Social exclusion of older persons: a scoping review and conceptual framework

As a concept, social exclusion has considerable potential to explain and respond to disadvantage in later life. However, in the context of ageing populations, the construct remains ambiguous. A disjointed evidence-base, spread across disparate disciplines, compounds the challenge of developing a coherent understanding of exclusion in older age. This article addresses this research deficit by presenting the findings of a two-stage scoping review encompassing seven separate reviews of the international literature pertaining to old-age social exclusion. Stage one involved a review of conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion, identifying conceptual understandings and key domains of later-life exclusion. Stage two involved scoping reviews on each domain (six in all). Stage one identified six conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion and six common domains across these frameworks: neighbourhood and community; services, amenities and mobility; social relations; material and financial resources; socio-cultural aspects; and civic participation. International literature concentrated on the first four domains, but indicated a general lack of research knowledge and of theoretical development. Drawing on all seven scoping reviews and a knowledge synthesis, the article presents a new definition and conceptual framework relating to old-age exclusion

Experiences in Old Age: A South Indian Example of how Functional Age is Socially Structured

Research on chronologically older people approaches “the old” as a category of people sharing common problems and experiences that are rooted in the functional disparities between old and younger people. These functional disparities are seen as impinging on social and economic positioning, leading to asymmetries in dependence and vulnerability. The argument here is that, rather than simply being an objective functional condition, old age is a deeply contested, socially structured condition precisely because the definition of “old” does not merely denote diverging abilities, but confers differential needs, rights and obligations on both the “old” and on younger people. Drawing on research in rural and urban South India, the article illustrates how definitions of “old age” are shaped by class position within local economies. These definitions pattern older people's access to work and, consequently, not only the extent to which people can remain self-supporting in old age, but also the degree to which younger people expect downward resource flows.

Multiple shocks and slum household economies in South India

This research uses a fresh perspective to trace the impact of multiple economic, financial and environmental shocks on slum-dwellers in the South Indian city of Chennai from November 2008 to May 2009. It examines the effects of a concatenation of events scaled from the global to the local, consisting of economic shocks (speculation in financial, fuel and food markets) and extremes of rainfall and temperature, on a cross-section of the urban poor (differentiated by age and gender), taking in household dynamics and work status. The paper also traces the rapidity with which these shocks transfer from the global economy to slum settlements. The method involved twelve-month recall over three survey periods during the shocks and their aftermath, a comparison of emic and etic measures of economic well-being and the comparative use of mixed methods. This research is also the first application of qualitative comparative analysis to slum conditions. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Participation and social connectivity

This chapter examines older people’s experiences of participation and social connectivity across a range of geographical and social locations within the UK and in low and middle income countries in order to test conceptualisations of older people’s participation and social connectivity against experience, and to begin to trace out the individual, local, meso and macro factors and linkages that need to be addressed to extend meaningful participation and engagement for people who happen to be older