A little goes a long way: grandparents’ experiences of grandchildren’s caring consumption practices

PurposeThe purpose of paper is to shine light on the under‐theorised relationship between old age and victmisation. In classical criminological studies, the relationship between “age”, victimisation and crime has been dominated by analysis of younger people's experiences. This paper aims to address this knowledge deficit by exploring older people's experiences by linking it to the social construction of vulnerability.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores both historical and contemporary narratives relating to the diverse experiences of older people as victims in the UK. In particular, from 1945 to the present, statistical context and theoretical advancement illuminates that older people as a social group have a deep “fear of crime” to their relative victimisation.FindingsA careful survey of the criminological literature highlights a paucity of research relating to older people's views and experiences of crime and victimisation. The conceptual issue of vulnerability in different contexts is important in understanding ageing and victimisation in UK. The paper's findings illustrate that their experiences have remained marginalised in the debates around social policy, and how the criminal justice system responds to these changes remains yet to be seen.Research limitations/implicationsAny research attempt at theorising “age” should take into consideration not just younger people, but also the diverse experiences of older people. Policy makers may care to ponder that benchmarks be written that takes into full consideration of older people's experiences as vulnerability.Practical implicationsFor criminal justice scholars and practitioners, there is a need to listen to the narratives of older people that should help shape and frame debate about their lived experiences. There should be an examination of existing formal and informal practices regarding elders, as the first step in developing an explicit and integrated set of policies and programmes to address the special needs of this group.Originality/valueThis is an original paper in highlighting how important old age is in construction of “victims” in modern society. By theorising age, victimisation and crime it is hoped to dispel and challenge some of the myths surrounding later life, crime and the older victim.

Editorial: Welcome to the <i>International Journal of Older People Nursing</i>

This paper is a report of a study of the experiences of older people living with a long-term urinary catheter and the development of a substantive theory grounded in their realities. Understanding the user perspective is a prerequisite for involving older people in a collaborative relationship with healthcare professionals which is built around their needs and wishes. Older people's views and experiences of the complexity of living with a long-term catheter have not been widely researched. An enhanced understanding of catheter users' perspectives and an awareness of their needs can be used to improve care. A grounded theory approach was adopted and 20 in-depth interviews were carried out in England in 2005 and 2006 with 13 older people living at home with long-term urinary catheters. The core category 'all about acceptance' described older people's adjustment to living with a long-term urinary catheter; the two categories 'at ease' and 'uneasy' reflect the extremes of contentment experienced. Three interlinking categories of 'trying to understand', 'judging catheter performance' and 'being aware of the catheter' shaped older people's relationships with their catheters and this was mediated by their 'interaction with others'. The consequences for older people fluctuated along a continuum from 'engaging actively' to experiencing 'downbeat sentiments'. To assist older people to adjust to living with a catheter, healthcare professionals must be sensitive to their life situations and individual needs rather than focusing predominantly on catheter performance and complications.

To explore older people's initial experience of household isolation, social distancing and shielding, and the plans they constructed to support them through the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health guidance for those aged 70 or older was predominantly to undertake stringent social distancing within their household. Little is known about older people's experience of these measures. This paper explores changes experienced by those over the age of 70 during the first two weeks of household isolation, social distancing and shielding in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and their early perceptions and plans to support them through the pandemic. An inductive phenomenological study. University staff posted the study invitation flyer on social media, such as WhatsApp neighbourhood groups, the Nextdoor App and Twitter. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 19 participants and repeated at 2-week intervals for 10weeks; further data collection is still in progress. This paper presents the findings from the baseline interviews, which showed older peoples' early responses. The COREQ (COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research) checklist was adhered to in the reporting of this study. Three themes emerged from older people's early experiences of social distancing: protective measures; current and future plans; and acceptance of a good life, but still a life to live. People over 70 adapted to household isolation, social distancing and shielding, by using social media and neighbourhood resources. Nurses and other professionals can develop holistic care for older people by listening to their experiences of what works for them, helping them link to local and distant supports. Understanding the holistic life view of older people, including death anxiety, is an important element of care planning; to help older people access the protective resources, they need to reduce the serious risks associated with coronavirus. Older people engage with social media, and during the current pandemic and beyond nurses can engage with this medium to communicate with older people. The importance of nurses to understand some older people consider quality of life to be more important than longevity, which may impact on their adherence to health advice.

To explore older people's experiences of registered nurses' leadership close to them in community home care. In Sweden and throughout the world, the number of people 65years and older is increasing. While older people are living for more years, living longer can bring more diseases and disabilities, which might lead to the need for home care. Registered nurses are responsible for older people's care needs in their leadership in community home care; this is a part of their professional role as registered nurses, and it implies that they must be multi-artists. An explorative and inductive design was used in two communities in western Sweden. Individual interviews were conducted with older people (n=12) with at least one year of experience with community home care. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results are presented in the theme 'my registered nurse', including five categories - relationship, professional competence, nursing interventions, coordination and collaboration and organisation - and 15sub-categories. These findings are based on older people's own experiences. This is specific, as the phenomenon of the RNs leadership is rarely explored from the perspective of older people. There is a need for organisations to create more opportunities for older people to have their own registered nurses leading close to them. This is because registered nurses have specific competences for meeting older people's individual needs and involving them as competent partners in satisfying their care needs.

Resilience from the point of view of older people: ‘There's still life beyond a funny knee’

This article explores the temporalities experienced by persons aged 70 years and over during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland. Although the temporalities of the pandemic have been analysed from multiple perspectives, we contribute to this line of research in two ways. First, we show how deeply the pandemic affected older people's experiences of temporality. Second, we further develop the concept of forced present to highlight the consequences that the restriction measures had on older persons’ situations and perceptions of temporality. More specifically, we asked the following question: How did older people perceive time (past, present and future) during the pandemic? We used thematic analysis to examine a dataset consisting of written letters (N = 77) collected between April and June 2020. The findings showed that social isolation forced older people to live in the present without being able to plan their near future because they had no knowledge of when they would be ‘free’ again, which made some participants feel anxious and depressed. Furthermore, we found that the present became intertwined with the personal past as well as with the collective past, as evidenced by participants’ descriptions of war, previous pandemics and hardships. This article deepens our understanding of older people's everyday lives during the pandemic and highlights the problematic nature of social isolation of older people as a safety measure. Overall, this article reveals the particularity of older people's experiences in unequal pandemic times and the ageism inherent in the restriction measures.

Aim To report on the experiences of using software (Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (QARI)) specifically designed to synthesise qualitative research studies. Background The synthesis of qualitative research using a systematic review process is somewhat contentious and at present a variety of approaches exists. One approach is the QARI tool from the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) which provides a structured process to qualitative synthesis for appraising, extracting and synthesizing qualitative research that is considered more aggregative than interpretative. The process shares similarities with the methods of quantitative systematic review although the analysis stage is grounded in qualitative methodology. QARI provides a means for accumulating and synthesizing qualitative-based knowledge on the view and experiences of healthcare users and staff that can be used alongside systematic reviews of effectiveness to supply information on barriers and facilitators to adopting an intervention. The synthesis of qualitative research on older people's experiences of falls is used as the focus in this paper. Conclusions In common with other qualitative synthesis methodologies, there remain important areas for debate. These relate to the process and outcomes of: quality assessment, extracting findings from primary studies, the creation of categories (themes, metaphors), the expression of the synthesis and the credibility of an iterative review process.

Commentary on Tse MMY, Pun SPY &amp; Benzie IFF (2005) Pain relief strategies used by the older people with chronic pain: an exploratory survey for planning patient‐centred intervention. <i>Journal of Clinical Nursing</i> 14, 315–320

Subjective experiences of participatory arts engagement of healthy older people and explorations of creative ageing

Few qualitative studies have investigated older people's experiences of hospital admission and none has done so from an occupational perspective. The purpose of this study was to examine older people's experience of acute hospitalisation. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants recruited from the Alfred hospital, Melbourne, Victoria. Data were analysed using Colaizzi's (1978) approach to phenomenological analysis. Five themes describing older people's experience of acute hospitalisation emerged from the analysis: (i) not part of 'normal life'; (ii) undesirable, but for the good of my health; (iii) understanding my condition and abilities; (iv) subject to approval; and (v) getting back into life. The importance of the individual's occupational narrative emerged as a central theme in understanding the older person's experience of acute hospitalisation. Occupational therapists have a unique contribution to make in encouraging meaningful occupation on hospital wards. Identifying the manner by which occupational therapists can most effectively implement the assessment of occupational performance in the acute care setting should constitute a research priority for future investigations.

This session provides insights into the experiences of older people in England post-COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence suggests that stay-at-home and lockdown measures during the pandemic impacted several aspects of people’s lives with detrimental consequences for their wellbeing and mental health, particularly among older people. Little is known, however, on whether and to what extent there has been a return to ‘normal life’ since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) this symposium aims to provide new evidence on the experiences of older English people since the successful and rapid COVID-19 vaccination rollout and the easing of restrictions in England through the second half of 2021. ELSA is an ongoing longitudinal biennial survey representative of individuals aged 50 and over in private households that has collected data before the pandemic (with the most recent pre-COVID-19 data collected in 2018/19), during the pandemic (on two separate occasions in June/July and November/December 2020), and post-COVID-19 pandemic (with interviews taking place between October 2021 and March 2023). Exploiting the richness of this dataset, this symposium will present the most up-to-date picture of how older people are faring post-pandemic. Results will focus on mental health and wellbeing, social isolation and loneliness, employment and financial status, as well as social participation (including volunteering, caring, and grandparental childcare).

Most East Asian countries have policies to promote digital inclusion, especially among the children of low-income families and persons with disabilities, for the purposes of social development. However, such efforts and their impact among older people have been rather limited. In Hong Kong, only 7 % of those aged 65 or above were Internet users in 2008, compared with 66.7 % of the general public. Providing computer and Internet training programmes to older people is thus crucial in promoting digital inclusion. This paper discusses the experience and results of training older people to use both a computer and the Internet. Based on findings from an earlier qualitative study, we hypothesise that acquiring knowledge of computers and Internet use will have an empowering effect for older people in terms of increasing self-efficacy and enhancing communication with friends and family members. This paper presents two studies of such empowerment among older people in two non-governmental organisations (NGOs). While older people with little computer knowledge showed some effects of empowerment, at the same time, they also became more aware of the marginalisation and exclusion effects of their limited knowledge of computer and Internet usage. However, among users with some prior experience of using a computer, further training failed to show additional positive empowerment results. The results of the two studies call for a re-examination of the training process and experience of older people as well as integration of such training with other strategies to achieve better results in promoting their social inclusion in the information society.

Older people's experiences in acute care settings: Systematic review and synthesis of qualitative studies

PurposeThis study aims to explore the experiences of older people “ageing in place”, focussing on the implementation of “Circles of Support”, a pilot intervention aimed at mitigating the risk of hospitalisation amongst socially-isolated older people.Design/methodology/approachThe study draws on qualitative research, taking in semi-structured interviews with participants in the intervention and with community networkers involved in delivering the programme.FindingsThe research provides indicative findings supporting the idea that social isolation is linked to health issues amongst older people. It also suggests that targeted interventions can go some way to mitigating this problem. The findings presented here also indicate the importance of a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of socially-isolated older people in designing and delivering interventions.Originality/valueThe study contribution is in three areas. It presents findings based on the pilot programme relating to the experiences of older people at risk of social isolation and provides an indication of the value of interventions aimed at tackling social isolation, connecting these to the risk of hospitalisation.