Financial exploitation (FE) of older adults results in devastating consequences. Studies have highlighted social and cognitive factors as separate risk factors of FE, but few have considered their interactive effect on FE risk. This study examines whether social relationships, cognitive functioning and their interactions are associated with FE experiences in a nationally representative sample of 704 community-dwelling Israeli adults aged 50 or older who were part of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-Israel) Wave 8. Participants self-reported whether or not they experienced FE over the past 12 months and completed assessments of cognition and social networks. Cognitive tests (word list learning, word list delay, animal fluency, and serial 7s) were z-transformed and combined into a composite score of global cognition. A logistic regression model regressed FE on the presence/absence of children, spouses, other family and friends in networks, global cognition and covariates. Interactions between global cognition and each of the four relationship types were also tested. The presence of children and that of friends in network were associated with lower likelihood of FE group membership. The effect of having friends in network on FE was significant for those with average or above-average global cognition, but not for those with below-average global cognition. Findings suggest that the presence of friends in social networks should not be overlooked as a potentially protective factor for adults aged 50+, especially for those who are cognitively healthy. Preventative programmes may focus on strengthening friendships among older adults at higher FE risk.

A growing ageing population in Taiwan poses serious challenges to care-giving services, especially for the Indigenous population, who experience health disparities and insufficient care-giving resources. The Taiwan government implemented universal long-term care (LTC) services in the early 2000s, aiming to alleviate LTC resource disparities in rural regions, including major Indigenous areas. However, empirical research on LTC generally suggests that gaps and challenges remain between policy implementation goals and Indigenous cultural values that may undermine the effectiveness of implementation. This article investigates this problem by asking: Why do implementation challenges persist for LTC services for Indigenous older adults in rural Taiwan? The study employs a multi-method case study of adult foster care (AFC) to investigate this question with a decolonizing perspective. This research selected AFC facilities as study sites because of their strengths in home settings and cultural embeddedness. Empirical data include participant observation (n = 500 hours) at five AFC facilities across five rural Indigenous villages of Taiwan, supplemental interviews (n = 4), and public legal and regulatory documents, analysed through thematic coding. The findings underscore inherent tensions between LTC policy and Indigenous cultural values in Taiwan around safety, scientific metrics of care and market competition that persisted even in an LTC model that emphasizes cultural embeddedness and local community (i.e. AFC). These government priorities contradict the values of Indigenous care that emphasize belonging and solidarity. Centring cultural context and creating communal participatory spaces is one crucial solution to prevent incompatibilities and hegemony in service towards Indigenous older adults.

People with dementia have complex needs and priorities that change along the condition’s trajectory. Attending to these needs requires person-centred long-term care and support to be sensitized to the experiences and subjective realities of people with dementia. Regulators assessing the quality of care and support are important change agents in the health system. Research on regulatory assessments of care and support at home is, however, scarce. This qualitative research aimed to gain insight into the experiences of people with dementia receiving person-centred care and support at home, and to explore how regulators assess the quality of care and support provided in clients’ homes. Using the emotional touchpoint method, we found that people with dementia often experience a tension between wanting to maintain a sense of agency and having to accept increasing dependence on others. Using interviews and document analysis, we identified that regulators found it difficult to include the knowledge gained from clients’ experiences of care and support in their assessments. In regulatory assessments, objective risks are prioritized and assessment criteria are based on a largely positivistic epistemology, favouring measurable criteria. This results in regulators assessing observable or documentable aspects of care that do not acknowledge the necessary nuances and emotional aspects that are most important to people with dementia. We conclude that alternative approaches to regulatory assessments are necessary to evaluate person-centred long-term care and support in a way that reflects the experiences and needs of people with dementia and promotes person-centred practices.

This study investigates the long-term physical and psychological health impacts of early-life wartime trauma among North Vietnamese survivors and examines how resilience may moderate these outcomes. Using a lifecourse perspective and Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model, we conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 36 older Vietnamese adults, aged 64 to 92 (M = 75.2), from a region heavily affected by the American War. Our qualitative analysis highlights cumulative physical health challenges such as musculoskeletal degeneration and the lasting effects of chemical exposure. Many survivors still experience psychological distress, including recurring nightmares, anxiety and unresolved grief. Participants used coping strategies such as proactive health management, gratitude, acceptance of uncertainty, maintaining a forward-focused mindset and, in some cases, deliberately avoiding painful memories. Family and community support reinforced these coping mechanisms. However, structural inequities in economic policies and resource distribution created barriers to financial assistance, which participants saw as harmful to social cohesion. While many survivors drew strength from a collective wartime identity, concerns about declining community connectedness raised questions about the sustainability of traditional resilience strategies. The findings illustrate how resilience moderates the long-term physical and psychological health impacts of early-life wartime trauma within interconnected bioecological contexts. They highlight the need for integrated, culturally responsive interventions that address both chronic health conditions and the social determinants of resilience in post-conflict environments.

Social and educational gerontology lacks a concise yet multidimensional inventory of needs fulfilled by older adults, particularly those attending informal education, with sound psychometric properties. This article presents the construction and validation of the 30-item Need Fulfillment Inventory (NFI-30), developed for older adults participating in University of the Third Age (U3A) classes. Empirical data were collected using an inductive–deductive procedure based on two surveys involving 1,097 and 278 students from 22 U3As in Poland, respectively. Preliminary questionnaire items were derived from a qualitative analysis of older adults’ open-ended statements about the needs they fulfilled across U3A activities and subsequently verified using quantitative data. The NFI-30 demonstrates adequate reliability (internal consistency and temporal stability), factorial validity, and both convergent and discriminant validity. It measures the fulfilment level of four crucial needs among U3A students: development, social relations, agency and health. The inventory is recommended for research on older adults enrolled in U3A programmes, but with appropriate modifications it may also be applied to analyse needs in the broader older adult population.

The built environment is increasingly recognized as being associated with health outcomes among older adults. This study examines how multiple housing features collectively are associated with self-rated health in the United States. Using data from Round 12 of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (n = 930), multiple correspondence analysis combined housing type, residential setting and building floors into a composite measure of residential complexity. Ordinal logistic regression models, adjusted for age, sex, education, race and functional capacity, assessed associations with self-rated health, including age and sex interactions. Higher residential complexity was linked to poorer self-rated health (β = –0.249, p < 0.001), but this relationship became non-significant after adjusting for socio-economic and health factors (β = –0.065, p = 0.148). A significant interaction with age revealed a clear gradient (p < 0.001). The adverse association was negligible in those aged 65–69 (β = −0.02, p = 0.812) but substantially stronger in the oldest-old: for example, in 85+ it was (β = −0.31, p < 0.001). There was no significant interaction with sex (p = 0.552). Grounded in person–environment fit theory, findings underscore the need for housing policies that integrate structural accessibility with socio-economic supports.

This study examined the association between supportive and adverse aspects of the child–parent relationship in childhood (parental understanding and exposure to parental physical abuse, respectively) and providing care to a parent with health limitations among middle-aged and older adults. It explores whether these associations vary across broad macro-geographical regions, through the prism of the Informal Care Model. Data were drawn from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), Waves 7 and 9. The subsamples comprised respondents aged 50 years and older, 2,970 with an unhealthy mother and 890 with an unhealthy father. The degree of maternal understanding in childhood was positively associated with providing care to a mother, but not to a father. Frequency of parental physical abuse (for mothers and fathers) was unrelated to providing care. Interaction analyses indicated regional variations in associations between maternal physical abuse and providing care to mothers, and between paternal understanding and providing care to fathers. Taken together, providing care was more strongly associated with childhood relationship characteristics in regions typically characterized by more established long-term care policies and weaker familistic norms. The findings underscore the need to support adult children care-givers, particularly those who perceived their childhood relationship with their parent as negative. Support efforts may be especially important in contexts where care-giving relies more heavily on family resources and formal long-term care is more limited. Further research should focus on differences in the mechanisms linking early parent–child relationships to care-giving for mothers versus fathers.

Social connections are central to wellbeing, with both close social ties and casual acquaintances shaping the health of older adults. Yet, their specific roles in influencing care-giver burden remain under-explored. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) (2005–2023), we examined how core social networks and social engagement are associated with care-giver burden among 468 older adult care-givers. Core social networks are composed of confidants with whom respondents have discussed important matters, which can include close friends, relatives and spouses. Meanwhile, social engagement (e.g. volunteering, participation in organized groups and church attendance) involves interactions with many different casual acquaintances. These two different types of social connectedness may be differentially associated with care-giver wellbeing. Our findings revealed a paradox: larger core social networks were associated with greater odds of care-giver burden, whereas all forms of social engagement – volunteering, group meetings and religious attendance – reduced the odds of reporting care-giver burden. Higher levels of social engagement, such as having more friends or more frequent participation in social activities, similarly reduced the odds of reporting care-giver burden. Diverse engagement across multiple activities also lowered the likelihood of experiencing care-giver burden. These results suggest that care-giver burden may be shaped not only by the size of one’s core network but also by the breadth and frequency of social participation, particularly in settings that foster casual social ties.

In response to calls to extend working lives, there is increased interest in people starting self-employment after the age of 50. However, the question of why people become self-employed at this time is generally assumed in the literature rather than empirically examined. Current assumptions include that it relates to (1) opportunity or necessity; (2) changes in autonomy preferences relating to the ageing process; or (3) entrepreneurial aspirations. This article empirically explores the pathways into self-employment and develops a theoretical model to better answer the question why people move into ‘solo’ self-employment after age 50. Using a sociological lifecourse theory, it demonstrates how transitions into self-employment are socially embedded and influenced by events preceding the transition. The 20 in-depth lifecourse interviews with people aged 50+ identified three pathways to self-employment after 50: a ‘turning point’ pathway, a ‘retirement’ pathway and an ‘entrepreneurial orientation’ pathway. The turning point pathway was most common, involving negative changes at work or in health and/or the family that appeared to generate or enhance a desire, or need, for more autonomy at work that was difficult to find as an employee. Crucially, ‘linked lives’ and ‘life stage’ provided an opportunity structure that made the move into self-employment feasible, by de-risking it and providing opportunities. The article contributes to academic and policy debates by highlighting the importance of changes over the lifecourse and support from others, and questions the extent to which these transitions can be attributed to the individual ageing process or to (long-term) entrepreneurial aspirations.

Older migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are vulnerable to social isolation in the settlement country. While a few reviews have examined social isolation and loneliness in older people, there remains a notable gap in evidence specifically focused on social isolation among older migrants. Considering the distinction between social isolation and loneliness, this review aims to synthesise literature on the prevalence and experience of social isolation, identify risk factors, and explore interventions used in these populations. A scoping review underpinned by Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage framework was conducted. We searched five databases from inception to May 2025. A random-effects meta-analysis model using the DerSimonian and Laird method was applied to pool prevalence estimates. Risk factors were mapped according to Mcleroy’s socio-ecological model. Of the 5,094 publications identified, 27 were included. Pooled data indicated that social isolation affected 25.2 per cent (95% CI, 19.0–31.9%) of older migrants, with migration-related disruption to social networks at 27.4 per cent (95% CI, 14.9–41.9%) and family isolation at 20.4 per cent (95% CI, 18.0–23.0%). Factors associated with social isolation at the individual, interpersonal, community and environmental levels were identified, along with approaches that reduce social isolation targeted at these levels. Among older migrants, limited language proficiency and lack of familial support emerged as the key individual and interpersonal-level contributors. Findings reveal the need for further research focused on addressing individual-level risk factors, involving family members, and employing rigorous methodology in evaluating effectiveness of interventions.

Spousal death is a common and disruptive later life event, yet how resilience unfolds afterwards remains insufficiently understood, particularly from older adults’ perspectives. Resilience research utilizes the metaphor of ‘bouncing forward’ to describe navigating adversity, but how it relates to older adults’ experiences of spousal loss and the everyday conditions in which resilience takes shape remains unclear. To address these conceptual gaps, this study examines how older adults make sense of resilience after spousal loss, what supports or hinders it in daily life and how their experiences relate to ‘bouncing forward’. It uses participatory action research and was part of a larger Dutch project (2023–2025) conducted in three municipalities (one rural, two urban), exploring everyday resilience and loss.

Interview findings are presented using low-inference qualitative description, staying close to participants’ and co-researchers’ own language. They illustrate how resilience is experienced as a non-linear, multi-dimensional process across life domains such as health, social life and daily routines. This involves alternating periods of improvement, setback and stillness. These possibilities are opened up, restricted or suspended by personal orientations, close relationships, material environments and institutional responses. Clark’s holonic framework and Arendt’s theories of action and natality help interpret these changes as expansions, contractions and pauses across personal, relational and institutional contexts, clarifying how new beginnings can become possible or remain out of reach. The study offers a situational and relational account of resilience after spousal loss and identifies conditions that enable or restrict older adults’ efforts to navigate everyday life.

Rising long-term care (LTC) costs and population ageing have shaped LTC policies, emphasizing ‘ageing in place’. This may have changed the composition of the care networks as well as the wellbeing of older adults living at home. This study examines changes in the prevalence of care networks (no care, partner care, informal care, publicly provided formal care and privately paid care) and the associations between care networks and psychological wellbeing across three decades (1992–2022) of LTC policy and societal changes. Using 5,496 observations from 3,999 participants in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, multi-level regression analyses were conducted, controlling for age, sex, partner status and physical and cognitive functioning. Findings show that, since 2012, formal care and no care usage increased, while use of partner, informal and privately paid care declined. Formal care users reported more depressive symptoms, with the gap between formal and no care users widening in 2012 and 2022. In conclusion, our study highlights the robustness of associations between care networks and wellbeing over time. Formal care, however, is increasingly negatively related to wellbeing, underscoring the need for improved formal care provision and a deeper understanding of its broader impact on wellbeing.

Universalism has long been the cornerstone of long-term care (LTC) provision in Nordic welfare states. However, population ageing has led to a decline in public care services, prompting some service users to seek support from alternative sources, such as privately financed and informal care. This raises concerns about increasing inequities between those with access to financial and social resources and those without. We take a novel approach to examine whether reductions in public care have exacerbated inequities in a central care outcome: Social Care-Related Quality of Life (SCRQoL), assessed via the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT). Drawing on comprehensive registry and survey data, we explore the relationship between service users’ social and financial resources and their SCRQoL. Specifically, we investigate whether disparities in SCRQoL between service users with and without resources have grown over time. Our findings reveal limited evidence for social and financial resources contributing to service users’ SCRQoL and no evidence of increasing inequity over time. These findings suggest that service users do not mobilize financial assets or family networks to compensate for retrenchment in public services. Instead, our results underline that physical functioning and social participation are crucial for sustaining SCRQoL. As pressure on public LTC services is expected to intensify over the next two decades, resource-related disparities in SCRQoL may become more pronounced, meaning that preserving and enhancing older adults’ functioning and SCRQoL through preventive strategies and reablement interventions should remain a key policy priority.

Loneliness is an important public health and social concern that affects individuals across the lifecourse. Research increasingly suggests that socio-economic conditions may shape vulnerability to loneliness in later life. Drawing on cross-sectional data from a national sample of Canadian older adults (N = 4,010), we apply structural equation modelling to examine associations among housing status, financial strain and loneliness. Older adults paying mortgages and renting report higher levels of loneliness and financial strain than outright homeowners. Financial strain is associated with greater loneliness, and the estimated indirect associations between housing status and loneliness through financial strain are statistically significant. Gender also intersects with housing status, with the result that exposure to financial strain among mortgage-payers is greater among women, leading to enhanced disadvantages in loneliness. This study demonstrates that effective strategies to combat loneliness among older adults must prioritize addressing socio-economic determinants, such as housing status and financial strain, in addition to fostering social connections.

As society becomes increasingly digital, greater attention is needed to understand how diverse ageing populations engage with technology and how digital platforms affect their health and wellbeing. This article examines the role of technology in supporting the social health of mid-life and older adults who identify as Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or another non-cisgender or non-heterosexual identity (2SLGBTQ+). Thematic analysis of focus group data from 23 participants aged 50 and older living in Canada during the Covid-19 pandemic revealed how digital platforms helped participants manage their social health needs. While technology operated as a social health resource that enabled connection, intimacy and community participation during this global health crisis, participants also described losses associated with diminished visibility, uneven digital access that reinforced social inequities and physical and mental health challenges linked to prolonged and intensified technology use. Notably, some participants credited the resilience they developed during the AIDS epidemic for their ability to navigate technological and Covid-related challenges. Beyond its empirical contribution, this article theoretically develops the health equity promotion model with the addition of a technological dimension. The adapted model’s application to the Canadian context shows how technology functions simultaneously as a protective and a risk factor, impacting the social health and broader health outcomes of ageing 2SLGBTQ+ populations. By recognizing technology as a determinant of health in this model, this article advances queer gerontological theory and offers a framework for understanding and promoting health equity in ageing 2SLGBTQ+ populations, with implications for health promotion research and practice.

Despite the global spread of age-friendly cities and communities (AFCC), little is known about how these programmes address place-based inequalities. This article addresses this gap by applying a ‘spatial justice’ lens to examine AFCC initiatives in seven cities centred on the interrelated components of equity, diversity and co-production. It examines how older people participate in decision making (co-production), how resources and opportunities are distributed and accessed (equity) and how the identities and needs of diverse groups are recognised (diversity) within AFCC initiatives. The article uses a multiple case study approach to examine seven cities – Akita, Bilbao, Brno, Brussels, Manchester, Oslo and Quebec – drawing on city profiles and 44 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders. The findings show that co-production occurs through universal participation structures involving residents of all ages, and through targeted structures designed specifically for older people, with the latter placing greater emphasis on representing the increasing diversity of older people. Equity is addressed through initiatives aimed at improving access to local infrastructure and services, although their redistributive effects remain unknown owing to limited evaluation and data. Diversity is reflected in targeted programmes for racially minoritised groups, sexual and gender minorities and people living with dementia. This article contributes to critical social gerontology by showing how a spatial justice lens supports a critical examination of age-friendly initiatives (AFIs), focusing on how older people are involved in decision making, who benefits from AFIs and which groups of older people remain excluded.

Over the past decades, many Western countries have struggled to meet increasing long-term-care (LTC) demands owing to population ageing. Long-term-care systems had to implement austerity measures, while family sizes have shrunk. This potentially places more pressure on adult children who might struggle to meet their parents’ care needs, even when they are willing and able to support them. However, it is unclear to what extent LTC policies impact on care-giving patterns of adult children. This asks for a comparison of filial care-giving across time periods. Therefore, the present study investigates to what extent the relationship between filial care-giving and characteristics of adult children, their siblings and their parents has changed between 2001 and 2023. To this end, data from two ancillary studies of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) were used, providing information about Dutch older adults’ health and support by their adult children. From the 2001 study, data from 220 parents and 830 children were included, and data from 115 parents and 288 children were included from the 2023 study. Results indicate that parents’ and siblings’ characteristics had overall comparable associations with filial care-giving in 2001 and 2023. However, the gender gap between adult sons’ and daughters’ care-giving has diminished over time. These findings suggest that, despite LTC changes, characteristics of parents, adult children and siblings played a similar role in filial care-giving, but a cultural shift towards more egalitarian distribution of care responsibilities between men and women emerged.

Social participation is a key determinant of health and wellbeing in later life, yet older adults at risk of marginalization often face barriers that limit their inclusion in society. To promote health equitably, it is essential to take better account of the heterogeneity of older adults and foster their social participation. This study thus aimed to describe and synthesize knowledge about interventions that foster the social participation of older adults at risk of marginalization. Using 61 keywords across six databases, this scoping review identified 29 studies reporting on individualized and collective interventions. Peer assistance and grouping older adults according to interests or shared life experience were identified as key facilitators of participation in the interventions. Limited access to transportation and a lack of activities tailored to the diverse needs of older participants were significant barriers. The findings highlight the importance of collaborating with community organizations to develop sustainable, accessible and adaptable interventions, as well as the value of proximity-based support in individualized approaches. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions. By highlighting strategies to include marginalized older adults in society, this study contributes to advancing health equity for all older adults, especially those at risk of marginalization.

The ageing population and skilled labour shortages have made Extended Working Lives (EWL) an important policy goal. However, millions of older workers leave the workforce each year because of an unsupportive work environment that is often associated with ageist practices and perceptions. Drawing on data from 25 qualitative interviews with individuals over the age of 55, the research uses a life course perspective to explore the impact of ageism over the working life course, finding that ageism continues to play a part in the decision-making processes of older workers when considering their future. The article presents a conceptual contribution through a dual framing of ageism in the workplace comprising two linked elements: structural factors and internalized ageism. Structural factors include tasks or events within the workplace that incite feelings of separation from younger peers, such as digital capability and social isolation. Internalized ageism refers to older workers’ self-evaluation of their identities, their abilities and their future. The findings suggest that these perceptions often contain ageist stereotypes. While categorized separately for analytical purposes, these two elements interact, with the organization of work affecting personal perceptions and these perceptions affecting structural factors within the workplace. This indicates that policies on older workers and EWL are hindered by ageism.

Unmet socio-emotional needs are a significant concern in ageing societies since they affect individuals’ health and wellbeing. This study focuses on the concept of socio-emotional care poverty, where people in need of social and emotional support do not receive sufficient support from either informal or formal sources. The research investigates whether older people have a higher, moderate or lower risk of socio-emotional care poverty. The study also explores how the composition of and the contact frequency with their social network members are associated with this phenomenon. This study used a national-level survey collected in Finland between October and December 2020 among people aged 75 years and above living in their own homes (N = 2,585). The results showed that 7 per cent (n = 175) of respondents are at high risk, while 26 per cent (n = 684) are at moderate risk of socio-emotional care poverty. The high-risk group has less frequent contact with children, siblings, relatives and friends. Relationships with both family and non-family members significantly impact socio-emotional care poverty in older people. Obtaining emotional support from family members or others outside of one’s immediate family in today’s society is becoming increasingly challenging owing to changing family structures and reduced health and social care support. Therefore, special attention should be given to older people in high-risk and moderate-risk groups to ensure that their basic care needs are met, allowing them to maintain a good quality of life.