Despite sociological understanding that bodies are social and morphological, material and discursive, there is a persistent, prevailing tendency within sociology to approach the old body – particularly in ‘deep old age’ – as non-social. No longer amenable either to reflexive (consumerist) choice, or expressive of the self, it is viewed rather through a biomedical explanatory framework in which it is held to succumb to ‘natural’ physiological processes of decline that lie outside culture. This paper critically questions such assumptions which it links to sociology's acquiescing in modernity's age ideology rather than taking it as a starting point for critique. This means that sociology's sensitivity towards ageing is displayed not in challenging models of the older body but in diverting attention away from the body altogether and focusing on structural and cultural determinants which are not considered to encompass physiology. Arguing, however, that biology and society do not exist on separate plains, and that the body in deep old age is, like other bodies, first and foremost a social body, the paper draws upon feminist methodology and epistemology for the purpose of dismantling such essentialism. It suggests that the sociological imagination will benefit from the eradication of age ideology through a clearer understanding not just of ageing but of embodiment at all stages of the lifecourse.

Dignity is a universally important issue for all people, and particularly vital for older adults who face multiple losses associated with ageing. In the United States of America and beyond, the maintenance of dignity is a key aim of policy and service provision for older people. Yet surprisingly little research has been conducted into the meaning of dignity to community-based older adults in the context of everyday life. As life expectancy continues to increase worldwide, unprecedented numbers of people are living longer than ever before. The majority of older adults will face declining health and other factors that may impact dignity in the course of ageing in their communities. This paper reports on a study that explored older people's understandings and experiences of dignity through focus groups and a survey. Three key components of dignity are identified: autonomy, relational and self-identity. In addition, the paper discusses a range of factors that can facilitate or inhibit a sense of dignity for older people, including long-term health issues, sensory deficits and resilience to life events. Finally, the implications of these findings for policy and practice are considered in the context of American social structures and values.

In the last few decades, a number of researchers have attempted to identify the effects of paid care services on alleviating the sense of burden of family care-givers, especially care-givers to people with dementia. However, few researchers have considered the possibility that paid care services alleviate the sense of burden only among those care-givers who possess specific characteristics. Without considering this point, the impact of paid care services would be averaged over an entire sample, and one might overlook the effects on these specific care-givers. With this background, this study examines the relationship between family care-givers' sense of burden and the amount of paid care services in Japan and identifies groups of care-givers among whom these services are significantly associated with a lesser sense of burden. The sense of burden of 339 family care-givers to older care recipients with dementia was measured using a modified version of the Caregiver Burden Inventory. In order to examine their association with the amount of paid care services received, logistic regression analysis was individually applied to groups of care-givers who exhibit specific characteristics. The results suggested that paid care services alleviated two out of five components of burden, provided the groups to which the analyses are applied are appropriately defined. In particular, two subsets of the entire sample, comprising young care-givers aged 49 or below, and including male care-givers, indicated that their overall sense of social and emotional burden were alleviated by the use of paid care services. The practical implications for policy makers are discussed.

Despite rapid social change that has influenced the social status of older adults, expectations about their behaviour and whether such expectations differ across generations remain unexplored in Korea. Based on ageing theories of activity, disengagement and modernisation, this study investigated age norms among Koreans conceptualised as shared expectations of appropriate behaviours of older adults. Competing perspectives in intergenerational relations and prejudice toward older adults were examined to test if they influenced age norms and if such associations varied across different age groups. Data were analysed from a survey of 1,445 individuals aged 20 and above who resided in 16 administrative districts of Korea. Comparisons of age norms across age groups indicated that the older adult group (age 65+) held more restrictive attitudes about social participation and engagement in various behaviours in old age than the middle-aged adults (ages 45–64) and younger adults (ages 20–44). Respondents with more prejudice towards older adults tended to place more restrictions on the behaviour of older adults. A significant interaction indicated that respondents whose views were in line with a generational conflictive perspective, assessed as reporting more competitive perspectives between young and old people and being less supportive of intergenerational programmes, had a more restrictive view about older adults' behaviours among the middle-aged group but less restrictive attitudes in determining acceptable behaviour in later life among the older adult group.

This paper engages with a cultural politics of ‘older’. At the centre of this politics are essentialist discourses of corporeal ‘ageing’ that limit and stigmatise the subjective experience of ‘older’. Drawing together theoretical insights from Foucault's work on care of the self with data from in-depth interviews with ‘older’ people who have undergone cosmetic surgery and cosmetic surgery practitioners, this paper advances the proposition that cosmetic surgery can be re-imagined as an ethical practice of self-care. To critique the limitations imposed by ‘natural ageing’ through an ethic of ‘ageing gracefully’, the paper explores how older people who have undergone cosmetic surgery stylise the ethical experience of ‘older’ through active resistance of an ‘elderly’ identity. It argues that the practice of cosmetic surgery by ‘older’ people constitutes a cutting critique of the limits of ‘older’ and an experiment with the possibility of exceeding and ultimately transforming those limits.

It is common for people with chronic conditions to report their health as good, although models of healthy ageing do not account for this. The concept of successful ageing focuses on overcoming problems, in contrast to the concept of resilience, which can acknowledge vulnerability. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the main cause of joint pain in older people, but research in this area has tended to focus on OA as an illness. Consequently, our research aimed to explore OA from the perspective of wellness. We undertook a longitudinal qualitative study to explore ‘wellness and resilience’ in a group of older people who reported chronic joint pain and considered themselves healthy. We interviewed 27 people and followed them up with monthly diary sheets, responding to reports of changes using their chosen contact method. This article focuses on how resilience relates to how people consider themselves to be well. Participants' experience of the adversity of their pain varied, and was influenced by context and meaning. Participants described ‘keeping going’ in body, mind and everyday life. Flexibility and pragmatism were key aspects of keeping going. The findings support a broader version of resilience that incorporates vulnerabilities. In the context of health care we suggest that treating the frail body should not come at the expense of undermining an older person's sense of a resilient self.

In this study, we identify the dominant storylines that were embedded in the narratives of younger people with dementia and their nominated family members. By implementing a longitudinal, narrative design underpinned by biographical methods we generated detailed family biographies with five families during repeated and planned research contacts (N=126) over a 12–15-month period between 2009 and 2010. The application of narrative analysis within and between each family biography resulted in the emergence of five family storyline types that were identified as: agreeing; colluding; conflicting; fabricating; and protecting. Whilst families were likely to use each of these storylines at different points and at different times in their exposure to young onset dementia, it was found that families that adopted a predominantly ‘agreeing’ storyline were more likely to find ways of positively overcoming challenges in their everyday lives. In contrast, families who adopted predominantly ‘conflicting’ and ‘colluding’ storylines were more likely to require help to understand family positions and promote change. The findings suggest that the identification of the most dominant and frequently occurring storylines used by families may help to further understand family experience in young onset dementia and assist in planning supportive services.

The promotion of choice and control for older people is a policy priority for social care services in the United Kingdom and is at the heart of recent drives to personalise services. Increasingly, we are seeing a move away from institutionalised care (e.g. in care homes) towards enablement, with more services being delivered in community-based settings. Extra care housing has been promoted as a purpose-built, community-based alternative to residential care for older people. However, whilst accounts of users' experiences in particular service types are plentiful, the use of different instrumentation and measures makes comparison between settings difficult. We combined data from four studies where participants were older people either living in care homes or extra care housing or receiving care at home. All of these studies asked participants to rate their control over daily life, using the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT). This paper presents the results of an ordinal logistic regression analysis indicating that, after controlling for differences in age, ability to perform activities of daily living and self-rated health, setting had a significant effect on older people's sense of control. Residents in care homes and extra care housing report similar levels of control over daily life but consistently report feeling more in control than older people receiving care at home. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.