Ac#ve Ageing: from the perspec,ve of a sample of older people Paul Stenner Professor of Social Psychology The Open University, UK Paul.Stenner@open.ac.uk
new dynamics of ageing a cross-council research programme Quality of life in older age: Psychometric testing of the multidimensional Older People s Quality of Life (OPQOL) questionnaire and the causal model under-pinning it. A. Bowling, D. Banister, P. Stenner, H. Titheridge, K. Sproston, T. McFarquhar ndafindings 2
Art 1. Subjectivity is not to be dissociated from objectivity of 2. Subjectivity is not to be confused with the isolated individual Life
English Longitudinal study of ageing (Marmot et al, 2009) Mortality, ill health, social isola#on and loneliness all differed, in a graded way, with people s wealth: less wealth was associated with being sicker, less func#onal and more isolated
From the Zimmer frame to the Zimmers hrp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqffrcureby The Zimmers (Alf Carretta) The Zimmer frame
Hope I die before I get old! Hope I die before I get old The Vital Subject The Retiring Subject
Subjec#ve age P13: I tell you what, you don t alter. The mind is s#ll young, can be, but I mean you re aware that you ve got to behave you know, like an older person but you re s#ll the same as when you were young! I: So if you had to put a number on how old you feel mentally what would you say? P13: Well I could go back to my twen#es and teens. [female, 80]
P15: I had a rela#ve by marriage, and she was well in her 90s and she looked like an Edwardian lady because she had hair all Edwardian style and she said to me... I know when someone knocks at the door and I open the door, they see a very old lady. But I m about 23 (laughs)... you re no different from what you were when you were 6 really inside... You can remember the you and that s s#ll there. Gets crusted over a bit but its s#ll there! [female, 75] P8: you feel the same all the way through inside really. You don t really age inside. [female, 73] P12: To be honest I don t think you really change as you get older. [male, 72]
What does being old mean? P23: Anyone that s older than me! But I don t regard myself as old. [Female, age 72] P21: 90 I think. But by the #me you get to 90, if you get to 90, it ll probably go up again! [female, 75] P12: I think you could be old at 50, really some people are old in their mind for all their lives, I think. I ve met people that seem that way... I think a lot of people feel old as soon as they get to a certain age you, I ve got friends, rela#ons and that and they get to 60 and oh yeah I don t do that anymore, not at my age. And you know, what s the difference at your age you know? (laughs). What s the difference now to 2 or 3 years ago? And they tend to slow down inten#onally it almost seems. [male, age 72].
Being old symbolised by declining powers P25: Ac#ve ageing is trying to keep as young as you can, I should imagine. [male, 77] P23: It s not giving in, not saying to yourself I am old. [female, 72] P15: you re very much aware that you haven t the energy that you used to have. So although I like to think of myself in my 50s, my body tells me no, no you re not in your 50s. [female, 75]
Symbols of being old P36: What about a mobility scooter or something like that? is that something you d ever consider? R: Those electric things? R: I have thought about it, I don t want to yet. I: Why not? R: Because I ll be really old! (laughs) [female, 82]
I: So that s not helpful no? The quad s#ck? P1: No it makes me feel an invalid. I don t feel, I don t feel an invalid you know. I tell you I don t really feel that old, it s just that I can t get about so quickly, you know? [female, 87] P11: What I do, I take the top shelf off my trolley, push it round to the front door, put my bags on that, wheel it up. Now I didn t realise un#l recently, I m using that as a Zimmer! But it certainly looks berer than the Zimmer.
Passivity / Ac#vity P33: Ac#ve ageing. Just, I think it s being ac#ve, it s being able, to me it s being able to do what I want, when I want. And to be able to do the things that I want to do. To walk, to do the garden, to, I don t do sports but if I did you know, that s to me what is being, and it s being well enough to be able to be ac#ve. [female, 73]
Vitality Subject to Governance? WHO defini#on of Ac#ve Ageing the process of op#mizing opportuni#es for health, par#cipa#on and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age.
Be Ac#ve
A new type of social contract? On the side of the ci#zen: Everyone must make personal efforts to adopt posi#ve personal health prac#ces at all stages of life On the side of the state: Society must provide evidence- based knowledge of the best ways to age ac#vely, and encourage joined up policy which makes the healthy choices the easy choices
Forever young? P13: I don t want to think about that. I must be able, if I m not, I want to go. I: Ok so it s not something you, you try to think about? R: No. Because I d rather be gone not, not cause people to have to see to me and all that, you know. [female, 80]
Conclusions 1. Theore#cal: relevance of subjec#vity 2. Poli#cal: poli#cs by way of subjec#vity 3. Methodological: move beyond a factors and variables framework towards a challenge and response framework 4. An ageing society?