Jacquie Eales

Conceptualizing Age-Friendly Communities

Sur le front politique et des lignes de conduite, l’intérêt a augmenté pour rendre les communautés plus « amies des ainés », cette tendance est restée constante depuis que l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé a lancé son projet « Réseau mondial des Villes-amies des aînés. » Nous conceptualisons les communautés amies des aînés en nous appuyons sur le cadre de l’OMS et l’application d’un point de vue écologique. Ainsi nous visons à rendre explicite les principales hypothèses sur l’interaction entre la personne et l’environnement afin de faire progresser la recherche ou de décisions politiques dans ce domaine. Les prémisses écologiques (par exemple, il doit y avoir une adéquation entre la personne âgée et les conditions environnementales) suggèrent la nécessité d’une approche de recherche holistique et interdisciplinaire. Une telle approche est requise car les domaines amis des aînés (l’environnement physique, le logement, l’environnement social, les possibilités de participation, le soutien communautaire formel et informel et les services de santé, de transport, de communication et de l’information) ne peuvent pas être traitées independamment des facteurs personnels, tels que l’âge, le sexe, le revenu et l’état fonctionnel, ainsi que des autres niveaux d’influence, y compris l’environnement politique. On the political and policy front, interest has increased in making communities more “age-friendly”, an ongoing trend since the World Health Organization launched its global Age-Friendly Cities project. We conceptualize age-friendly communities by building on the WHO framework and applying an ecological perspective. We thereby aim to make explicit key assumptions of the interplay between the person and the environment to advance research or policy decisions in this area. Ecological premises (e.g., there must be a fit between the older adult and environmental conditions) suggest the need for a holistic and interdisciplinary research approach. Such an approach is needed because age-friendly domains (the physical environment, housing, the social environment, opportunities for participation, informal and formal community supports and health services, transportation, communication, and information) cannot be treated in isolation from intrapersonal factors, such as age, gender, income, and functional status, and other levels of influence, including the policy environment.

Age-Friendly Rural Communities: Conceptualizing 'Best-Fit'

La littérature sur les communautés amies des aînés est axé principalement sur un modèle de vieillissement en un milieu urbain, en omettant ainsi de refléter la diversité des communautés rurales. Dans cet article, nous abordons cette lacune en se concentrant sur la notion de la communauté dans un contexte rural et en demandant ce qui crée une bonne adaptation entre les personnes âgées et leur environnement. Cela se fait grace à (1) comptes autobiographiques et biographiqus de deux environnements géographiques très différents de subsistence: les communautés bucoliques et contournées, et à (b) l’analyse des besoins et des ressources différents des deux groupes de personnes: les personnes âgées marginalisées et actives qui vivent dans ces deux communautés rurales différentes. Nous affirmons que la définition originale de 2007 de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS), de “amie des aînés” doit être repensée pour tenir compte des besoins et ressources explicitement différents de la communauté, pour être plus inclusive ainsi que plus interactive et dynamique en intégrant les changements qui sont survenus au fil du temps chez les personnes et les lieux.

Translating Knowledge: Promoting Health Through Intergenerational Community Arts Programming.

Introduction. Intergenerational programs have been touted to address the generation gaps and isolation of older adults. Mutual contact alone has produced mixed results, but attention to the intergenerational program content demonstrates well-being benefits. This practice-based article examines the benefits of creating and performing ensemble-created plays to older adults’ and university students’ well-being and the key processes that promote well-being. Method. This community participatory research project involved older adults as researchers as well as research subjects. Individual semistructured interviews were conducted by two trained interviewers with older adults (n = 15) and university students (n = 17). Results. Professional dramaturgical processes of storytelling, reminiscence, and playfulness were key elements in participants’ generative learning. They augmented older adults’ and university students’ ability to understand their situations and try innovative solutions. Skills such as openness, flexibility, and adaptation transferred into students’ and older adults’ daily lives. Conclusion. Participating in this intergenerational theatre group reduced ageism and improved intergenerational relationships. It increased older adults’ and university students’ well-being by building social networks, confidence, and self-esteem and developed a sense of social justice, empathy, and support for others.

Evaluating Consumer Satisfaction in Residential Continuing Care Settings

Abstract The outcome of the project reported on here is a client-centered consumer satisfaction questionnaire designed to evaluate new models of residential continuing care in Alberta, Canada. Satisfaction is defined as a multi-dimensional construct that is grounded in the consumers experience. Consultation with the clients of the services during development of the instrument ensured that characteristics important to the clients were assessed. The result is an instrument with which to measure satisfaction that is fully client-centered and that, with appropriate modifications, can be used to monitor any client-centered program for cognitivelyable continuing care clients.

Masks & mirrors: from autobiographical reflection to unmasking interdisciplinary collaboration

Masks & mirrors represent the evolution of a reflective arts‐informed approach to research used in three contexts of inquiry including autobiographical reflection, performance and representation of data. Masks symbolize the social nature of human life and mirrors represent the importance of reflection. Together they hold a tension, a fine balance, between disguise/fiction and truth/reality. Masks represent the ephemeral truth of a moment in time that may become archetypal and that frequently connote ambiguity: what is true now may not be tomorrow. Mirrors, on the other hand, always reflect what surrounds them and while their reflective abilities do not change, what they reflect changes according to the context surrounding them. Just as one’s autobiography is continuously revised, so is the process of interdisciplinary collaboration; mask‐making is revealed as a process that elicits ambiguity and tentativeness yet which also opens deeper insights about the reality of the world.

Final Commentary for CJA Supplemental Issue: The Hidden Costs of Care

In early 2008, the CJA published a special issue (CJA 26 Supplement 1, 2007) based on the Hidden Costs / Invisible Contributions (HCIC) research program, funded under the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI). The overall purpose of the HCIC program is to create a deeper understanding of the place of older adults and adults with disabilities. In Canada, these groups of adults are often characterized as dependent—costly because of the care they require and because of their lack of societal contributions. Throughout this program, we have interrogated these notions, placing costs and contributions in social, political, historical, and cultural contexts that make explicit hidden assumptions regarding the ‘‘dependencies’’ of older adults and adults with disabilities.