Anthropology & Aging

Institutional Care for our Elders: A Conversation with Dr. Ellen Badone

2024-01-24T14:12:51-05:00

Commentary: Aging Places: A Review Essay

2023-08-23T15:55:29-04:00

This Commentary reflects on the convergence of social and geographical gerontology as presented in two books addressing place and aging with and without dementia. The two books are expansive in scope, exploring aging and dementia research and care practices globally, with an emphasis on English-language settings and resources. Drawing on my own work that addresses the significance of place and living with dementia (i.e., McGovern 2016) and on personal experiences with the place-making practices of both my parents, this Commentary provides an overview of each text and concludes by stressing the need for deepening understanding of the experience and impact of place and environment as we age.

“Estar Tranquilo”: Using a Life-course Approach to Explore Perceptions of Well-being among Older Adults in Curicó, Chile

2023-07-22T09:47:00-04:00

This study assesses perceptions of well-being between two groups of older adults in Curicó, Chile. One group (n=12) were residents of a long-term care center (known as ELEAM), while another group (n=13) were members of two clubs for older adults – Estrellitas del Vaticano (Vatican’s Little Stars) and Club Campo Lindo (Beautiful Countryside) – who lived in their own homes. Data collection consisted of life-story narratives to explore differences in how older adults in different living situations – long-term residential care vs. independent living – define and perceive what it means to be well in older age. Both groups were paired according to the variables of age, educational level, socioeconomic status, and physical status. In this article, I explore how both groups expressed their desire to estar tranquilo or “be peaceful” in their older age; however, each group achieved this state in different ways. ELEAM residents focused on fostering good relationships with fellow residents and maintaining their autonomy. In contrast, club members focused on practicing their religion, maintaining family relationships, and engaging in activities. Although participants shared similar backgrounds and lived through the same historical events (i.e., military dictatorship), their current situations impacted their perceptions of well-being. For individuals to achieve their desired level of well-bing or to estar tranquilo required that they adapt to different living arrangements: club members had to adapt to living without their children, and ELEAM residents to living in an institution.

The Woman with the Dog: Relationships between Pet Robots and Humans in a Danish Nursing Home for People with Dementia

2023-11-08T11:10:51-05:00

In this article, we explore how pet robots come into being in a Danish nursing home for people with dementia, based on five months of ethnographic fieldwork. We argue that the researcher and the robot become an assembled temporary figure in the nursing home: the woman with the dog. We show how pet robots are characterized by their fluidity and can go from being mechanical robots to living animals in a matter of seconds during interactions with nursing home residents. The social robots are fragile technologies that disappear and cease to be used if people in the nursing home stop caring for them. Through relationships, the pet robots come into being together with other actors in the nursing home – a process that requires tinkering (Mol, Moser, and Pols 2010) and flexibility from those working with the robots. We argue that the woman with the dog can develop caring relations with the residents, but although there are hopes that pet robots are one of the technologies that can save a welfare state and care system under pressure, this is not something that can be done by the pet robots alone. Rather, the robots need care and tinkering to become embedded in the nursing home.

Book Review: Chinese Senior Migrants and the Globalization of Retirement.

2024-01-14T16:14:28-05:00

Book Review: Care Technologies for Ageing Societies: An International Comparison

2024-02-21T17:41:36-05:00

Film Review: She Waves At Me

2024-02-12T15:32:06-05:00

Book Review: The Global Old Age Care Industry: Tapping into Migrants for Tackling the Old Age Care Crisis.

2024-03-03T16:19:44-05:00

Book Review: Care Poverty: When Older People’s Needs Remain Unmet.

2024-02-12T15:23:51-05:00

Film Review: Circuits of Care: Ageing and Japan’s Robot Revolution

2024-02-22T15:46:09-05:00