Connectedness in the Lives of Older People in Ireland: A Study of the Communal Participation of Older People in Two Geographic Localities

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the connectedness of older people in two sample areas, one urban and one rural, in Ireland. The paper is based on a study ofthe communal participation of older people in two geographic localities; Rathmore, a suburban area of Dublin, and Rathbeg, a rural area in County Donegal, conducted between 2000 and 2005. A multi-stage study that used both qualitative and quantitative methods examined significant communal interactions of older people across a range of arenas, including leisure interests, involvement in clubs, religious practices, voluntary work, relationships with kin, friends and neighbours, helping activities, use of social services and informal interactions in neighbourhoods and other communal settings. The paper describes their experiences of connectedness, explains how older people co-create and sustain communal ties and explores the significance of social practices and social groupings involved. The study demonstrated that among a diverse group of older adults engagement with others outside one's immediate family was a significant source of satisfaction and meaning in life. It provided evidence that place-based friendships are important contexts for the development of collective solidarities and transformative relationships. The paper underlines the contribution of older people to the lives of others, and argues that communit>' should be understood as involving both place and type of relationship instead of a symbolic attachment to identities. The policy implications ofthe findings are also briefly considered. , 2005. Rathmore and Rathbeg are fictitious names. 2 The symbolic construction of community has been examined by Cohen (1985), while Young (1990) developed a feminist critique ofthe oppressive nature of traditional understandings of community.

A critical review and development of a conceptual model of exclusion from social relations for older people

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Eating and ageing: A comparison over time of Italy, Ireland, the United Kingdom and France

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