – for the participants, and indeed myself as a researcher.

I use this presentation as a welcomed opportunity to reflect upon, and share with the audience what has worked well… what less so… and how I have attempted to negotiate some of the issues that have arisen throughout this journey.