Older people and ‘active ageing’: Subjective aspects of ageing actively

Abstract

Following a critical overview of the active ageing concept, a thematic decomposition of 42 transcribed interviews with British people aged 72 years and over indicates that active ageing is understood in relation to physical, cognitive, psychological and social factors, but that these co-exist in complex combinations. The notion of activity in active ageing is grasped in relation to an active / passive distinction which emphasises the enhancement or diminishment of concrete powers of activity. A 'challenge and response' framework is suggested for future research on active ageing.

Gender and active ageing in Europe

“…It is about the optimization of activities related to employment, politics, education, the arts, and religion and increasing the paid and unpaid contribution older people make to society, challenging views of older age characterised by passivity and dependency, alternatively emphasising autonomy and participation. At the same time there is an emphasis on activities designed to ensure the protection, dignity and care of older people including physical, social, and financial needs and rights (Stenner et al 2011). The World Health Organization (WHO) (2002) definition added further emphasis to the case for re-focusing notions of ageing away from employment and productivity, which risks the marginalisation and stigmatisation of those unable to work or who choose not to, towards a more holistic approach which considers a variety of factors which contribute to well-being in linked policy terms including quality of life, mental and physical well-being and participation (Walker 2002).…”

Unmaking old age: Political and cognitive formats of active ageing

“…-but it is unique within gerontology for being primarily a policy concept. Indeed, when reviewing the literature on active ageing, Stenner and colleagues argued that the meaning of active ageing cannot be 'adequately grasped without understanding that it is designed to change our views, perspectives, understandings, stereotypes and prejudices about ageing in order to reconstruct the practical societal reality of the ageing process in an 'ageing society' (Stenner, McFarquhar & Bowling 2011). …”

Mobility, satisfaction with functional capacity and perceived quality of life (PQOL) in older persons with self-reported visual impairment: the pathway between ability to get around and PQOL

“…Modification indices suggested that significant model improvement would be achieved by specifying the presence of the five regression weights to indicate significant shared variance between items, and there was ample theoretical and research evidence to support the relationships indicated by these weights. The regression weights were as follows: (a) satisfaction with self to satisfaction with activities of daily living [25]; (b) satisfaction with self to satisfaction with health [26,27]; (c) satisfaction with health to satisfaction with capacity to work [28,29]; (d) satisfaction with activities of daily living to satisfaction with capacity to work [30,31], and (e) satisfaction with activities of daily living to satisfaction with health [32,33]. Figure 3 demonstrates regression-weight adjusted model (Model 3) which now accounts for 51% of PQOL variance.…”