A protocol for a systematic review of social dimensions of resilience in older adults.

Background: Populations are ageing, making the quality of old age a crucial issue. Some adversity in old age, such as loss of loved one or loss of physical function, is often experienced, as is the need for recovery from such adversity. Resilience in later life has become an important topic and has accumulated much empirical research.

"There's definitely something wrong but we just don't know what it is": A qualitative study exploring rowers' understanding of low back pain.

Objectives: Low back pain is highly prevalent in rowing and can be associated with significant disability and premature retirement. A previous qualitative study in rowers revealed a culture of concealment of pain and injury due to fear of judgement by coaches or teammates. The aim of this study was to explore rowers' perspectives in relation to diagnosis, contributory factors, and management of low back pain.

"It Makes You Feel Good to Help!": An Exploratory Study of the Experience of Peer Mentoring in Long-Term Care.

Social isolation and loneliness in long-term care settings are a growing concern. Drawing on concepts of social citizenship, we developed a peer mentoring program in which resident mentors and volunteers formed a team, met weekly for training, and paired up to visit isolated residents. In this article, we explore the experiences of the resident mentors.

Technology in the Home Care of Older People: Views from Finland and Ireland.

Optimistic expectations of technology can be identified in policy documents, academic centres and businesses that aim to create and promote a variety of technologies so that older people can age at home. This article draws on recent data from Ireland and Finland, two countries at different stages of technological development, to examine the role of technology in the home care for older adults. Research participants (service providers and care recipients) agreed that technology could play an important role by improving communications, enabling social contact, and connecting the 'lone worker' and 'isolated patient' to other stakeholders in home care services.

'It makes life worthwhile!' Peer mentoring in long-term care-a feasibility study.

Loneliness and depression are of increasing concern in long-term care homes made more urgent by viral outbreak isolation protocols. An innovative program called Java Mentorship was developed that engaged community volunteers and resident volunteers (mentors) as a team. The team met weekly, received education, and provided visits and guidance in pairs to socially disengaged residents (mentees).

'You're the best liar in the world': a grounded theory study of rowing athletes' experience of low back pain.

Objectives: Low back pain (LBP) is common in rowers and leads to considerable disability and even retirement. The athlete voice can help clinicians to better understand sport-related pain disorders. We aimed to capture the lived experience of LBP in rowers.

The Impact of Peer Mentoring on Loneliness, Depression, and Social Engagement in Long-Term Care.

Loneliness, depression, and social isolation are common among people living in long-term care homes, despite the activities provided. We examined the impact of a new peer mentoring program called Java Mentorship on mentees' loneliness, depression, and social engagement, and described their perceptions of the visits. We conducted a mixed-methods approach in 10 homes in Ontario, Canada, and enrolled residents as mentees ( = 74).

"Doing" Intergenerational Friendship: Challenging the Dominance of Age Homophily in Friendship.

This article challenges the dominance of age homophily in the literature on friendship. Using findings from a recent study on intergenerational friendship, we put forward a new conceptualization of a homophily of doing-and-being in friendships between adults who are of different generations. This research took a qualitative approach using constructivist grounded theory methodology.

Confused About Theoretical Sampling? Engaging Theoretical Sampling in Diverse Grounded Theory Studies.

Theoretical sampling is a key procedure for theory building in the grounded theory method. Confusion about how to employ theoretical sampling in grounded theory can exist among researchers who use or who want to use the grounded theory method. We illustrate how we employed theoretical sampling in diverse grounded theory studies and answer key questions about theoretical sampling in grounded theory.

"The Poor Carer": Ambivalent Social Construction of the Home Care Worker in Elder Care Services.

In this article, we examine the social construction of the home care worker from the perspective of various professionals in the elder care sector in Ireland. The research, using the Grounded Theory method, involved focus groups with 31 participants comprising health and social work professionals as well as care agency managers and policy planners. The social construction of the elder care worker is characterised by ambivalence.

Escaping 'the old fogey': Doing old age through intergenerational friendship.

Background: Intergenerational friendship is a friendship which occurs between differing generations of older and younger adults. Intergenerational friendship as a research topic has received little attention from sociologists of ageing, despite the cultural turn. This study set out to explore and understand intergenerational friendships from the perspective of the older friend.

Choice and Constraint in the Negotiation of the Grandparent Role: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Few studies have examined how the allocation and consequences of grandchild care vary across different socioeconomic groups. We analyze qualitative data alongside data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), in a convergent mixed-methods approach. Regression models examined characteristics associated with grandchild care, and the relationship between grandchild care and depressive symptoms and well-being.

Bringing the Family in through the Back Door: the Stealthy Expansion of Family Care in Asian and European Long-Term Care Policy.

In the era of global ageing, amid political concerns about increasing care needs and long-term sustainability of current care regimes, most high-income economies are seeking to minimise the use of institutional care and to expand formal home care for their older populations. In long-term care reforms, concerns about public funding, formal providers and the paid care workforce are foremost. However, an integral yet hidden part of all these reforms is the stealthily growing role of family carers.

A critique of the Active Ageing Index.

Active ageing and successful ageing are ubiquitous concepts in contemporary societies. In the European Union, active ageing is monitored and promoted chiefly by the Active Ageing Index, a policy tool in use since 2012. We acknowledge that the AAI may contribute to sensitizing people, including policymakers, to the multidimensionality and complexity of the process of "ageing well".

Caregiving in ALS - a mixed methods approach to the study of Burden.

Background: Caregiver burden affects the physical, psychological and emotional well-being of the caregiver. The purpose of this analysis was to describe an informal caregiver cohort (n = 81), their subjective assessment of burden and difficulties experienced as a result of providing care to people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Methods: Using mixed methods of data collection and analysis, we undertook a comprehensive assessment of burden and difficulties associated with informal caregiving in ALS.

"I hate being a burden": The patient perspective on carer burden in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Research has shown that family caregivers of ALS patients encounter carer burden. Studies that have investigated the impact of caring on family in ALS have reported predominantly from the family caregiver perspective. We undertook in-depth qualitative interviews with a diverse group of ALS patients (n = 34) sampled from the Irish ALS population-based register and explored their experiences of receiving care from family members and from formal service providers.

The need for a social revolution in residential care.

Loneliness and depression are serious mental health concerns across the spectrum of residential care, from nursing homes to assisted and retirement living. Psychosocial care provided to residents to address these concerns is typically based on a long-standing tradition of 'light' social events, such as games, trips, and social gatherings, planned and implemented by staff. Although these activities provide enjoyment for some, loneliness and depression persist and the lack of resident input perpetuates the stereotype of residents as passive recipients of care.

The impact of childhood sexual abuse on the mental and physical health, and healthcare utilization of older adults.

Background: The aim of this study is to examine the long-term association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and mental and physical health, especially with conditions related to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction such as mood disorders, cardiovascular disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, pain disorders, and measures of frailty and functional mobility. In addition, we examined the impact of CSA on self-reported health and healthcare utilization.

Methods: Data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing were employed (N = 8,178).

Beyond Mannheim: Conceptualising how people 'talk' and 'do' generations in contemporary society.

In the 1920s, Karl Mannheim developed the concept of generation in a treatise entitled 'The Problem of Generations' (1952/1928). His conceptualisation pertained to what Pilcher (1994) calls 'social generations', that is, cohort members who have similar attitudes, worldview and beliefs grounded in their shared context and experiences accumulated over time. It is often argued that social generation has been hollowed out as a sociological concept, yet it continues to feature prominently in policy debates, media, academic literature and everyday talk.

Using Grounded Theory Method to Capture and Analyze Health Care Experiences.

Objective: Grounded theory (GT) is an established qualitative research method, but few papers have encapsulated the benefits, limits, and basic tenets of doing GT research on user and provider experiences of health care services. GT can be used to guide the entire study method, or it can be applied at the data analysis stage only.

Methods: We summarize key components of GT and common GT procedures used by qualitative researchers in health care research.

Understanding psycho-social processes underpinning engagement with services in motor neurone disease: a qualitative study.

Background: People with motor neurone disease access healthcare services from disease onset to end-of-life care, but there has been paucity of research on how people with motor neurone disease understand and use healthcare services.

Aim: To identify key psycho-social processes that underpin how people with motor neurone disease engage with healthcare services.

Design: Grounded theory approach comprising in-depth qualitative interviews was used in this study.

Exerting control and adapting to loss in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) engage with a broad range of health care services from symptom onset to end-of-life care. We undertook a grounded theory study to identify processes that underpin how and why people with ALS engage with health care services. Using theoretical sampling procedures, we sampled 34 people from the Irish ALS population-based register during September 2011 to August 2012.

Acceptance and decision making in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis from a life-course perspective.

Researchers have explored perceptions of health care services among people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but little is known about how and why people with ALS engage with services. We undertook a grounded theory study to identify key psychosocial processes that underpin how and why people with ALS engage with health care services. We conducted in-depth interviews with 34 participants sampled from the Irish ALS population-based register.

Early-life circumstances and later-life loneliness in Ireland.

Purpose Of The Study: This article examines the impact of early- and later-life circumstances on loneliness among people aged 65+ in Ireland.

Design And Methods: Data are from the first wave of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling adults aged 50+. The participants (N = 2,645) aged 65+ were included in the analysis.