Understanding the culture and lifestyle choices of retirees has never been so crucial. The aging baby boom population bubble means that by 2030 eighteen percent of the U.S. will be 65 or over. The lifestyle decisions of these individuals will have far-reaching implications culturally, politically and economically. Since more women are living their post-retirement lives alone and in economically challenging situations, this paper examines the mobility of older women in the form of international retirement migration as a strategy to ameliorate levels of economic and general well-being. Historically people have retired abroad for various reasons, but current practices suggest that retiring permanently in a foreign country has become an increasingly popular aging strategy. Retiring abroad does not come without serious challenges, however, as the strains of navigating the aging process are interwoven with living in a foreign culture. Based on research done in Mexico, and southern France, this paper highlights the efforts put forth by aging women to avoid the well-trodden path of retirement before them and to forge a new path, choose a new homeland, and perhaps, reinvent themselves a bit along the way.

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BackgroundWestern publicly funded health care systems increasingly rely on interdisciplinary teams to support primary care delivery and management of chronic conditions. This knowledge synthesis focuses on what is known in the academic and grey literature about optimal structural characteristics of teams. Its goal is to assess which factors contribute to the effective functioning of interdisciplinary primary care teams and improved health system outcomes, with specific focus on (i) team structure contribution to team process, (ii) team process contribution to primary care goals, and (iii) team structure contribution to primary care goals.Methods and designThe systematic search of academic literature focuses on four chronic conditions and co-morbidities. Within this scope, qualitative and quantitative studies that assess the effects of team characteristics (funding, governance, organization) on care process and patient outcomes will be searched. Electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PAIS, Web of Science) will be searched systematically. Online web-based searches will be supported by the Grey Matters Tool. Studies will be included, if they report on interdisciplinary primary care in publicly funded Western health systems, and address the relationships between team structure, process, and/or patient outcomes. Studies will be selected in a three-stage screening process (title/abstract/full text) by two independent reviewers in each stage. Study quality will be assessed using the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool. An a priori framework will be applied to data extraction, and a narrative framework approach is used for the synthesis.DiscussionUsing an integrated knowledge translation approach, an electronic decision support tool will be developed for decision makers. It will be searchable along two axes of inquiry: (i) what primary care goals are supported by specific team characteristics and (ii) how should teams be structured to support specific primary care goals? The results of this evidence review will contribute directly to the design of interdisciplinary primary care teams. The optimized design will support the goals of primary care, contributing to the improved health of populations.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42016041884 Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-016-0339-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This article shares key focus group findings from a national study focused on the housing needs of older (55+) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Canadians.LGBT populations have and continue to face systemic discrimination and barriers to appropriate housing across the life course, and yet little attention has been given to solutions. Many older LGBT adults live alone, face poverty, and have limited familial supports which impact on their housing options. The purpose of this research was to examine how the housing needs of older LGBT Canadians are addressed at community, organizational, and policy levels. Focus group participants in five Canadian provinces were asked to describe their experiences and perceptions of safe, affordable, affirming housing for older LGBT people. Five themes from the data help guide housing providers and policymakers in improving housing for older LGBT Canadians: (a) understanding lifelong and evolving fears of discrimination among older LGBT populations, (b) recognizing diversity among older LGBT populations, (c) operationalizing LGBT-inclusive housing philosophies, (d) addressing isolation and exclusion through housing interventions, and (e) providing LGBT people with tools to access appropriate housing. These themes offer practical policy and programming approaches to address the housing needs and concerns of older LBGT Canadians.