Ageing-in-place is considered important for the health of older adults. In this paper, inspired by a constructivist approach to ageing-in-place, we unravel professionals' and older adults' constructions of ageing-in-place. Their perspectives are studied in relation to a policy that aims to develop so-called 'lifecycle-robust neighbourhoods' in the southern part of the Netherlands. We conducted a photovoice study in which 18 older adults (70-85 years) living independently and 14 professionals (social workers, housing consultants, neighbourhood managers and community workers) were asked to photograph and discuss the places they consider important for ageing-in-place. Based on a theoretically informed analysis of the data, we found that professionals primarily consider objective characteristics of neighbourhoods such as access to amenities, mobility and meeting places as important enablers for older adults to remain living independently. Analysis of older adults' photographs and stories show that they associate ageing-in-place with specific lived experiences and attachments to specific, intangible and memory-laden public places. We conclude that exploring these experiences helps to increase current knowledge about place attachment in old age.
In Western welfare states, notions of age-friendly communities and ageing-in-place are increasingly important in new health policies. In the Netherlands, care reforms are modifying the former welfare state to be more participatory; local governments are seeking collaborative solutions. Municipalities and housing, care and welfare organisations in the southern part of the country developed the concept of ‘lifecycle robust neighbourhoods’, envisioned as places where older people can age-in-place. Although many scholars have used the concept ageing-in-place in their studies of neighbourhoods, we aim to unravel this concept further by exploring how this particular ageing policy plays out in practice. This paper explores what the development of ‘lifecycle robust neighbourhoods’ means in relation to notions of ageing-in-place and age-friendly communities. We used ethnography (interviews, observations and focus groups) to reveal how, on the one hand, the policy makers, housing, care and welfare directors and representatives of older people, as developers of ‘lifecycle robust neighbourhoods’ and, on the other hand, older people, give meaning to places to age-in-place. It becomes clear that ageing-in-place has a different meaning in policy discourses than in practice. While developers mainly considered place as something construable, older people emotionally attached to place through lived experiences.
In the context of the transformation of welfare states into participatory societies, care and welfare professionals are assigned new roles. In the Netherlands, they are tasked with activating and empowering older adults, as well as negotiating customised care. For this purpose, policymakers introduced the kitchen table conversation as a social technology to assess needs and abilities in an informal setting, at home or in public places. The notion of a kitchen table refers to the idea that an informal sphere may increase the professionals' ability to attune to the needs and abilities of citizens. This paper discusses findings of a qualitative study, in which ethnographic methods were used to examine kitchen table conversations with older adults in practice. Our study demonstrates that, although the tool aims to increase attunement between professionals and citizens, it actually creates tensions between policy, professionals and citizens. Professionals struggle with the issue of how other policy expectationssuch as cutting the costs of careresonate in the conversations, a phenomenon which becomes even more awkward in the private domain of older adults. In practice, however, rather than mediating participative citizens, kitchen table conversations mainly generate ambiguity in relationships between professionals and citizens. SAMENVATTINGIn de context van de transformatie van verzorgingsstaten naar participatiesamenlevingen krijgen zorg-en welzijnsprofessionals nieuwe rollen toebedeeld. In Nederland hebben zij de taak gekregen om ouderen te activeren en te 'empoweren', terwijl zij tegelijkertijd zorg-opmaat onderhandelen. Om dit doel te kunnen bereiken introduceerden
In the development and deployment of health and ageing innovations, underlying values such as privacy or quality of life are often seen as a relatively stable starting point, if considered at all. However, values are neither stable nor singular. This paper introduces a valuation framework to explore the co-constitution of values and technological innovations. A careful and ongoing reflection on values and valuation, in particular in innovation practices targeted at older people, is crucial when aiming to increase sustainable innovations. Therefore, we include a Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) perspective to technological development and innovation, to understand better the construction and co-constitution of ageing-in-place technologies. This framework is developed following a review of literature on values and valuation in the broad field of SSH. The proposed valuation framework consists of three core elements: (a) value multiplicity, (b) value dynamism, and (c) valuation implications. To demonstrate potential applicability of the framework, we conducted a thought experiment on values and valuation practices related to the development and potential further deployment of a COVID-19 health app in the Netherlands. This experiment pays special attention to multiple values at stake and implications for older adults who age in place. We argue this valuation framework provokes reflection on dynamic and multiple values underlying technology use and non-use, and contributes to responsible health and ageing innovations.
Insight in older adults' own ideals, ideas and experiences is crucial to enable meaningful applied research activities. To increase and enable older adults' perspectives to be heard in academic research, innovative methods are needed. This research presents an analysis of a newly developed research game called 'Build your story'. The aim of designing this game was to develop an innovative, participatory methodology that enables the collection of stories that older adults share about their daily life experiences, ideas and ideals. These are considered important input in setting and renewing a research agenda that attunes to older adults' perspectives on what is important in their life. The game was tested in individual and group sessions with older adults with and without dementia. Despite critique on the design and use, observations and experiences also demonstrate a different method allows different stories to be told. Positive questions and associations offer opportunities for dialogue.
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