Exploring community perceptions of the relationship between age and social exclusion in rural areas

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults - 2012
EamonO'Shea1, KieranWalsh2, TomScharf3
1Professor, Kieran Walsh is a Research Fellow, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
2Research Fellow and Professor, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
3Director, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland

Tóm tắt

PurposeThis paper aims to explore, for the first time, community perceptions of the relationship between age and social exclusion in rural areas of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.Design/methodology/approachThe paper builds on learning from a previous baseline cross‐border rural ageing study and draws its methodology from a broader ecological multi‐level approach. The research was conducted through focus groups with community stakeholders, which were undertaken in ten communities in different rural settings (village, near‐urban, island, dispersed, and remote) in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.FindingsIn total, four interconnecting thematic areas emerged as important in determining exclusion or inclusion for older people living in rural areas: place, economic circumstances, social provision, and social connectedness. Within these themes, various tipping points emerged as important for pathways into and out of exclusion, most notably local systems of social support and the mindset of older people themselves in relation to participation.Originality/valueThis research lays the foundations for understanding the lived experiences of older people on the island of Ireland and the pathways for their inclusion and exclusion in diverse rural areas, as seen through the lens of community stakeholders.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Burholt, V. (2006), “‘Adref’: theoretical contexts of attachment to place for mature and older people in rural north Wales”, Environment and Planning, Vol. 38, pp. 1095‐114.

Chamberlayne, P., Rustin, M. and Wengraf, T. (Eds) (2002), Biography and Social Exclusion in Europe: Experiences and Life Journeys, The Policy Press, Bristol.

Commins, P. (2004), “Poverty and social exclusion in rural areas: characteristics, processes and research issues”, Sociologia Ruralis, Vol. 44, pp. 60‐75.

Conradson, D. (2005), “Landscape, care and the relational self: therapeutic encounters in rural England”, Health and Place, Vol. 11, pp. 337‐48.

CSO (2006), Census 2006, Central Statistics Office, Dublin.

Estes, C.L. (1979), The Aging Enterprise, Jossey‐Bass, San Francisco, CA.

Gustafson, P. (2001), “Meaning of place: everyday experience and theoretical conceptualisations”, Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 21, pp. 5‐16.

Heenan, D. (2010), Rural Ageing in Northern Ireland: Quality of Life Amongst Older People, Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Belfast.

Joseph, A.E. and Cloutier‐Fisher, D. (2005), “Ageing in rural communities: vulnerable people in vulnerable places”, in Andrews, G.J. and Philips, D.R. (Eds), Ageing and Place: Perspectives, Policy, Practice, Routledge Studies in Human Geography, Taylor & Francis Group, London.

Keating, N., Swindle, J. and Foster, D. (2005), “The role of social capital in ageing well”, Social Capital in Action: Thematic Policy Studies, PRI Project, Policy Research Initiative, Ottawa.

Krout, J.A. (1986), The Aged in Rural America, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT.

Le Mesurier, N. (2003), The Hidden Store: Older People's Contribution to Rural Communities, Age Concern England, London.

Levitas, R.A., Pantazis, C., Fahmy, E., Gordon, D., Lloyd, E.H.R.R. and Patsios, D. (2007), The Multi‐dimensional Analysis of Social Exclusion, Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), Cabinet Office, Social Exclusion Task Force, London, available at: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/publications/multidimensional.aspx.

Magilvy, J.K. and Congdon, J.G. (1994), “The crisis nature of health care transitions for rural older adults”, Public Health Nursing, Vol. 17 No. 5, pp. 336‐45.

NCAOP (2001), “Income: ageing in Ireland”, Fact File No. 3, National Council for Ageing and Older People, Dublin.

NESF (2005), “Care for older people”, NESF Report No. 32, National Economic and Social Development Office, Dublin.

O'Shea, E. (2007), “Towards a strategy for older people in Ireland”, Irish Medical Journal, Vol. 100 No. 8, pp. 67‐9.

O'Shea, E. and Conboy, P. (2005), Planning for an Ageing Population: Strategic Considerations, National Council on Ageing and Older People, Dublin.

Pierce, M. (2008), “Constructions of ageing in Irish social policy”, in Kennedy, P. and Quin, S. (Eds), Ageing and Social Policy in Ireland, University College of Dublin Press, Dublin, pp. 5‐19.

Room, G. (1999), “Social exclusion, solidarity and the challenge of globalisation”, International Journal of Social Welfare, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 166‐74.

Rowles, G.D. (1983), “Place and personal identity in old age: observations from Appalachia”, Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 3, pp. 299‐313.

Rowles, G.D. (1988), “What's rural about rural aging? An Appalachian perspective”, Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 4, pp. 115‐24.

Rowles, G.D. (1993), “Evolving images of place in ageing and ‘aging in place’”, Generations, Vol. 17, pp. 65‐70.

Rubinstein, R.L. and Parmelee, P.A. (1992), “Attachment to place and the representation of life course by the elderly”, in Altman, I. and Low, S.M. (Eds), Place Attachment, Plenum Press, New York, NY, pp. 139‐63.

Rural Community Network (2004), Ageing and Rural Poverty: A Research Report, Rural Community Network, Cookstown.

Saunders, P., Naidoo, Y. and Griffiths, M. (2008), “Towards new indicators of disadvantage: deprivation and social exclusion in Australia”, Australian Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 43 No. 2, pp. 175‐94.

Savikko, N., Routasalo, P., Tivis, R.S., Strandberg, T.E. and Pitala, K.H. (2005), “Predictors and subjective causes of loneliness in an aged population”, Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Vol. 41, pp. 223‐33.

Scharf, T. and Bartlam, B. (2008), “Ageing and social exclusion in rural communities”, in Keating, N. (Ed.), Rural Ageing: A Good Place to Grow Old?, Policy Press, Bristol, pp. 97‐108.

Scharf, T., Phillipson, C. and Smith, A.E. (2005), “Social exclusion of older people in deprived urban communities of England”, European Journal of Ageing, Vol. 2, pp. 76‐87.

Shucksmith, M. and Chapman, P. (1998), “Rural development and social exclusion”, Sociologia Ruralis, Vol. 38, pp. 225‐42.

Shumaker, S.A. and Taylor, R.B. (1983), “Toward a clarification of people‐place relationships: a model of attachment to place”, in Feimer, N. and Geller, E.S. (Eds), Environmental Psychology: Directions and Perspectives, Praeger Publishers, New York, NY, pp. 219‐51.

Thrift, N. (1999), “Steps towards an ecology of place”, in Massey, D., Allen, J. and Sarre, P. (Eds), Human Geography Today, Polity Press, Cambridge, pp. 295‐322.

Walsh, K. and O'Shea, E. (2008), “Responding to rural social care needs: older people empowering themselves, others and their community”, Health and Place, Vol. 14, pp. 795‐805.

Walsh, K., Murray, M., Connolly, S., Allen, M., McGuire, C., Gavin, M., McDonagh, J. and HARC Research Network (2010), Older People in Rural Communities: Exploring Attachment, Contribution and Diversity in Rural Ireland and Northern Ireland, HARC Research Network, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, Galway.

Wenger, C. (2001), “Myths and realities of ageing in rural Britain”, Ageing and Society, Vol. 21, pp. 117‐30.

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults

Thông tin tác giả