Looking age-appropriate while growing old gracefully: A qualitative study of ageing and body image among older adults

© SAGE Publications. Body dissatisfaction can be significantly detrimental to wellbeing. Little is known about older adults' body image, despite the fact that ageing causes unique bodily changes and that sociocultural pressures to resist these changes abound. We conducted six focus groups with a UK community sample of White British and South Asian older adults aged 65-92 years. Thematic analysis highlighted four themes: appearance indicates capability and identity; physical ability trumps appearance; felt pressures to age 'gracefully' while resisting appearance changes; and gender and cultural differences. These findings suggest that older adults' body image can have important implications for their wellbeing and merits researchers' attention

Syndromic surveillance to assess the potential public health impact of the Icelandic volcanic ash plume across the United Kingdom, April 2010

The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland erupted on 14 April 2010 emitting a volcanic ash plume that spread across the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. The Health Protection Agency and Health Protection Scotland used existing syndromic surveillance systems to monitor community health during the incident: there were no particularly unusual increases in any of the monitored conditions. This incident has again demonstrated the use of syndromic surveillance systems for monitoring community health in real time

Gender and sustainable livelihoods: linking gendered experiences of environment, community and self

In this essay I explore the economic, social, environmental and cultural changes taking place in Bolsena, Italy, where agricultural livelihoods have rapidly diminished in the last two decades. I examine how gender dynamics have shifted with the changing values and livelihoods of Bolsena through three women’s narratives detailing their gendered experiences of environment, community and self. I reflect on these changes with Sabrina, who is engaged in a feminist community-based organization; Anna, who is running an alternative wine bar; and Isabella, a jeweler, who is engaged in ecofeminist practices. My analysis is based on concepts developed by feminist political ecology: specifically, the theory of rooted networks from Dianne Rocheleau, Donna Haraway’s concept of naturecultures (and the work of J. K. Gibson-Graham on new economic imaginaries emerging from the politics of place. I aim to think with, reflect upon and provoke from the ‘‘otherwise’’, taking into account the lived relations entwining nature and gender. My article looks at the interconnections of gender, environment and livelihoods, attentive to the daily needs, embodied interactions and labours of these three women as part of a reappropriation, reconstruction and reinvention of Bolsena’s lifeworld. By listening to the stories of their everyday lives and struggles, I show the dynamic potential of the politics of place and the efforts to build diverse economies and more ethical economic and ecological relationships based on gender-aware subjectivities and values

Looking age-appropriate while growing old gracefully: A qualitative study of ageing and body image among older adults

Abstract Body dissatisfaction can be significantly detrimental to wellbeing. Little is known about older adults' body image, despite that ageing causes unique bodily changes and that sociocultural pressures to resist these changes abound. We conducted six focus groups with a UK community sample of White British and South Asian older adults aged 65-92 years. Thematic analysis highlighted four themes: appearance indicates capability and identity; physical ability trumps appearance, felt pressures to age 'gracefully' while resisting appearance changes, and gender and cultural differences. These findings suggest that older adults' body image can have important implications for their wellbeing and merits researchers' attention. Keywords: Ageing, Appearance, Health, Body Image Running Head: AGEING AND BODY IMAGE AMONG OLDER ADULTS 3 Looking age-appropriate while growing old gracefully: A qualitative study of ageing and body image among older adults Ageing is accompanied by significant changes to physical appearance and functionality. These may include hair loss and change of colour, weight changes, the use of dentures, hearing and mobility aids, and changes in body shape and skin elasticity. Despite these changes reflecting normal ageing processes, individuals experience them within a culture that highly values and emphasises the importance of a youthful appearance (Becker et al., 2013). Older adults often experience sociocultural pressures to conform to youthful appearance ideals. 1 These pressures can impact their body image, which is an individual's thoughts, feelings and behaviours associated with their appearance and physical ability Despite the rapid increase in ageing populations in developed and less developed countries, whereby the number of people aged 65 and above has tripled in the last 50 years (United Nations, 2013), most appearance and body image research has focused on childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Only limited research has examined the presence and nature of body image and related sociocultural pressures during mid to older adulthood. Furthermore, such research has tended to produce inconsistent findings and has overly focused on White older adult women Qualitative research with White women aged between 50-70 years suggests that 1 There is no definitive rule for what age constitutes the start of older adulthood. In ageing research, however, the convention is for older adulthood to be defined as 65 years and older (Erber, 2013). Running Head: AGEING AND BODY IMAGE AMONG OLDER ADULTS 4 concerns regarding the effect of ageing on body image are prevalent among this sample and that felt sociocultural appearance pressures are salient (e.g., Research is similarly equivocal about the effect of ageing on men's and women's general this area has been "deficient in fully uncovering the nuances of diversity and the ways that intersectionality informs older adults' embodied experience". They add "there is a strong need to capture both the perceptions and the experiences of the aging body from the perspective of older men and women". In summary, while the existing research suggests that age-related appearance changes may be salient and give rise to appearance concerns, little is known about how older adults actually experience body image in the context of an appearance orientated society and an ageing body. The aim of this study therefore was to use a focus group methodology to explore indepth how ageing, appearance, and sociocultural appearance pressures may influence older adults' body image (defined here as those aged 65 years and older). An additional aim was to recruit a more diverse population of older adults than has been traditionally sampled in previous research (i.e., a sample that included men and ethnic minority groups). Because there has been limited research with older adults, and the research to date has produced mixed Running Head: AGEING AND BODY IMAGE AMONG OLDER ADULTS 6 findings, we selected a qualitative design so that the results would largely be driven by participants' accounts, rather than researchers' assumptions about the nature and scope of body image concerns and sociocultural appearance pressures for older adults Method Procedure Nine community support organisations for older adults, based in the south west of England, were approached to request permission to invite their members to take part in a focus group on body image, ageing and society. Three organisations (Age UK Bristol, LinkAge and Dhek Bhal 2 ) granted permission for the first author to attend their local meetings to recruit older adults for this study. Subsequently, six focus groups were conducted between March and June 2012. Each focus group consisted of 4-6 participants, with four single-sex groups (two groups of males, two groups of females) and two mixed-sex groups. Ethics approval from the University of the West of England was granted for this study. Focus groups were conducted until saturation was reached, a point at which no new themes or information were apparent. Participants A total of 28 women and men (16 women, 12 men) aged 66-92 years (M =79.38, SD 2 Dhek Bhal is an organization that aims to support South Asian adults living in Bristol, UK, and the surrounding area Running Head: AGEING AND BODY IMAGE AMONG OLDER ADULTS 7 = 7.26) took part in the focus group discussions 3 . Participants identified as White British (n = 20; 71%) or South Asian (n = 8; 29%). Of the participants who reported their marital status, most identified as 'married' (n = 13, 61%), with fewer as 'widowed' (n = 4, 19%), 'single' (n = 2, 10%), or 'divorced' (n = 2, 10%). Of the participants who reported their height and weight, the average BMI was 21.06 (SD = 11.13) which is within the 'normal' range for adults of this age group Data collection and analysis Four focus groups were led by the first author (a White British male in his twenties) with the remaining two were led by the third author (a White British female in her forties). Two female White British research assistants in their twenties observed the focus groups to record notes on speaker order. Each focus group discussion lasted between 50 and 63 minutes. Within each focus group, the discussions were interactive and all participants contributed freely to the discussion (i.e., responding to the moderator, as well as other participants). After participants provided written consent and demographic information, each moderator led the focus group using a semi-structured discussion schedule, derived from

Initiative, Personality and Leadership in Pairs of Foraging Fish

Studies of coordinated movement have found that, in many animal species, bolder individuals are more likely to initiate movement and shyer individuals to follow. Here, we show that in pairs of foraging stickleback fish, leadership is not merely a passive consequence of temperamental differences. Instead, the act of initiating a joint foraging trip out of cover itself brings about a change in the role that an individual plays throughout the subsequent trip, and success in recruiting a partner affects an individual's tendency to initiate the next trip. On each joint trip, whichever fish took the initiative in leading out of cover gains greater influence over its partner's behaviour, which persists even after several changes in position (i.e. termination attempts and re-joining). During any given trip, the initiator is less responsive to its partner's movements than during trips initiated by the partner. An individual's personality had an important effect on its response to failure to recruit a partner: while bold fish were unaffected by failures to initiate a joint trip, shy individuals were less likely to attempt another initiation after a failure. This difference provides a positive feedback mechanism that can partially stabilise social roles within the pair, but it is not strong enough to prevent occasional swaps, with individuals dynamically adjusting their responses to one another as they exchange roles

Comparison of signalment and computed tomography findings in French Bulldogs, Pugs, and English Bulldogs with and without clinical signs associated with thoracic hemivertebra

Background: Although thoracic hemivertebra can cause neurological signs, they occur commonly in neurologically normal dogs. Objectives: To evaluate whether computed tomography (CT) findings and factors associated with signalment can be used to differentiate between dogs with and without neurological signs associated with hemivertebra. Animals: One hundred sixty dogs with ≥1 hemivertebrae were retrospectively studied. This group consisted of 40 dogs with clinical signs caused by hemivertebra and 40 French Bulldogs, 40 Pugs, and 40 English Bulldogs that underwent CT for reasons unrelated to neurological disease. Methods: All dogs underwent CT and affected dogs also underwent magnetic resonance imaging. All CT studies were randomly evaluated by an observer blinded to signalment and clinical status. The following variables were evaluated: presence, number, location, and subtype of hemivertebra; presence of vertebral subluxation; severity of vertebral canal stenosis; presence, location, and severity of kyphosis, and number of vertebrae involved in the kyphotic segment. Statistical modeling was performed to identify factors associated with clinical status. Results: Pug breed (odds ration [OR], 10.8; P = .01), more severe kyphosis (OR, 1.1 per grade increase; P < .001), fewer instead of more observed hemivertebrae (OR, 0.8; P = 0.03), and ventrolateral hypoplasia hemivertebra subtype (OR, 4.0; P = .011) were associated with higher likelihood of neurological disease. A Cobb angle of 34.5 degrees corresponded with the highest combined sensitivity and specificity to differentiate between clinically affected and unaffected dogs. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: The variables identified could aid in differentiating between clinically relevant and irrelevant hemivertebra in small breed brachycephalic dogs

The Extent and Nature of Fluidity in Typologies of Female Sex Work in Southern India: Implications for HIV Prevention Programs

These authors examine the nature and extent of fluidity in defining the typology of female sex work based on the place of solicitation or place of sex or both places together, and whether sex workers belonging to a particular typology are at increased risk of HIV in southern India. Data are drawn from a cross-sectional survey conducted during 2007–2008 among mobile female sex workers (N = 5301) in four Indian states. Findings from this study address an important policy issue: Should programmatic prevention interventions be spread to cover all places of sex work or be focused on a few places that cover a large majority of sex workers? Results indicate that most female sex workers, including those who are usually hard to reach such as those who are mobile or who use homes for soliciting clients or sex, can be reached programmatically multiple times by concentrating on a smaller number of categories, such as street-, lodge-, and brothel-based sex workers