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In the past decade, frailty research has focused on refinement of biomedical tools and operationalisations, potentially introducing a reductionist approach. This article suggests that a new horizon in frailty lies in a more holistic approach to health and illness in old age. This would build on approaches that view healthy ageing in terms of functionality, in the sense of intrinsic capacity in interplay with social environment, whilst also emphasising positive attributes. Within this framework, frailty is conceptualised as originating as much in the social as in the biological domain; as co-existing with positive attributes and resilience, and as situated on a continuum with health and illness. Relatedly, social science-based studies involving interviews with, and observations of, frail, older people indicate that the social and biographical context in which frailty arises might be more impactful on the subsequent frailty trajectory than the health crisis which precipitates it. For these reasons, the article suggests that interpretive methodologies, derived from the social sciences and humanities, will be of particular use to the geriatrician in understanding health, illness and frailty from the perspective of the older person. These may be included in a toolkit with the purpose of identifying how biological and social factors jointly underpin the fluctuations of frailty and in designing interventions accordingly. Such an approach will bring clinical approaches closer to the views and experiences of older people who live with frailty, as well as to the holistic traditions of geriatric medicine itself.

This article aims to make a philosophical contribution to debates about meaningful sociocultural narratives about aging. It is argued that the moral-philosophical discourse of authenticity may provide valuable resources for counter narratives about later life that are capable of challenging the dominant stereotyping decline- and age-defying cultural narratives. The discussion will draw on classical and contemporary views of authenticity by Rousseau; existentialists such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Heidegger; and contemporary thinkers such as Taylor and Meyers. Authenticity discourse is argued to be capable of, on the one hand, acknowledging the positive potentials of growth and development that later life may harbor, while, on the other hand, providing support for recognizing and integrating the inevitable existential vulnerability and finitude that old age also confronts us with. Although authenticity is not a commonly used term in gerontology, some examples show how a language associated with this philosophical discourse has found its way into gerontological thought as well, supporting its relevance for the context of aging. The article concludes with a discussion of four aspects through which the authenticity discourse may contribute to viable cultural narratives about later life.

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In this article, we introduce a general theory about meaning in life developed by our first author, and apply it to the context of ageing. The seven components of meaning distinguished by this theory – purpose, moral worth, selfworth, control, coherence, excitement and connectedness – are discussed in turn. After presenting the theory, we confront the seven  components with extensive life narratives of two older men – in a first empirical qualitative exploration of how meaning dimensions appear in the life experiences of older people. This dialogue between theory and narrative is used to provide concretisation and clarification of the seven components, thereby enhancing the understanding of the theory, while at the same time suggesting possible refinements and directions for future exploration of meaning in life in the context of ageing.