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In this paper, we argue that the biggest challenge facing an Ageing Australia is care, specifically, the labour shortages in the care industry and the high demand for care, which exceeds the supply. We propose that this situation has arisen out of the extremely divergent discourses about the need for care, from feminist to neoliberal, managerialist responses. The aged care context in Australia is predominantly female, because women live longer than men, and 90% of formal and informal carers are women. We therefore see the continuing relevance of a gendered view of care and believe that the feminist ethics of care is a theory which offers much to our understanding of ageing in Australia. To illustrate key issues for older people and their families within the aged care system in Australia, a case study is presented and referred to throughout the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particular places may function as resources for older people in their efforts to actively maintain independence. In Australia, a place of this type is the licensed or ‘registered’ club which provides leisure facilities, restaurant and bar services and opportunities for informal social interaction. This paper draws on the findings of an ethnographic study which sought to understand the nature, meaning and role of registered club participation for members of one club in Sydney, Australia, to describe the role of club participation in maintaining independence for older people. Participant observation and in-depth interviewing over a four and half year period yielded qualitative data which were analysed using thematic, narrative and key-words-in-context methods of analysis. Club-use facilitated independence—conceptualised as self-reliance—by being an accessible resource utilised by older club-goers to manage daily living and to maintain ‘everyday competence’. Independence—conceptualised as self-direction—was facilitated by the availability of a range of options enabling the exercise of choice and balanced reciprocity in relationships. Additionally, club-going was symbolic, for some, of continuing independence. The findings provide a valuable insight into a means by which older people manage later life’s challenges, highlighting the active nature of these efforts and the role of local contexts that function as a resource for independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A community designed to ensure people age well must provide appropriate information in order to ensure seniors stay healthy and secure and are able to participate fully in their community. The aim of this research is to understand issues impacting on older people’s capacity to access relevant information. This paper reports on early phases of action research designed to build ageing well initiatives at the local level in two cities in the south-east Queensland region of Australia. In both places, a range of stakeholders from seniors’ groups, service providers and different levels of government formed working action groups to explore criteria for improved systems of information dissemination to seniors. Many seniors report that they are not well-informed and, presumably as a result, not well connected with their community. Our research identifies both a range of barriers for seniors to accessing information and also their preferences regarding information provision. Local solutions proposed to address these barriers and preferences are outlined. It is proposed that applying the principles of information provision elaborated in this research would begin to address some perennial challenges for older people and enhance their social inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of social capital has acquired some currency amongst policy analysts to refer to the social norms, networks and trust that facilitate co-operation and provision of mutual support within or between groups. As yet there is no agreed definition of the concept; however influential Australian policy bodies are developing measures to track changes in social capital and relate these to policy changes. Most research is concerned with exploration of the concept in locality-based communities and its application to developing societies. This paper reviews research undertaken in Australia and overseas to determine the elements of social capital that may have importance in relation to policy development in response to an ageing population. It concludes that the concept could be of considerable value in understanding the determinants of policy success or failure, but that further research is required to understand the nature of social capital as it relates to older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have investigated how older people themselves conceptualize and talk about what they do with their time. Even fewer have addressed such issues from the perspective of older people whose living arrangements and lifestyles diverge from majority, middle-class pathways. This paper draws on in-depth interview data from the Ageing Men's Health Project, a three-year ethnographic study of the health, housing, and service use of low income, single, non-homeowning men aged 50 years and over, living in the inner city of Sydney, Australia. Among other topics, the men were asked to describe an average day and otherwise elaborate on the everyday circumstances of their lives. Findings highlight the extent to which the men's everyday lives are constrained and curtailed by economic disadvantage and health deficits. At the same time, the men invest their activities with a range of sociocultural meanings that do not always match professionally constructed categories and understandings. In particular, social relationships with other men appear to be central to the meanings they confer on everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]