The Summit on Creativity and Aging in America

This report looks at how the federal government can leverage the arts to foster healthy aging and inclusive design for this growing population. This white paper features recommendations from the May 2015 Summit on Creativity and Aging in America, a convening of more than 70 experts hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Center for Creative Aging. The paper highlights recommendations on healthy aging, lifelong learning in the arts, and age-friendly community design. The summit was a precursor to the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, which addressed four major issues: retirement security, long-term services and supports, healthy aging, and elder abuse

Convergence: How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector

This report highlights five key trends and how their coming together will shape the social sector of the future. Based on extensive review of existing research and in-depth interviews with thought leaders and nonprofit leaders and activists, it explores the trends (Demographic Shifts; Technological Advances; Networks Enabling Work to be Organized in New Ways; Rising Interest in Civic Engagement and Volunteerism; and Blurring of Sector Boundaries) and looks at the ways nonprofits can successfully navigate the changes. The monograph is by La Piana Consulting, a national firm dedicated to strengthening nonprofits and foundations

Thinking intergenerationally about motherhood

This paper draws on The Making of Modern Motherhoods study, which explores how a contemporary generation of women are creating motherhood, and how intergenerational dynamics of mother daughter relationships can provide insight into the interplay of historical, biographical and generational processes. The study combines an intergeneration and longtitudinal research design, building 12 case studies from an initial interview sample of 62 expectant first time mothers. The paper begins with a review of the conceptual tools employed within the study in order to make sense of rich empirical data, including memory, generation, co-existence and configuration. These themes are then realised through a detailed case history of the Calder family – tracing the impact of the arrival of a new generation. This thick description enables us to see beyond the individual towards the historically contingent configuration that is a ‘family’. By counter posing the horizontal dimensions of the generation against the vertical dimension of historical process and intergenerational change it is possible to capture a sense of how people live, creating change in order to establish continuity. The paper concludes by exploring the contingency of formations of mothering and their connectedness over time, through reflections on the interplay of historical, generational and biographical temporalities

Strategies to Strengthen Youth Leadership and Youth Participation Opportunities in Central Appalachia

The purpose of this study was to assess opportunities for strengthening youth leadership and participation in the Central Appalachian region. In particular, authors Rebecca O’Doherty, Ada Smith, Ben Spangler, Elandria Williams, and Katie Richards-Schuster sought to understand and document the range of activities and strategies in the region as well as understand the nuances involved in promoting and sustaining youth leadership opportunities. Through interviews with key leaders in the region, they explored critical themes for strengthening youth leadership. To highlight the potential and opportunities for future development, they share a case study of an innovative approach to nurturing and sustaining youth leadership. They conclude with a set of recommendations for consideration by policy makers and stakeholders interested in developing sustainable youth leadership practices in Central Appalachia

Changing the Way We See Ourselves in the World: Critical Youth Participatory Action Research Investigating Intergenerational Trauma and Macro-Cultural Influences with Adolescent Girls

This study explores the social-ecological experience of human development in adolescent girls in attempts to better understand what young people may need. Five adolescent girls participated in a three-month long critical youth participatory action research study utilizing a photovoice method to investigate environmental messages that impact their identity. Specific themes of intergenerational trauma and macro-cultural influences were identified through a co-generated data analysis process, which contributed to a community action plan. The data generated with the co-researchers provided thematic information for the researcher to apply in a critical discussion exploring the influence of social power structures on families and youth. A Social-Ecological Model of Development in Young People was designed to illustrate the environmental influences that impact mental health in young people. Sociological multi-tiered interventions were also provided as recommendations to support de-pathologizing children and adolescents within the psychology and mental health counseling fields

Pension systems and financial systems in Europe: a comparison from the point of view of complementarity : [Version July 2001]

At present, the question of how national pension or retirement payment systems should be organised is being hotly debated in various countries, and opinions vary widely as to what should be regarded as the optimal design for such systems. It appears to the authors of the present paper that in this entire discussion one aspect is largely overlooked: What relationships exist between the pension system and the financial system in a given country? As such relationships might prove to be important, the present paper investigates the following questions: (1) Are there differences between the national pension systems of three major European countries – Germany, France and the U.K. – and between the financial systems of these countries? (2) And if the existence of such differences can be demonstrated, is there a correspondence between the differences with respect to the various national pension systems and the differences as regards the countries’ financial systems? (3) And if such a correspondence exists, is there any kind of interrelationship between the national financial and pension systems of the individual countries which goes beyond a mere correspondence? Looking mainly at two aspects – namely, risk allocation and the incentives to create human capital – the authors of this paper argue (1) that there are indeed considerable differences between the financial and pension systems of the three countries; (2) that in both Germany and the U.K. there are also systematic correspondences between the respective pension systems and financial systems and their economic characteristics, but that such a correspondence cannot be identified in the case of France; and (3) that these parallels are, in the final analysis, based on complementarities and are therefore likely to contribute to the efficiency of the German and the British systems. The paper concludes with a brief look at policy implications which the existence of, or the lack of, consistency between national pension systems and national financial systems might have

Stories for Change

This compendium of nearly 50 best practices showcases the notable strategies that increase access to arts and culture for older adult and immigrant populations. Newcomers and older adults (65 +) are two of the fastest growing populations -- communities across the country are grappling with a demographic makeup that is increasingly diverse and proportionally older than in the past. Arts and cultural organizations have the opportunity to reach-out, to increase resources in the community, and to engage populations that are at risk for being overlooked."Stories for Change" is a compelling collection, brimming with new ideas brought to fruition by many types of organizations including: museums, libraries, community development organizations, theaters, orchestras, dance ensembles, area agencies on aging, transportation bureaus, parks, botanic gardens, universities, and more. Organizations that hope to enhance the lives of their older and immigrant residents can find approaches portrayed in these Stories that can be adapted to meet the needs of their communities.Best practices include the well-known Alzheimer's Project of the Museum of Modern Art, which has been adapted to museums around the country, and Circle of Care, a unique ride share program that partners young people with older adults to attend free arts performances in Boulder, Colorado. Stories are located in rural, mid-size, and metropolitan settings; many can be easily implemented, and do not require a major overhaul of staffing, operations, or an organization's mission

Aging in the Social Space

A publication called Aging in the Social Space is a compilation of studies, which deal with theoretical understanding and empirical solutions, learning about problem spheres, specifying content parallels of social, legal, economic, moral and ethical views on senior issues in society, which are closely related to each other and are interconnected. This publication focus on the case study of Poland. It is supposed to provide a multidimensional view of old age issues and issues related to aging and care for old people in society. We believe that it is natural also to name individual spheres, in which society has some eff ect, either direct or indirect, within issues concerning seniors. Learning about these spheres is the primary prerequisite for successful use of social help to seniors in society

Social Policies and Structures: Institutional Frictions and Traps in the Czech Republic After 1989

This paper compares the standard economic and a complementary socio-economic approach to the transition. While the economic approach looks at social problems from the outside and views them as costs of transition, the socio-economic approach looks at these problems from the inside and views them as a part of the changing social structure. Both approaches are used to analyze four frictions which appear in contemporary Czech society. The first friction concerns the pension system which produces direct intergenerational dependence and turns pensioners into a socially needy population. It produces a socio-political redistributional trap, strengthening political support for further redistribution. The second friction concerns the relation between low market wages and a higher guaranteed subsistence minimum. It opens a socio-cultural trap and leads to a benefit dependency. The third friction concerns the impeding development of the middle class. Here, a socio-economic trap appears: a socially polarized society cannot take full advantage of its human capital and entrepreneurial spirit. The fourth friction involves tensions between various sections of the middle class. The socio-structural trap of unbalanced dynamics inside the middle class may cause an autonomous corporatization of individual groups to the detriment of citizenship principles and social integration.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39788/3/wp404.pd