Purpose in life has been found to decline from middle to later life in several ageing studies. Because the decline has negative impacts on health-related outcomes, it is important to identify factors contributing to purpose in life to enhance wellbeing among the ageing population. This study first examined the role of subjective social economic status (SSES) in the relationship between age and purpose in life. Subsequent analyses estimated whether the construct Artistic Creativity as a Source for Meaning in Life (ACASMIL) played a role in cultivating purpose in life among ageing individuals. Moreover, the analyses determined whether this effect was strengthened by creative self-concept (i.e. self-conviction about personal identity and self-efficacy in the global domain of creativity). Results from a sample of 224 individuals from middle to third age (mean age = 54.08, standard deviation = 10.08, range = 40–84) revealed that the relationship between age and purpose in life was only positive among those with relatively high SSES, controlling for gender and country of residence. Controlling for gender, country of residence, age and SSES, it was found that ACASMIL did not play a mediator role. Moreover, creative self-concept played a moderator role in the relationship between artistic creativity and ACASMIL. However, this moderation effect of creative self-concept was negative. Implications and suggestions for future directions are discussed.

Although ageing is personally relevant to many if not most gerontologists, a reflexive perspective is largely absent from gerontological scholarship. This paper employs duoethnography, a variant of autoethnography, to explore how experiences related to growing older have informed the authors' teaching and scholarship in the field of ageing. Duoethnography involves putting two autoethnographies into conversation, promoting dynamic self-understandings and generating new insights through dialogue. The co-authors first reflected on their journeys to date in the field, including on how the personification of ageing has shifted our perspective. Then we shared our narratives and made some initial revisions based on each other's feedback. Next, we collaboratively identified and discussed three broad, connective themes: the differing yet central role of gender in our narratives, teaching and generativity, and the pedagogical and personal challenges associated with ageism. Our reflections and dialogue deepened our understanding of these issues central to studying and teaching about ageing. The kind of reflective practice that we model could be a vital resource for bridging the gap between theory and practice, researcher and researched.

The lives of transgender older adults are rarely examined, and little is known about the critical life events and experiences of this population. Informed by the Iridescent Life Course, this study investigates how intersectionality, fluidity, context and power impact the life events and experiences of trans older adults by generation and gender. Utilising 2014 data from the National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study: Aging with Pride (National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging funded), a national sample of LGBTQ+ individuals 50 years and older, living in the United States of America, were analysed to examine life events of 205 transgender older adults, including identity development, work, bias, kin relationships, social and community engagement, health and wellbeing. Ordinary least-squares regressions and logistics regressions are used to compare the life events between the generations then test the interaction effect of gender. Pride Generation more openly disclose their identities and are more likely to be employed and married compared to the Silenced Generation, who have more military service, higher rates of retirement, fewer same-sex marriages and more different-sex marriages. Invisible Generation, the oldest group, are more likely retired, have more children and are more likely engaged in the community compared to the Silenced Generation, who experienced more discrimination. Applying the Iridescent Life Course is instrumental in understanding older trans adults' lives through intersecting identities of both generation and gender. These insights have the potential to create a greater appreciation of how historical events shape differing generations of transgender people, creating an opportunity to link generations together.

Given the significant impact the pandemic has had on the lives of older adults, research is needed to understand how conceptions of ageing in place and attitudes about living independently may have shifted during a time marked by significant environmental change. There is a gap in knowledge about how older adults characterise positive support for ageing in place in response to rapid changes in physical and social environments, including home confinement, reduced social interaction and greater barriers to resources. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted a photovoice study with community-dwelling older adults (N = 17) to understand how their experiences of adapting to pandemic conditions influenced their attitudes and behaviours towards ageing in place. We organised data into five themes: (1) the importance of proximity to family and loved ones; (2) the ability to balance safety and social connectivity; (3) an increased appreciation for the outdoors; (4) new platforms for learning; and (5) the role of inner belief systems. Adapting attitudes, expectations and behaviours through physical, social and personal domains highlights the role of change within an ecological framework of ageing. Findings contribute to the ongoing discourse about ageing in place within an ecological framework by identifying changes that older adults make at individual, interpersonal and system levels. This paper adds to the literature by identifying characteristics of ageing in place that community-dwelling older adults prioritise in the pandemic era. The paper also contributes to a growing body of research that elicits participation and offers the co-creation of knowledge with older adults. Lessons learned from the pandemic will continue to shape and inform future policies on ageing in place.

In recent years, various authorities launched projects that aim to make their cities more age-friendly. Designing age-friendly cities is a complex and context-dependent process that requires clear implementation guidelines for policy makers. As one of the eight domains of age-friendly cities, transportation is a critical component of making our cities more liveable for older adults and their families. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the travel behaviour of older adults with a focus on the factors that lead to sustainable mobility patterns. Our empirical analysis is based on survey data collected from 1,221 older adults as part of the Age-Friendly Columbus project in Columbus, Ohio in the United States of America. We develop multinomial logistic regression models to investigate the travel mode choices of older adults (auto only, non-auto options only and multimodal (auto and at least one non-auto option)). We include age and built environment characteristics as the key variables, with lifestyle-related factors and socio-demographics as controls in our analysis. We find older respondents were more likely to use autos only compared to younger respondents. Our analysis also reveals significant associations between built environment characteristics and travel mode choices. Interaction effects show that the relationships between built environment characteristics and travel preferences differed by age cohorts among older individuals. The primary contribution of this study is that it provides evidence on what built environmental improvements help to promote sustainable travel among older adults in mid-sized and auto-dependent metropolitan cities. We argue that these improvements contribute to older adults' sustainable mobility, as well as out-of-home activity behaviour, social engagement and individual health. The results of this study may especially benefit non-driver older adults who lack reliable non-auto alternatives for their daily travel.

In the literature on Alzheimer's disease (AD), scholars have noted how both the disease and the people who are diagnosed as having it have been stigmatised. I argue here that the AD stigma is of a specific sort – it is dehumanisation based on disgust and terror. Although the blame for negative perceptions of people with AD has been placed on the biomedical understanding of dementia, I argue that strong negative emotional responses to AD are also buttressed by the social construction of people with AD as zombies. To illustrate this point, this paper identifies seven specific ways that the zombie metaphor is referenced in both the scholarly and popular literature on AD. This common referencing of zombies is significant as it infuses the social discourse about AD with a politics of revulsion and fear that separates and marginalises those with AD. It is in recognising the power of this zombie trope that its negative impact can be actively resisted through an emphasis of connectedness, commonality, and inter-dependency.

Synthesising the social capital and ageing-friendly communities literature, this paper describes how efforts to make communities more ageing-friendly can promote social inclusion among older adults. Making existing communities more ageing-friendly involves physical and social infrastructure changes that enable older adults to pursue lifelong activities, meet their basic needs, maintain significant relationships, participate in the community in personally and socially meaningful ways, and develop new interests and sources of fulfilment. Such efforts can enhance bonding, bridging and linking capital, and thereby promote social inclusion. The authors discuss the link between ageing-friendly communities and social inclusion, and provide examples of programmes with potential to change existing communities into ones that promote the social inclusion of older adults.

This paper discusses the politics of ageing in the US within a political economy framework. Four forces are shaping US policy: austerity, federalism, deregulation, and the medical-industrial complex. Two major trends in the development of policy are the commodification of the aged and their needs and a class basis for the distribution of benefits, differentiating the deserving elderly from the undeserving elderly. Ideologies of individualism, self-help, privatisation, and procompetition are being used to delegitimate public programmes and to reduce expectations about what government can and should do to ameliorate social problems.

Recent policy is characterised not only by a reduction of federal funds for domestic social spending, but also a restructuring of the community care delivery system as it operates in the private, non-profit sector of the economy. The emergent processes of this restructuring, e.g., targeting of services based on ability to pay and individual characteristics, medicalisation, and absorption of non-profit agencies by for-profits are discussed. These policies and the consequences that flow from them are viewed in light of the search for new sources of capital investment in the domestic markets. This analysis raises important political questions concerning the transformation of relations between the state and the non-profit sector.

Research on the psychological outcomes of reminiscence techniques has led to equivocal findings. The goal of this paper is to advance current theory guiding research on reminiscence by examining the implications of viewing reminiscence as a type of autobiographical memory. Butler's classic paper on reminiscence as ‘life review’ (1963) is examined, and revisions to this approach are proposed based on research and theory concerning autobiographical memory. Specifically, the process of reminiscence is delineated through a discussion of the partially reconstructive nature of autobiographical memory and the relation of memory to the self. These developments are then used to predict the types of psychological outcomes that can be expected to result from reminiscence, and the types of reminiscence techniques that can be expected to lead to the distinct outcomes of self-acceptance and self-change. Linking the literatures on reminiscence techniques and autobiographical memory also provides a catalyst for future theoretical and empirical work.

This study extends previous research on the profiles of social relations in three ways: (1) by including both functional and qualitative characteristics of social relations; (2) by examining the association of these profiles with mental and physical health and mortality; and (3) by exploring these profiles and associations in two cultures. Using samples of approximately 500 adults aged 60 or more years from the Social Relations and Mental Health over the Life Course studies in both the United States and Japan, separate cluster analyses were conducted for each country. The common or shared network types were labelled ‘diverse’, ‘restricted’, ‘friend-focused’ and ‘family-focused’, but in the US we found two types of ‘friend-focused’ networks (supported and unsupported) and two types of ‘restricted’ networks (structurally- and functionally-restricted). In addition, we found a unique network type in Japan: ‘married and distal’. Multivariate analyses of variance and Cox regressions revealed that whereas individuals in the functionally restricted network type had the worse physical and mental health in the US, Americans in the structurally-restricted network type had the lowest survival rates at a 12-year follow-up. Interestingly, there were no wellbeing differences by network type in Japan. The findings have been interpreted in the light of social relations theories, with special emphasis on the importance of taking a multidimensional perspective and exploring cultural variation.

As increasingly more people experience old age as a time of growth and productivity, theoretical attention to successful ageing is needed. In this paper, we overview historical, societal and philosophical evidence for a deep, long-standing ambivalence about human ageing that has influenced even scientific views of old age. In recent years, however, discussion of the psychological and behavioural processes people use to maintain and reach new goals in late life has gained momentum. We contribute to this discussion the metamodel of selective optimisation with compensation, developed by Baltes and Baltes. The model is a metamodel that attempts to represent scientific knowledge about the nature of development and ageing with the focus on successful adaptation. The model takes gains and losses jointly into account, pays attention to the great heterogeneity in ageing and successful ageing, and views successful mastery of goals in the face of losses endemic to advanced age as the result of the interplay of the three processes, selection, compensation, and optimisation. We review evidence from the biological and social science literatures for each component and discuss new research avenues to study the interaction of the three processes.

Suicide in later life is a pressing public health concern, which has likely been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many older adults who need mental health treatment do not have access to necessary services and training for mental health providers to support older adults experiencing suicidality is limited. One solution is developing interventions based in a public health approach to suicide prevention, whereby natural helpers who provide community services are mobilised to respond to older persons-at-risk. Home-delivered meal (HDM) services, for example, are one effective means to reach older adults who are isolated due to being homebound and may be instrumental in preventing suicide. This study examined the experiences of 20 HDM volunteers who received Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), an evidence-based suicide intervention programme. Phenomenological analysis yielded findings centred on three areas demonstrating the impact of the ASIST training on HDM volunteers: putting asist skills into practice; response to ASIST skills; and role transformation. Implications for integrating suicide prevention efforts with HDM services and directions for future research are discussed.

An engaged lifestyle is seen as an important component of successful ageing. Many older adults with high participation in social and leisure activities report positive wellbeing, a fact that fuelled the original activity theory and that continues to influence researchers, theorists and practitioners. This study's purpose is to review the conceptualisation and measurement of activity among older adults and the associations reported in the gerontological literature between specific dimensions of activity and wellbeing. We searched published studies that focused on social and leisure activity and wellbeing, and found 42 studies in 44 articles published between 1995 and 2009. They reported from one to 13 activity domains, the majority reporting two or three, such as informal, formal and solitary, or productive versus leisure. Domains associated with subjective wellbeing, health or survival included social, leisure, productive, physical, intellectual, service and solitary activities. Informal social activity has accumulated the most evidence of an influence on wellbeing. Individual descriptors such as gender or physical functioning sometimes moderate these associations, while contextual variables such as choice, meaning or perceived quality play intervening roles. Differences in definitions and measurement make it difficult to draw inferences about this body of evidence on the associations between activity and wellbeing. Activity theory serves as shorthand for these associations, but gerontology must better integrate developmental and psychological constructs into a refined, comprehensive activity theory.

Much remains unknown about how the 2008 Great Recession, coupled with the ageing baby-boomer cohort, have shaped retirement expectations and realised retirement timing across diverse groups of older Americans. Using the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2016), we compared expectations about full-time work at age 62 (reported at ages 51–61) with realised labour force status at age 62. Of the 12,049 respondents, 34 per cent reported no chance of working full time at 62 (zero probability) and 21 per cent reported it was very likely (90–100 probability). Among those reporting no chance of working, there was a 0.111 probability of unmet expectations; among those with high expectations of working, there was a 0.430 probability of unmet expectations. Black and Hispanic Americans were more likely than white Americans to have unmet expectations of both types. Educational attainment was associated with higher probability of unexpectedly working and lower probability of unexpectedly not working. Baby-boomers experienced fewer unmet expectations than prior cohorts but more uncertainty about work status at 62. Our findings highlight the unpredictability of retirement timing for significant segments of the US population and the role of the Great Recession in contributing to uncertainty. Given the individual and societal benefits of long work lives, special attention should be paid to the high rates of unexpectedly not working at age 62.

Age-related changes shape social connectedness, isolation and loneliness among older adults. Ageing often accompanies decisions about ageing in place or moving (i.e. senior living facility). Scant research compares these two living arrangements and even sparser research focuses on older women. This study, thus, poses the following questions: How do older women (aged 75+ years) experience social connectedness and perceived isolation? How does this experience vary between older women living alone in private homes and those living in assisted living facilities? Data include semi-structured interviews with women aged 75+ years who live alone in a private home or in an assisted living facility (N = 16). Findings revealed differences in three aspects of social connectedness: interactions, relationships and belonging. Private home participants' interactions underscored intentionality, with minimal investment in forging new or deeper relationships and an emphasis on belonging to the world through awareness, contribution and cognitive ability. The experiences of participants living in assisted living were characterised by availability of interactions and casual relationships. They emphasised belonging to the facility community, while positioning themselves between the status of resident and staff. Surprisingly, most participants in both groups did not express feelings of perceived isolation. Both had adapted their social connectedness expectations to reflect their current situation.

Research shows that healthy ageing is defined differently by older adults and researchers, who may put more or less weight on the physiological, psychological, societal and personal aspects of ageing. Although there is growing interest in the research literature on lay models of healthy ageing in socio-cultural context, little work has been done to determine how important or feasible the various components of healthy ageing are viewed to be by older adults. This study asked a convenience sample of 54 older adults in the circumpolar North to rate the importance and feasibility of 36 previously identified components of healthy ageing in their community. Results indicate that seniors in the sample place the most importance on aspects of the social and physical environment, while least important concepts included psychological and individual behaviours. However, most feasible aspects were individual behaviours and least feasible were aspects of the social and physical environment. Although older adults are able to construct a model of what healthy ageing should look like in their community, they do not always view the most important aspects of healthy ageing to be the most feasible to achieve, providing ample opportunity for public and social policy change.

The personal futures of older adults are continually in mind, motivating goals, desires and plans. People approach the near and long term with differing agentic traits and dispositions, and they face forward, as well, from differing standpoints according to socio-economic position. This is a study of how persons who are economically privileged diverge in their future thought from persons of modest means, asking how income level qualifies the capacity to imagine, and foresee affecting, the future. We draw upon interviews conducted with 42 older, community-dwelling individuals in the Midwestern United States of America, a sample that was partitioned into two groups, one with below-median incomes versus one with incomes above 200 per cent of median. Interviews disclosed various foci of future thought with common contents among the two groups. Three foci, however, confirmed between-group differences in confidence about handling possible material and support needs, and also in enacting idealised norms of retirement. The underlying theme of these foci – financial security, long-term supports and services, and trips and travel – was the perceived affordability of the future. We conclude that there is indeed a material basis for imagination of and proactivity toward the future. When paradigms about later life set expectations that idealise lifestyle choice, consumption and prudential preparation for the future, these are prospects towards which some can reach more readily than others.

Researchers and programme champions alike have identified older adults as key contributors to age-friendly community change efforts. There has been very little scholarship, however, to characterise the nature of older adults’ engagement in age-friendly community initiatives (AFCIs). To help address this gap, we drew on five waves of data from semi-structured interviews with core group members of eight AFCIs in a Northeast region of the United States of America. Interviews were conducted as part of a multi-year, community-engaged study on the development of philanthropically supported AFCIs. We iteratively coded segments of the interviews in which core group members described the involvement of older adults, as well as their efforts to engage older adults in the initiatives. This analysis resulted in an inductive-analytic typology with five qualitatively distinct categories, including older adults as: (a) consumers (receiving information, goods and services through the AFCI), (b) informants (sharing perspectives on ageing in the community with the core group), (c) task assistants (assisting with project-oriented tasks under the direction of the core group), (d) champions (contributing ideas and implementing action on their own initiative), and (e) core group members (holding primary responsibility for driving the work of the AFCI forward). We discuss implications of the typology for research on AFCI implementation and evaluation, as well as opportunities for AFCIs to enhance the engagement of older adults from historically marginalised groups.

Ageing is associated with reduced muscle mass, strength, flexibility and balance, resulting in a poor quality of life (QOL). Past studies have occurred in highly controlled laboratory settings which provide strong support to determine whether similar gains can be made in community programmes. Twenty participants were enrolled in an eight-week community-based resistance training programme (mean age = 61.3 (standard error (SE) = 0.9) years); Body Mass Index = 32.0 (SE = 1.3) kg/m2). All participants completed surveys to assess outcomes associated with QOL. Given the relationship between muscle function and nerve health, nerve conduction studies (NCS) were also conducted in a separate group of participants (mean age = 64.9 (SE = 2.0) years; Body Mass Index = 32.6 (SE = 1.9) kg/m2). This community-based training programme significantly improved QOL measures in older adults (p < 0.001). Although weight loss was not the primary outcome of the study, participants reduced their body weights (p < 0.001), by primarily reducing fat mass (p = 0.007) while maintaining muscle mass. Significant improvements were observed in muscle strength (2.2%), flexibility and balance (3.2–464.2%, p ⩽ 0.05 for all). Improvements were also observed in plasma glucose (p = 0.05), haemoglobin A1C (p = 0.06) and aldolase enzyme levels (p < 0.001). Scores for surveys on memory and sleep improved (p < 0.05). Improved QOL was associated with increased lean mass (r = −0.714, p = 0.002), decreased fat mass (r = −0.702, p = 0.003) and improved flexibility and balance (r = −0.627, p = 0.008). An eight-week, community-based resistance training programme significantly improved QOL in older adults. Influence on the lipid profile and NCS still needs further investigation.

Bereavement and grief are frequently experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic given widespread mortality. However, losses extend beyond deaths to include cancelled plans and routines, separation from family and friends, and unemployment. It is essential to better understand the multifaceted and complex losses experienced by older adults throughout the pandemic. We analysed 2,587 open-ended survey responses collected online in May to July 2020 from the COVID-19 Coping Study, a mixed-methods study of US adults aged 55 and older. Participants were on average 67 years old (standard deviation = 7.2), over two-thirds female and largely white. Qualitative thematic analysis identified diverse sources of grief, sadness and loss. Themes ranged from death and bereavement to anticipatory grief, loss of agency, cancelled plans and missed milestones, losing social contact and physical touch, health struggles, loss of normalcy and daily routines, and societal and economic woes. The results highlight the varied and highly personal nature of everyday grief and loss among ageing adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sources of grief extended beyond death to include both tangible and intangible losses with expectations of long-term consequences. These findings may inform the development of family and community supports, including mental health services, to address complex subjective experiences of grief and loss since the pandemic onset. Interventions are needed to support healing and hope in vulnerable and resilient ageing populations.