Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T00:04:42.478Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hopes, fears and expectations about the future: what do older people's stories tell us about active ageing?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2007

AMANDA CLARKE  and
LORNA WARREN
AMANDA CLARKE*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK.
LORNA WARREN
Affiliation:
Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Amanda Clarke, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, 30 Regent Street, Sheffield S1 4DA, UK. E-mail: a.e.clarke@sheffield.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

‘Active ageing’ is a key concept in current policy and research on ageing and yet is under-analysed or interpreted largely within an economic framework. This paper explores active ageing in the broader context of older people's lives. Drawing on a series of biographical interviews with 23 people aged 60–96 years, the discussion focuses on the theme of future hopes and concerns. Exhortations for ‘active ageing’ may be challenged by a lifelong unwillingness to look forward or plan ahead. Nevertheless, the findings show that fears for a future of limited resources, decline and dependency can exist alongside not only the desire to live longer but also the positive anticipation of forthcoming events and strong inter-generational relations. ‘Living for now’ and ‘taking a day at a time’ – and by extension the accomplishment of everyday activities rather than the activity-driven goals of earlier years – are common strategies for dealing with the unpredictability of later life. In this respect, even stopping paid work and entering residential care may be actively chosen and empowering even though they are steps towards disengagement and dependency. Similarly, planning for death, such as writing (living) wills and making funeral arrangements, may be positive and proactive responses to beliefs and concerns about dying. ‘Active ageing’ therefore needs to offer choices for life to be lived at all stages whilst recognising that much of the focus for older people is on ordinary needs, deeds and relationships.

Keywords

active ageingolder peoplebiographical methodslooking forwarddisengagementdependencydeathgenerativity
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , July 2007 , pp. 465 - 488
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Age Concern Scotland 2005. Innovation for Active Ageing: Changing Lifestyles for The Baby Boomers. Proceedings of a conference held in Dumfries, Scotland on October 24th. Age Concern Scotland, Edinburgh. Available online at: http://domain592741.sites.fasthosts.com/ActiveAgeingConf.pdf [Accessed November 2006].Google Scholar
Agahi, N. and Parker, M. 2005. Are today's older people more active than their predecessors? Participation in leisure-time activities in Sweden in 1992 and 2002. Ageing & Society, 25, 6, 925–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ågren, M. 1998. Life at 85 and 92: a qualitative longitudinal study of how the oldest old experience and adjust to the increasing uncertainty of existence. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 47, 2, 105–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, I., Hogg, D. and Peace, S. 1992. Elderly People: Choice, Participation and Satisfaction. Policy Studies Institute, London.Google Scholar
Audit Commission 2003. Older People – Independence and Well-Being: The Challenge for Public Services. Audit Commission, London.Google Scholar
Bajeklal, M., Blane, D., Grewal, I. and Karlsen, S. 2004. Ethnic differences in influences on quality of life at older ages: a quantitative analysis. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 709–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bamford, C. 1994. Grandparents' Lives: Men and Women in Later Life. Age Concern Scotland, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Barnes, M. and Warren, L. 1999. Paths to Empowerment. Policy Press, Bristol, Avon.Google Scholar
Beaumont, J. and Kenealy, P. 2004. Quality of life perceptions and social comparison in healthy old age. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 755–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernard, M. and Meade, K. (eds)1993. Women Come of Age. Edward Arnold, London.Google Scholar
Blaikie, A. 1999. Ageing and Popular Culture. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Bury, M. and Holme, A. 1991. Life After Ninety. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Bytheway, B. 2005. Age-identities and the celebration of birthdays. Ageing & Society, 25, 4, 463–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bytheway, B. 1995. Ageism. Open University Press, Buckingham.Google Scholar
Callahan, D. 1987. Setting Limits: Medical Goals in an Ageing Society. Touchstone, New York.Google Scholar
Carrese, J. A., Mullaney, J. L., Faden, R. R. and Finucane, T. E. 2002. Planning for death but not serious future illness: qualitative study of housebound elderly patients. British Medical Journal, 325, 125, 127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, P. 1994. A biographical approach to widowhood. Generations Review (British Society of Gerontology), 4, 3, 8–12.Google Scholar
Chong, A. M., Ng, S., Woo, J. and Kwan, A. Y. 2006. Positive ageing: the views of middle-aged and older adults in Hong Kong. Ageing & Society, 26, 2, 243–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, D. and Seymour, J. 1999. Reflections on Palliative Care. Open University Press, Buckingham.Google Scholar
Clarke, A. 2001. Looking Back and Moving Forward: A Biographical Approach to Ageing. Unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, Yorkshire.Google Scholar
Clarke, A. and Hanson, E. 2000. Death and dying: changing the culture of care. In Warnes, A. M., Warren, L. and Nolan, M. (eds) Care Services for Later Life: Transformations and Critiques. Jessica Kingsley, London, 204–18.Google Scholar
Clarke, A., Seymour, J. E., Welton, M., Sanders, C., Gott, M., Cock, M., Franklin, C., Richards, M., Sharpe, I. and Thompson, D. 2006. Listening to Older People: Opening the Door for Older People to Explore End-of-Life Issues. Help the Aged, London.Google Scholar
Coleman, P. 1986. Ageing and Reminiscence Processes: Social and Clinical Implications, Wiley, Chichester, West Sussex.Google Scholar
Coleman, P. G. 2005. Spirituality and ageing: the health implications of religious belief and practice. Age and Ageing, 34, 4, 318–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coleman, P. G., Ivani-Chalina, C. and Robinson, M. 1998. The story continues: persistence of life themes in old age. Ageing & Society, 18, 4, 389–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, P. G., Ivani-Chalian, C. and Robinson, M. 2004. Religious attitudes among British older people: stability and change in a 20 year longitudinal study. Ageing & Society, 24, 2, 167–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, P. G., Seiger, C. and Sherbourne, K. 1990. Religion, ageing and adjustment: questions for research. Generations, 13, 1, 10–14.Google Scholar
Crites, S. 1971. The narrative quality of experience. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 20, December, 291–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cumming, E. and Henry, W. 1961. Growing Old. Basic, New York.Google Scholar
Dalley, G. 1997. 100 at 100: An Interview Study with 100 Centenarians from the UK and Ireland. Report by the Centre for Policy on Ageing, Distressed Gentlefolk's Aid Association, London.Google Scholar
Davey, J. 2002. Active ageing and education in mid and later life. Ageing & Society, 22, 1, 95–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Health (DH) 2001. The National Service Framework for Older People. DH, London.Google Scholar
Department of Health 2005 a. Independence, Well-Being and Choice. Our Vision for the Future of Social Care in England, Cm 6499. DH, London.Google Scholar
Department of Health 2005 b. Securing Better Mental Health of Older Adults. DH, London.Google Scholar
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 2005. Opportunity Age: Opportunity and Security throughout Life. DWP, London. Available online at: www.dwp.gov.uk/opportunity_age/Google Scholar
Docker, C. 2000. Values histories are most useful than advance directives. British Medical Journal, 320, 54.Google ScholarPubMed
Doukas, D. J. and McCullough, L. B. 1998. Assessing the values history of the elderly patient regarding critical and chronic care. In Gallo, J. J., Reichel, W. and Andersen, L. (eds) Handbook of Geriatric Assessment. Aspen, Rockville, Maryland, 111–24.Google Scholar
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) 2005. New Dynamics of Ageing Research Programme: Specification. Programme specification, ESRC, Swindon, Wiltshire. Available online at: http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/New_Dynamics_Of_Ageing_Full_Spec_tcm6-8597.pdf [Accessed September 2006].Google Scholar
Elder, N. C., Schneider, F. D., Zweig, S. C., Peters, P. G. and Ely, J. W. 1992. Community attitudes and knowledge about advanced care directives. Journal of American Board of Family Practice, 5, 6, 565–72.Google Scholar
Erikson, E., Erikson, J. and Kivnick, H. 1986. Vital Involvement In Old Age: The Experience Of Old Age In Our Time. Norton, New York.Google Scholar
European Union 1999 a. Towards an Europe of All Ages. European Commission, Brussels.Google Scholar
European Union 1999 b. Active Ageing: Pivot of Policies for Older People in the New Millennium. European Commission, Brussels.Google Scholar
Feldman, S. 2001. Please don't call me ‘dear’: older women's narratives of health care. Nursing Inquiry, 6, 4, 269–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenton, S. 1987. Ageing Minorities: Black People as They Grow Old in Britain. Commission for Racial Equality, London.Google Scholar
Freeman, M. 1997. Death, narrative integrity, and the radical challenge of self-understanding: a reading of Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Ilych. Ageing & Society, 17, 4, 373–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gabriel, Z. and Bowling, A. 2004. Quality of life from the perspectives of older people. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 675–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gamble, E. R., McDonald, P. J. and Lichstein, P. R. 1991. Knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of elderly persons regarding living wills. Archive of International Medicine, 151, 2, 277–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giddens, A. 1991. Modernity and Self-identity. Polity, Oxford.Google Scholar
Gott, M. 2005. Sexuality, Sexual Health and Ageing. Open University Press, Maidenhead, Berkshire.Google Scholar
Havighurst, R. 1963. Successful ageing. In Williams, R. H., Tibbits, C. and Donahue, W. (eds) Processes of Ageing. Volume 1, Atherton, New York, 299–320.Google Scholar
Hazan, H. 1994. Old Age Constructions and Deconstructions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heikkinen, R. L. 2004. The experience of ageing and advanced old age: a ten-year follow up. Ageing & Society, 24, 4, 567–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Help the Aged 2005 a. Dying in Older Age. Help the Aged, London.Google Scholar
Help the Aged 2005 b. End of Life Care. Policy Press in association with Help the Aged, London.Google Scholar
Howarth, G. 1998. ‘Just live for today’: living, caring, ageing and dying. Ageing & Society, 18, 6, 673–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, C. and Barer, B. 1997. Life Beyond 85 Years: The Aura of Survivorship. Springer Publishing Company, New York.Google Scholar
Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2004. Older People Shaping Policy and Practice. Older People's Steering Group, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York.Google Scholar
Kaufman, S. R. 1986. The Ageless Self: Sources of Meaning in Late Life. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Kirkby, S., Coleman, P. G. and Daley, D. 2004. Spirituality and well-being in frail and non-frail older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 59, 3, 123–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koenig, H., Kvale, J. and Ferrel, C. 1988. Religion and well-being in late life. The Gerontologist, 28, 1, 18–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lidz, T. 1968. The Person: His Development Throughout the Life Cycle. Basic, New York.Google Scholar
Litwin, H. and Shiovitz-Ezra, S. 2006. The association between activity and well-being in later-life: what really matters? Ageing & Society, 26, 2, 225–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacIntyre, A. 1981. After Virtue. Duckworth, London.Google Scholar
Matthews, S. 1979. The Social World of Old Women. Sage, Beverly Hills, California.Google Scholar
McAdams, D. 1993. The Stories We Live By. Morrow, New York.Google Scholar
Midwinter, E. 1991. Ten years before the mast of old age. Generations Review (British Society of Gerontology), 1, 1, 4–6.Google Scholar
Miles, M. B. and Huberman, A. M. 1984. Qualitative Data Analysis: A Sourcebook of New Methods. Sage, Newbury Park, California.Google Scholar
Moloney, M. 1995. A Heideggerian hermeneutical analysis of older women's stories of being strong. Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 72, 2, 104–9.Google Scholar
Moriarty, J. and Butt, J. 2004. Inequalities in quality of life among older people from different ethnic groups. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 729–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nahm, E. and Resnick, B. 2001. End-of-life treatment preferences among older adults. Nursing Ethics, 8, 6, 533–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nazroo, J., Bajekal, M., Blane, D., Grewal, I. and Lewis, J. 2003. Ethnic inequalities in quality of life at older ages: subjective and objective components. GO Findings 11, ESRC Growing Older Research Programme, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield. Available online at: http://www.shef.ac.uk/uni/projects/gop/Nazroo_Findings_11.pdf [Accessed September 2006].Google Scholar
Neuberger, J. (ed.)1996. The End or Merely the Beginning. Counsel and Care, London.Google Scholar
Nilsson, M., Sarvimaki, A. and Ekman, S. 2001. Feeling old: being in a phase of transition in later life. Nursing Inquiry, 7, 1, 41–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Brien, M. 1991. Never-married older women: the life experience. Social Indicators Research, 24, 3, 301–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 1999. Maintaining Prosperity in an Ageing Society. Policy Brief, OECD, Paris. Available online at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/21/10/2430300.pdf [Accessed September 2006].Google Scholar
Prager, E. 1997. Sources of personal meaning for older and younger Australian and Israeli women: profiles and comparisons. Ageing & Society, 17, 2, 167–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qureshi, H. and Henwood, M. 2000. Older People's Definitions of Quality Services. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York.Google Scholar
Reed, J., Cook, G., Childs, S. and Hall, A. 2003. Getting Old is Not for Cowards: Comfortable, Healthy Ageing. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York.Google Scholar
Richards, L. 1998. NU*DIST 4: Introductory Handbook. Qualitative Solutions and Research Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia.Google Scholar
Rubenstein, R. 1986. The construction of a day by elderly widowers. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 2, 3, 161–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiff, R., Rajkumar, C. and Bulpitt, C. 2000. Views of elderly people on living wills: interview study. British Medical Journal, 320, 7250, 1640–1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sidell, M. 1995. Health in Old Age: Myth, Mystery and Management. Open University Press, Buckingham.Google Scholar
Slater, R. 1995. The Psychology of Growing Old: Looking Forward. Open University Press, Buckingham.Google Scholar
Stevenson, O. and Parsloe, P. 1993. Community Care and Empowerment. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York.Google Scholar
Thompson, P., Itzin, C. and Abendstern, M. 1990. I Don't Feel Old: The Experience of Later Life. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Tinker, A. and Askham, J. 2000. Clinging on? Living at home in late old age. In Dickenson, A., Bartlett, H. and Wade, S. (eds) Old Age in a New Age. Proceedings of the British Society of Gerontology 29th Annual Conference, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, 160–3.Google Scholar
Unruh, D. R. 1983. Invisible Lives: Social World of the Aged. Sage, Beverly Hills, California.Google Scholar
Walker, A. 2002. A strategy for active ageing. International Social Security Review, 55, 1, 121–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, A. 2006. Active ageing in employment: its meaning and potential. Asia-Pacific Review, 13, 1, 78–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, J. B. 1994. Life stories. In Gubrium, J. F. and Sankar, A. (eds) Qualitative Methods in Ageing Research. Sage, London, 137–53.Google Scholar
Wengraf, T. 2001. Qualitative Research Interviewing: Biographic Narrative and Semi-Structured Methods. Sage, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiggins, R. D., Higgs, P. F. D., Hyde, M. and Blane, D. B. 2004. Quality of life in the third age: key predictors of the CASP-19 measure. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 693–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilhelmson, K., Andersson, M. W. and Allebeck, P. 2005. Elderly people's perspectives on quality of life. Ageing & Society, 25, 4, 585–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. 1990. A Protestant Legacy: Attitudes to Death and Illness among Older Aberdonians. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation (WHO) 1999. Global Movement for Active Ageing. WHO, Geneva. Available online at: www.who.int/docstore/globalmovement/embrace1999/index.htm [Accessed September 2006].Google Scholar
World Health Organisation 2002. Active Ageing: A Policy Framework. WHO, Geneva. Available online at: http://www.euro.who.int/document/hea/eactagepolframe.pdf [Accessed September 2006].Google Scholar
World Health Organisation 2005 a. Strengthening Active and Healthy Ageing. Committee B, Second Report on Active and Healthy Ageing, WHA58.16, 58th World Health Assembly, Ninth Plenary Meeting, 25th May. WHO, Geneva. Available online at: http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA58/WHA58_16-en.pd [Accessed November 2006].Google Scholar
World Health Organisation 2005 b. International Plan of Action on Ageing: Report on Implementation. Provisional agenda item 13.15, 58th World Health Assembly, A58/19. WHO, Geneva. Available online at: www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA58/A58_19-en.pdf [Accessed November 2006].Google Scholar
United Nations Organisation (UNO) 2002. United Nation's Second World Assembly on Ageing. UNO, New York. Available online at: http://www.un.org/ageing/ [Accessed September 2006].Google Scholar
Young, M. and Cullen, L. 1996. A Good Death. Routledge, London.Google Scholar