Relocation and residential reasoning in very old age -Housing, health and everyday life

Introduction: Moving in very old age is considered to be a major life event and relocation and access to appropriate housing options is a hot topic in the public debate across Europe. For very old people, the decision-making process and aspects influencing relocation is not well studied. Occupational therapy interventions mainly focus on ageing-in-place solutions when aiming for independence and well-being for older people. Although theoretically, relocation can be seen as a major form of environmental adaptation that helps counter aspects of age-related functional decline. Aims: The aim was to expand and deepen the knowledge on relocation in very old age in two Western European countries (Sweden and Germany). With a focus on person-environment relations concerning housing and health, predictors and consequences of relocation were explored. Also, residential decision-making was explored with focus on how very old people reason about their home and everyday life in relation to relocation and ageing-in-place. Methods & Results: The thesis is based on the Swedish (studies I to IV) and German (studies III and IV) parts of the ENABLE-AGE Project. At baseline, the participants were 80-89 years old and lived alone in ordinary housing. In study I (N=384), Cox regression models showed dependence in cleaning but perceived functional independence when living in a one-family house predict a move within the ordinary housing stock. Dependence in cooking and cognitive deficits in combination with accessibility problems predicted a move to special housing. After relocation to another dwelling in the ordinary housing stock (N=29) the number of environmental barriers in the new dwelling were fewer than in the former (study II). Usability and accessibility were stable comparing former and new dwellings. Analyses of in-depth interviews of 80 participants in 2002 (study III) and 16 participants in 2003 and 2011 (study IV) revealed ambivalence between moving and ageing-in-place to arise along with increasing problems in everyday life. The findings supported the use of residential reasoning as a concept describing older peoples reasoning on relocation and ageing-in-place as one intertwined topic. Conclusions: The findings contribute to the knowledgebase on relocation in very old age, with practical implications for very old people and their families, occupational therapists and other professionals and for societal planning at large. The knowledge can be used as a first step in designing counselling services to help deal with very old people´s ambivalence and to guide in their decision-making processes. Further, having the potential to integrate theoretical perspectives from different disciplines to enhance our understanding on residential decision-making in old age, theoretical development on the concept residential reasoning is needed

Proverbs in SMS Messages: Archaic and Modern Communication

Lectio praecursoria for public examination of the doctoral dissertation on 16 August 2018, Department of Folkloristics, University of Turku, Finlan

Proverbs in SMS messages : archaic and modern communication

This theory-oriented dissertation focuses on proverbs in contemporary use. The aim is to highlight one of the ways proverbs are used and interpreted in everyday communication using colloquial written language. The empirical material and the argumentation are linked to theoretical models, thereby forming a basis for the conclusions. By using and illustrating the model based on possible worlds semantics, the study also addresses the challenge of why proverbs receive various interpretations. Proverbs are understood as significant units and parts of communication in the vernacular while language is understood to structure reality. On the one hand, this research produces basic information, and the possibility to observe proverbs and proverbial expressions in everyday use. On the other, it contributes to the discourse among paremiologists dealing with the substance of proverbs in everyday life and within the frames of folkloristics. Moreover, the dissertation offers some methodological and theoretical solutions for paremiological research. The research material consists of about 70,000 original SMS messages (i.e. text messages sent using Short Message Service) sent between 2006 and 2010 to be published as short letters to the editor and aimed at the readers of the daily Finnish regional newspaper Salon Seudun Sanomat. These messages include more than 7,000 expressions that are proverbs, potential proverbs, Bible quotations or references to them. The central research method is contemporary content analysis. Context creates the frame for the use and interpretation of proverbs. Within folklore, proverbs have been regarded as a part of the speech of older people. However, in the new urban tradition proverbs are neither passing from generation to generation nor are they taught at school. Instead, transmission takes place in written form and often within one generation only. Anyhow, the earlier oral tradition has found a place in the colloquial written language. In SMS messages, proverbs are used in a new context, with traditional proverbs occurring alongside the modern ones. Old proverbs are recognisable much more reliably than modern or future ones. The study confirms that proverbs remain a part of contemporary Finnish communication and everyday language, although the context of use has changed over the period which Finnish proverbs have been collected (i.e. over two centuries). Most traditional proverbs still contain agrarian terms and are relatively permanent expressions, but nowadays they are often used in a new context and with a new meaning. Although the dissertation examines Finnish proverbs and uses Finnish examples, the processes and challenges are the same, no matter which language or culture is being examined. Many of the observations can be generalised to the field of paremiology as a whole.Sananlaskut tekstiviesteissä – vanhahtavaa ja modernia viestintää Teoriapainotteisessa väitöskirjassa tarkastelen sananlaskuja nykyisessä kontekstissa. Tavoitteena on todentaa yksi tavoista, jolla sananlaskut ovat kirjoitetun puhekielen osana asettuneet nykyiseen viestintään. Empiirinen aineisto ja päättely yhdistyvät teoreettisissa malleissa muodostaen johtopäätösten perustan. Tutkimus kohtaa sananlaskujen tulkinnallisen monimuotoisuuden selittämisen haasteen tukeutumalla mahdollisten maailmojen semantiikkaan. Sananlaskuja käsitellään puhekielen merkityksiä siirtävinä lausumina, kun kieli nähdään osana todellisuuden jäsentämisen prosessia. Yhtäältä tutkimus tuottaa perustietoa tarkasteltaessa sananlaskuja ja sananlaskunkaltaisia ilmaisuja arkikäytössä. Toisaalta tutkimus osallistuu folkloristisen sananlaskututkimuksen puitteissa käytävään keskusteluun sananlaskusta nykypäivän ilmiönä. Lisäksi väitöskirja tarjoaa joitakin metodologisia ja teoreettisia ratkaisuja sananlaskututkimukseen. Tutkimusaineisto muodostuu noin 70000 alkuperäisestä tekstiviestistä, jotka on vuosina 2006–2010 lähetetty mielipidekirjoituksina julkaistaviksi alueellisessa sanomalehdessä, Salon Seudun Sanomissa. Tekstiviestit sisältävät yli 7000 lausumaa, jotka ovat joko sananlaskuja, potentiaalisia sananlaskuja, lainauksia Raamatusta tai viittauksia joihinkin näistä. Keskeinen tutkimusmenetelmä on ymmärrettynä kontekstianalyysi, jossa laadullisen aineiston kvantitatiivinen tarkastelu tukee kvalitatiivista tietoa. Tulkintakehys muodostuu käyttökontekstista. Perinteen osana on sananlaskuja yleensä pidetty vanhojen ihmisten puheena. Uudessa urbaanissa ympäristössä sananlaskut eivät enää siirry ainoastaan sukupolvelta toiselle eivätkä ne kuulu koulujen opetussuunnitelmaan vaan ne esiintyvät usein kirjoitettuina ja välittyvät tietyn ikäpolven keskuudessa: aiempi suullinen perinne on asettunut puhekieliseen kirjoitukseen. Tekstiviesteissä sananlaskuja käytetään uudessa ympäristössä ja perinteiset sananlaskut esiintyvät yhdessä modernien sananlaskujen kanssa. Vanhat tunnetut sananlaskut tunnistuvat luotettavammin kuin modernit sananlaskut tai mahdollisesti sananlaskuiksi kehittyvät ilmaisut. Tutkimus todentaa sananlaskujen olevan edelleenkin osa suomenkielistä puhekieltä ja viestintää, vaikka käyttöympäristö on muuttunut parissa sadassa vuodessa, jolloin pääosa suomalaisista sananlaskuista on tallennettu. Sananlaskut ovat varsin muuttumattomia ilmauksia ja traditionaalisiin sananlaskuihin sisältyy edelleen agraaritalouden termejä, mutta nykyisin sananlaskuja käytetään uudessa ympäristössä ja ne sekä saavat että niille annetaan uusia tulkintoja. Huolimatta siitä, että tutkimus kohdistuu suomalaisiin sananlaskuihin ja esimerkit ovat suomalaisesta käyttöympäristöstä sekä prosessi että haasteet ovat kulttuurista ja kielestä riippumattomia. Monet havainnoista on yleistettävissä koko paremiologian tutkimusalaan

Proverbs in SMS Messages: Archaic and Modern Communication

Lectio praecursoria for public examination of the doctoral dissertation on 16 August 2018, Department of Folkloristics, University of Turku, Finlan

Urak Lawoi : A fieldstudy of the original people the Urak Lawoi of the Andaman Sea, Ko Lanta - and the problems they face with rapid tourism development

This essay is about the indigenous people Urak Lawoi in Andaman Sea, outside the west coast of Thailand. The study shows what happens to them when they are being deprived of their territory and are being forced to abandon their culture, lifestyle and traditional economic subsistence. Urak Lawoi have until recently maintained culture, language and lifestyle apart from the rest of Thai society. During the last one and half decades, rapid tourism development, with large-scale hotels and bungalow resorts, have impacted and disrupted significantly on the nomadic lifestyles of the indigenous Urak Lawoi. They have been pushed away farther from the beaches and into unproductive parts. Powerful global forces linked to the world market economy result in situations that are not favorable for the local people Urak Lawoi and the ecosystems. My intention is to find out how the Urak Lawoi acts in response to rapid social changes of lifestyle, increasing contacts with outsiders, forced relocation due to the establishment of National Parks, and integration into the global market economy. My essay will also show how inferiority complex of an ethnic community increase under circumstances of social, political and economic pressure. I have focused on the situation for the Urak Lawois in Ko Lanta

Informal Housing Marketsand Redvelopment

World-wide, the population is increasing rapidly and so is the number of people residing informally. Hence the development of slums is increasingly becoming a rising problem. Consequently, the need to acknowledge the issue and to find sufficient solutions has enlarged. The informal settlement of Dharavi is facing a redevelopment and it is of importance to survey and analyse the current situation. Dharavi consists of an area that represents many informal settlements and its development is at present at an interesting stage, suitable for this research. By studying Dharavi useful information can be obtained and later applied to other areas and future redevelopment projects. There is an apparent lack of documented knowledge regarding the impact of slum redevelopment. In particular, this shortcoming concerns informal housing markets. The main purpose of this research was to acquire knowledge regarding the process of property development in informal settlements and to identify how such development would affect existing housing and rental markets. The purpose was fulfilled by conducting a case study and a complementary literature study. During the case study, information was mainly gathered through qualitative open-ended interviews with Dharavi inhabitants as well as local field experts. It has been found that a number of aspects regarding informal communities are affected upon redevelopment. Some of the most substantial changes concern the informal housing market, where juridical and financial changes are to be expected. Consequently, there are some positive as well as negative outcomes of such redevelopment. The major positive outcomes are improved housing standards and the creation of a healthier environment. The negative outcomes concern the likelihood of remaining in the area, the difficulties to retain a livelihood and thus the risk of new slum formation elsewhere

Cohabitants’ perspective on housing adaptations: a piece of the puzzle

As part of the Swedish state-funded healthcare system, housing adaptations are used to promote safe and independent living for disabled people in ordinary housing through the elimination of physical environmental barriers in the home. The aim of this study was to describe the cohabitants' expectations and experiences of how a housing adaptation, intended for the partner, would impact their everyday life. In-depth interviews were conducted with cohabitants of nine people applying for a housing adaptation, initially at the time of the application and then again 3 months after the housing adaptation was installed. A longitudinal analysis was performed including analysis procedures from Grounded Theory. The findings revealed the expectations and experiences in four categories: partners' activities and independence; cohabitants' everyday activities and caregiving; couples' shared recreational/leisure activities; and housing decisions. A core category putting the intervention into perspective was called 'Housing adaptations - A piece of the puzzle'. From the cohabitants' perspective, new insights on housing adaptations emerged, which are important to consider when planning and carrying out successful housing adaptations

Effects on leisure activities and social participation of a case management intervention for frail older people living at home : A randomised controlled trial

Frailty causes disability and restrictions on older people's ability to engage in leisure activities and for social participation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 1-year case management intervention for frail older people living at home in Sweden in terms of social participation and leisure activities. The study was a randomised controlled trial with repeated follow-ups. The sample (n = 153) was consecutively and randomly assigned to intervention (n = 80) or control groups (n = 73). The intervention group received monthly home visits over the course of a year by nurses and physiotherapists working as case managers, using a multifactorial preventive approach. Data collections on social participation, leisure activities and rating of important leisure activities were performed at baseline, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, with recruitment between October 2006 and April 2011. The results did not show any differences in favour of the intervention on social participation. However, the intervention group performed leisure activities in general, and important physical leisure activities, to a greater extent than the control group at the 3-month follow-up (median 13 vs. 11, P = 0.034 and median 3 vs. 3, P = 0.031 respectively). A statistically significantly greater proportion of participants from the intervention group had an increased or unchanged number of important social leisure activities that they performed for the periods from baseline to 3 months (93.2% vs. 75.4%, OR = 4.48, 95% CI: 1.37-14.58). Even though statistically significant findings in favour of the intervention were found, more research on activity-focused case management interventions is needed to achieve clear effects on social participation and leisure activities

Mihin sananlasku lasta johdattaa? Elämäntarinoiden avulla lapsen tulkintaan sananlaskujen kasvatustavoitteista

Sananlaskut ovat kyseenalaistamatonta puhetta. Usein mielikuvaan sananlaskuista liitetään ylevyys ja menneiden aikojen viestin symboliikka. Lapsi ei kuitenkaan tätä ennakko-odotusta tunne. Vasta aikuisena sananlaskuista etsitään mahdollisia vertauksia.Kasvatukselliset tapahtumat ovat useimmiten arkisia tilanteita. Tarkasteluni kohdistuu 1900-luvun alun lapsuuteen ja muistelijoiden käsityksiin sananlaskujen kasvatuksellisesta viestistä. Perusaineistona on kaksi Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran kansanrunousarkiston kokoelmaa, joihin liittyvissä elämäntarinoissa on kuvauksia lapsuuden aikaisista tapahtumista. Näistä osaan liittyy sananlasku (tai sananlaskuja) sekä muistelijan kertomus siitä, minkä hän on kokenut sananlaskun tarkoitukseksi. Aineistoon kohdistunut tutkimusta kantavaennakko-odotus toteutuu: elämäntarinoissa on kuvauksia sananlaskujen käyttöyhteydestä. Niistä on myös luettavissa jotakin lapsen tavasta tulkita kuulemaansa ja antaa sille merkitys. Artikkelissa keskityn  enetelmällisen ratkaisun tarkasteluun.</p

Proverbs, songs and singing

This paper gives an overview of Finnish proverbs and singing. Finnish proverbs may be said to be quite strongly bound together with singing. The first proverbs with melody originate from the days the first traditional Finnish proverbs are known. From 20th century we have modern proverbs combined with music. The paper discusses where the diving line between proverb, poem and song is – or is there any need for it from folkloristic and paremiologic point of view. Key-words: proverb, singing, song, tradition. </p