Researching Ageing

Methodological Challenges and their Empirical Background

Maria Łuszczyńska

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000080247
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book explores the diversity of methodological approaches to researching ageing, considering which methodological paradigm best captures the phenomenon. Interdisciplinary in scope, it brings together research from scholars from Austria, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Israel, Poland, UK and USA to uncover the conditions under which qualitative and quantitative approaches to research on ageing can best be reconciled and rendered complementary. Presenting international reflection on methods for studying old age from a variety of research backgrounds, Researching Ageing showcases the latest research in the field and will appeal to scholars across the social sciences, including sociology, demography, psychology, economics and geography, with interests in gerontology, ageing and later life.

Part I

Peculiarity of research on ageing in the context of other research areas

1
Older adults – terra incognita?^*

Zbigniew Woźniak

This chapter makes an attempt to show the richness of gerontological areas of research. It shows the correlation between the gerontological and other scientific disciplines approaches and their tangent points. The author makes the useful tabular summary about the research priorities in gerontology, functions and aims of gerontological diagnosis and categorial profiles of older adults.

The chapter also reveals the gaps in knowledge about ageing and old age indicated by international experts, and signals the need to synthesize the national achievements of gerontology and to undertake in-depth research on the profiles of older people revealing the real diversity of older citizens. For this purpose, it is necessary to establish the National Gerontology Institute to coordinate research on the ageing and old age process in Poland and to collect and synthesize the achievements of Polish and world gerontology.

Introduction

Ageing is not one but several processes, characterized by an individual, ontogenic course, which don’t manifest themselves during the same period of life or in the equal manner. Not all changes occur simultaneously and their individual and social consequences alter depending on the living conditions, place, time, sex or the social status of the ageing person. The majority of changes evidenced among ageing people are associated with the normal physiological process of ageing of cells, organs and systems; however, some of them stem from pathologies (chronic diseases), others are the effect of the excess use or disuse of life resources (lifestyle, organization of collective life).

Ageing as a state may generate so-called personal problems, which are related to and focused on one individual (e.g., poor health and mobility, poverty, lack of social contacts) and their immediate environment. Not every individual case becomes a public issue but, if it does, it can impact on personal problems in lives of particular people. In such an approach, old age is not a social problem per se¹ but the effects of population ageing may bring social problems that require a deliberate intervention of various collective and individual entities in order to resolve, eliminate or even alleviate them.

Population ageing also poses questions of an ethical and political nature with regard to older adults’ equal access to resources and their distribution, full participation of the eldest generation in social life, improvement of the quality of life of ageing citizens, selecting the method of medical and social intervention which is adequate to their state of health, the proportion of public and private funding for care, delaying and accelerating death of an ageing person. Moral dilemmas are also posed by issues connected with public and private expenditure in long-term care, access to this sort of care and its duration, as well as the protection of civil rights of poor, disabled and older people.

Old age (the state) and ageing (the process) are sufficiently varied in their manifestations so that we may, depending on the problems we consider/describe/resolve (health and physical condition, psycho-emotional support, activity, conditions and quality of life, social status, estimation of needs senior citizens, development of the institutional infrastructure of care for the eldest etc.), build:

1 multidimensional, interdisciplinary and holistic concepts, models, patterns of ageing and differentiation of situation of the eldest generation in terms of their status (the theoretical and cognitive function: basic research of the universal, bio-psychosocial aspects of ageing and its consequences, conducted within particular branches of science – Figure 1.1);

2 empirically documented profiles of older adults that are varied depending on their health, socio-demographic, socio-economic and cultural features (the implementational function – utilitarian objectives: the development of the social policy strategy aimed at older adults and creating gerontological programs – see Table 1.2, later in the chapter).

Figure 1.1 The interdisciplinary character of the knowledge of ageing and old age.

Source: updated and extended proposal of Eyde and Rich (1983: 39).

Science must, therefore, make an effort to elucidate the multidisciplinary knowledge on the sources, diverse forms and manifestations of the process of ageing for the real world of ageing people, as well as to rebuild and bring to public awareness the problems caused by ageing of populations and individuals. Thus, having a relatively accurate diagnosis of the situation is essential to describe and explain the phenomena related to ageing as well as to assign steps that are adequate to the situation and potential of older adults and allow them to age in a satisfying manner and provide health and social security which is worthy of a person and a citizen.

The majority of countries with an ageing demographic structure (particularly those at different stages of a political transformation) face the necessity of expanding the area of research on ageing and funding for it.

The most frequently researched areas include the following (Bengtson, Putney and Johnson, 2005: 3–20; Bartlett and Harper, 2006; Andrews et al., 2006: 7–14):

1 demographic trends;

2 issues related with the role of grandparents;

3 the informal input (contribution) of the eldest generation for the family and local community (e.g., child-minding, help in running the household of their offspring, intergenerational transfers, voluntary work of older adults, involvement in activities for local development);

4 matters pertaining to the productivity of older adults and their presence in the labor market;

5 analysis of the infrastructure necessary in the process of facilitating autonomy and independence of the eldest generation (e.g., housing, healthcare and welfare, pensions);

6 care for older adults (e.g., potential carers).

In view of inadequate gerontological knowledge, international expert groups, having reviewed the subject research to date, have been signaling, for several years, an urgent need for expanding the research area, taking into account a few significant methodological issues (see Table 1.1).

Table 1.1 Research priorities in gerontology indicated by international experts

Key methodological challenges
A necessity for developing, consolidating/unifying appropriate concepts, notions and standardization of research tools that would allow comparative analyses of the situation, needs and functioning of older adults on the international, national, regional and local level. Developing methods for integrating bio-psycho-social research with due diligence for securing high ethical standards (particularly in the new areas of bio- and psycho-medical research) coupled with accepting social responsibility for interpretation of findings and their dissemination as well as protection of human and citizen rights and privacy of test subjects. Priority for multifaceted longitudinal research (cohort and intergenerational studies) allowing tracking of the process of ageing and its consequences on the individual and social group level. Consolidating and archiving information originating from various sources, including data bases, as well as conducting primary and secondary analyses of existing data, followed by sharing the data with international and national researchers.
Problem	Research priorities	Research indicated as urgent
Macrosocial changes and development.	Mutual relations: ageing population and socio-economic development. Scenarios for the projected development of the ageing society. Older adults’ contribution to the collective life – economic intergenerational transfers. Senior citizens in the labor market and the function of the “silver economy”. Current and optional forms of maintaining/fostering economic security of ageing citizens.	Documenting, monitoring and analysis of the influence of demographic transformations on the functioning of older adults and society as a whole. Needs of the eldest generation caused by economic and technological changes. Ability to work and possibilities for employment for older people (man for work–work for man). Older adults as consumers. Redistribution and transfers of public funding and material and financial resources and services for older adults. Identification and categorization of risk factors for the loss of life independence of the eldest (old-old) people as well as those qualified as members of the “socially vulnerable groups”. Level and correlates of poverty in various categories of older adults.
Health, fitness and well-being of older adults.	Interactions between the genetic and biological markers, environment and health behaviors of ageing people. Biomedical, social and economic implications of health and life span (including biotechnology and anti-ageing medicine programs). Mental health and old age. Epidemiology and determinants of major diseases and disabilities of older people. Geriatric care – infrastructure and human resources.	Individual and social correlates of healthy ageing of men and women. Effectiveness of programs for promoting health and preventive treatment. Availability of medical benefits and services to older adults. Intervention and rehabilitation strategies intended for persons at risk of disability. Long-term and palliative care – the demand and supply of institutional and informal caregivers.
Quality of life in old age.	Establishing working definitions and indicators for the quality of life on the national/international level. Meta-analysis of the quality of life of older adults, based on the available research results. Key parameters of the quality of life of ageing people in the physical, psychological, spiritual and social dimension (hierarchization of parameters). Environmental diversity of the quality of life among older adults.	Indicators for the quality of life of older adults (existential profile, relations with the environment as well as achievement of personal goals, fulfilment of needs and aspirations). Quality of life of older adults living with their families, in independent households as well as those living in care centers. Quality of life of the eldest (old-old) citizens. Adaptive strategies of older adults and coping with difficult situations.
Social integration and participation of older adults.	Intergenerational relations – the perception of old age by generations on the extreme ends. Determinants of the participation of older adults in the social mainstream. Manifestations and level of age discrimination (ageism). Older adults in the education system.	Strategies and programs for intergenerational integration in local communities and larger groups. Image of old age and social attitudes towards old age and older adults. Adaptive strategies and programs of the education system aimed at the needs and challenges posed by population ageing (adult education, lifelong learning, retraining, requalifying etc.). Psychosocial determinants of social integration and participation of older adults (priority: persons living alone and socially vulnerable groups). Manifestations and level of the integration of residents of care centers with the environment. Extent and correlates of negligence, abuse, exploitation and violence against older adults. Social marginalization and isolation of older adults in the countryside and city.
Family of an older person.	Older adult in the family and the senior’s family. Family roles of older adults. Intergenerational transfers in the family.	Changes in the structure and functions of a family with an older adult. Benefits/drawbacks as well as barriers related to an older person’s dwelling with their family. Functioning of older adults running an independent, single-person household (priority: aged people). Family caregivers – resources, competencies and needs.
Welfare systems aimed at citizens in later life.	The impact of changes in the structure and functions of the family on the shape of the care and welfare system for older adults. Older patients’ access to medical services on each reference level of the welfare system.	Determinants of older adults’ capacity for self-care. Documenting, monitoring and designing resources and forms of formal and informal care for persons in later life. Neighbors as a potential source of assistance for older adults. Situation and functioning of residents of care facilities.
Social policy against ageing and in aid of older adults.	Objectives and tasks of the gerontological social policy as well as directions of development of gerontological programs (needs of today – capabilities of tomorrow). Evaluation of the expenditures-effects relation in governmental, self-governmental and non-governmental policies for older adults as well as gerontological programs.	Place of gerontological policy in goals and tasks of the so...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Notes on contributors
• Introduction
• Part I Peculiarity of research on ageing in the context of other research areas
• Part II Research approaches to ageing
• Part III Implementation as the main purpose of ageing research
• Part IV Older adults as the source of knowledge
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3
• Appendix 4
• Index