Investigation of older consumers’ overall shopping experience in the UK

The population of the world is ageing. It has been forecasted that, by 2050, 34% of the UK population will be aged over 60 in 2050. Due to such a dramatic demographic trend, many researchers have been devoted to improve the quality of older people’s life from multiple perspectives, such as health and social care, social policy, pension, service design. Although results from the existing research are notable, very few studies that have deeply investigated older consumers’ shopping experience in supermarkets. Therefore, this proposed project aimed to investigate challenges and difficulties that older consumers face during their supermarket shopping process, and in turn to understand the way in which supermarket service and environment design can improve older consumers’ shopping experience in the UK. Focus groups, ethnographic user studies which include a Culture Probes information-gathering package, video-based direct observation and in-depth interviews will be conducted in the regions of West Somerset, South Shropshire and Berwick-upon-Tweed to investigate the UK older customers’ overall shopping experience and identify challenges that they face during their shopping process. These three regions have been selected because they have a comparatively high proportion of people aged 65 and over in the UK. Four focus groups with 22 older consumers have been conducted to investigate key elements, which influence their shopping behaviour and experience. Subsequently, 10 elderly consumers from each region will be invited to participate in the ethnographic user studies within a two-month period, which supports the researcher to discover shopping related issues with older customers

Women's family histories and incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany.

Using data from several large scale longitudinal surveys, this paper investigates the relationship between older women’s families histories and their personal incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany, By comparing three countries with very different welfare regimes, we seek to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the life course, pension system and women’s incomes in later life. We conclude with a brief discussion of the ‘women-friendliness’ of different pension regimes in the light of our analysis.

The determinants of receiving social care in later life in England

Demographic change and policy changes in social care provision can affect the type of social care support received by older people, whether through informal, formal state or formal paid-for sources. This paper analyses the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing data (wave 4) in order to examine the relationship between demographic and socio-economic characteristics, and the receipt of support from different sources by older people who report difficulty with daily activities. The research outlines three key results with implications for the future organisation of social care for older people. Firstly, the number of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) an older person reports having difficulty with, followed by the number of activities of daily living (ADLs) are the strongest determinants of receiving support from any source. Secondly, there are significant gender differences in the factors associated with receiving support from different sources; for example, physical health is a strong determinant of informal support receipt by men, while mental health status is a strong determinant of informal support receipt by women. Finally, the research shows that different kinds of impediments in everyday life are associated with receiving support from different sources. This ‘link’ between particular types of difficulties and support receipt from particular sources raises questions about the way social care provision can or should be organised in the future

The relationship between women's work histories and incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany.

Using data from several large scale longitudinal surveys, this paper investigates the relationship between older women’s personal incomes and their work histories in the UK, US and West Germany. By comparing three countries with very different welfare regimes, we seek to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the life course, pension system and women’s incomes in later life. The association between older women’s incomes and work histories is strongest in West Germany and weakest in the UK, where there is evidence of a pensions’ poverty trap and where only predominantly full-time employment is associated with significantly higher incomes in later life, after controlling for other socio-economic characteristics. Work history matters less for widows (in all three countries) and more for younger birth cohorts and more educated women (UK only). We conclude with a brief discussion of the ‘women-friendliness’ of different pension regimes in the light of our analysis.

The relationship between women’s work histories and incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany

Using data from several large scale longitudinal surveys, this paper investigates the relationship between older women's personal incomes and their work histories in the UK, US and West Germany. By comparing three countries with very different welfare regimes, we seek to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the life course, pension system and women's incomes in later life. The association between older women's incomes and work histories is strongest in West Germany and weakest in the UK, where there is evidence of a pensions' poverty trap and where only predominantly full-time employment is associated with significantly higher incomes in later life, after controlling for other socio-economic characteristics. Work history matters less for widows (in all three countries) and more for younger birth cohorts and more educated women (UK only). We conclude with a brief discussion of the 'women-friendliness' of different pension regimes in the light of our analysis.comparative, older women, pensions, work history, life course

Women’s family histories and incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany

Using data from several large scale longitudinal surveys, this paper investigates the relationship between older women's families histories and their personal incomes in later life in the UK, US and West Germany, By comparing three countries with very different welfare regimes, we seek to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the life course, pension system and women's incomes in later life. We conclude with a brief discussion of the 'women-friendliness' of different pension regimes in the light of our analysis.comparative, older women, pensions, work history, life course

Measuring unmet need for social care among older people

Recent spending cuts in the area of adult social care raise policy concerns about the proportion of older people whose need for social care is not met. Such concerns are emphasised in the context of population ageing and other demographic changes. This briefing summarises research published in Population Trends no. 145 which explores the concept of ‘unmet need’ for Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), using data on the receipt of support (informal, state or privately paid for). The results show that each of the three different support sectors tend to provide help for different kinds of need, and that worryingly, there is a significant level of ‘unmet need’ for certain activities

Transitions in caregiving and health dynamics of caregivers for people with AIDS: a prospective study of caregivers in Nairobi slums, Kenya

OBJECTIVE: A cohort of older people living in a low-resource setting in Nairobi is followed to understand the transitions in caregiving status and trajectories in health over a 3-year period.METHODS: Three categories of older people comprising 65 AIDS caregivers, 102 Other caregivers and 1,322 noncaregivers identified at baseline were assessed at end-line based on two self-reported health outcome measures, a functionality score and having a severe health problem.RESULTS: A majority of caregivers were still providing care at the end of the study, and or had taken on new care recipients. Compared with noncaregivers, AIDS caregivers reported poor health, with men more likely to report poor health than women. New caregivers also reported poorer health compared with noncaregivers.DISCUSSION: The results indicate improvement in health over time among male caregivers supporting the adaptation model. We recommend timely programs to support caregivers particularly at the onset of caregiving