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The functional ability of older people has come to play a significant role in their care. Policies and public debate promote active aging and the need to maintain functioning in old age, including among older people living in long-term care. This study explores the meanings given to functional ability in the interview talk of long-term care nurses (n = 24) and older people living in long-term care (n = 16). The study is based on discourse analysis and positioning theory. In this study, accounts of functioning differed between nurses and older residents. For the nurses, functional ability was about the basic functions of everyday life, and they often used formal and theoretical language, whereas for older long-term care residents, functional ability was a more versatile concept. Being active was promoted, particularly in the nurses' talk but also sometimes in residents' talk, thereby reflecting the public discourse about functioning. In their talk, the nurses positioned themselves in relation to functional ability as competent professionals and active caregivers. In residents' talk, we found three positions: an active individual taking care of him or herself, a recipient of help, and a burden to nurses. To move in a direction that promotes activity and rehabilitative care, a better understanding of older people's individual needs and their own views of functional ability is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is a strong drive in ageing research, policy programmes and the media today to promote the agency of older people. In this paper, agency is approached as a discursive and interactional phenomenon. The data consist of group discussions with people aged 70 or over. Although the interviews were designed to focus on questions of health, the participants also raised other topics, including their interests, social activities and social relations. The main focus of the analysis was on the participants'' descriptions of themselves and on their scope of action in health issues. The aim was to establish whether being old was constructed as an agentic position and to identify the meanings attached to agency in age-talk. The participants described themselves in agentic terms and agency was assigned diverse meanings, but whenever the category of old was mobilized, agency became problematic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

ABSTRACT: This article applies the method of discourse analysis to look at how older people talk about age and getting old. The data come from biographical interviews with people aged 90 years or over. The picture that emerges from these interviewees is one of ambivalence: old age is constructed through two contrasting repertoires that are described as the choice repertoire and the necessity repertoire. Talk about old age as a necessity produces it as a self-evident fact that the essence of old age is deterioration. Talk about old age as a choice is used to undermine the necessity repertoire and to argue for various and more positive definitions of old age among which one can make a choice. It is important to note that the contrast is not between cultural views and individual experience, but the ambivalence is rooted in people's minds. Both repertoires are reasonable and justifiable, which turns old age into a dilemma. Our thinking about old age is dilemmatic by nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older peoples' independent living in their own homes and their ability to move around and maintain social relations in their communities have been acknowledged as important aims to support their well-being. In this article, we study Special Transport Services as a means to support older persons with 'aging in place' – that is, within their communities. From "go-alongs" (shared dial-a-ride bus journeys) and "sit-down interviews" (at participant's home or a café) with 12 older people living in a Finnish suburb, we explored their everyday dial-a-ride bus trips to the local mall. We used actor-network theory and the concept of motility to show how at first glance what appeared to be simple dial-a-ride journeys were in fact produced by a complex and fluid actor network consisting of people, rules, norms, practices, technical devices, as well as other objects and tools. Associations between various human and non-human actors compensated for the functional limitations experienced by the participants, but also created difficulties during the journeys. Our main finding is that the actor network of dial-a-ride bus did physically help older people be more mobile, but at the same time the service required a wide range of know-how and skills. We argue that developing a truly age-friendly environment – with inclusive services to help older individuals age well within their community – requires a detailed understanding from their perspective of the actor networks that produce those services. When planning old age services, there is a need to engage with older people from different social backgrounds to develop services that are genuinely supportive and easy to use for a heterogeneous group. Our findings can be utilized in developing physical and social environments that better support older people's mobility and enable them to age well in the community. • Dial-a-ride bus enabled older people to manage their own affairs independently. • Dial-a-ride bus offered support for building and maintaining social relationships. • The bus helped older persons be mobile, but using it required know-how and skills. • Inclusive old age services require detailed knowledge of actor networks involved. • Diverse service users need to be involved as co-producers in planning the services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how older adults use and perceive digital technologies in Finland and Ireland. These two countries are at different stages regarding two important global trends – demographic ageing and digitalization. Finland, being the fastest ageing society in Europe, is also one of the leaders in implementing digital technologies in social and health care services. In contrast, Ireland is a demographically younger and less digitalized society. Drawing on focus group discussions on the usage of digital technologies, conducted with older adults in both countries, we analyse how digital technologies are adopted and viewed by older generations. The analyses showed that older adults associate digitalization with both advantages and drawbacks. To encapsulate these two contrasting aspects, we developed the term Janus-faced conceptions of technology. This concept encapsulates how the successful adoption of digital technology facilitates everyday activities whereas the inability to utilise technologies results in feelings of alienation and being out-of-touch. The digital divide was found to occur not only between generations but also between different socioeconomic groups of older adults. • Older adults need training, support, and easy access helplines to use technologies. • Digitalization may increase inequality between generations and among older adults. • Digitalization of services may increase inequality in access to public services. • The advantages and drawbacks of digitalization need to be acknowledged. • Digital technology may exacerbate feelings of being old and alienated from society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]