Ageing in the City

by Scharf, Thomas; Phillipson, Chris; Smith, Allison E.

• ISBN13: 9780335215164
• ISBN10: 0335215165
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: Open University Press

Summary

This is the first book of its kind to address the experiences of older people living in some of Britain's most disadvantaged urban communities. Drawing upon a unique range of data sources, the book illustrates the challenges faced by older people in managing their daily lives in neighbourhoods that have witnessed considerable change in recent years. Using older people's own accounts, the authors shows how people handle potential risks that arise from the experience of poverty, social exclusion, and neighbourhood change. They also highlight the factors which have the greatest bearing on older people's quality of life in deprived urban neighbourhoods, and identify the implications of this for policy and practice. The book, written by an expert group of researchers who have worked closely together on the topic for a number of years, presents a compelling account of the everyday lives of older people in socially deprived urban areas.

Author Biography

Thomas Scharf is Reader in Social Gerontology and Director of the Centre for Social Gerontology at Keele University. He has a longstanding research interest in the social policy of old age, with a particular focus on older peoplen++s experience of poverty and social exclusion.

..Chris Phillipson is Professor of Applied Social Studies and Social Gerontology at the University of Keele. Currently Director of Keelen++s Institute of Ageing and President of the British Society of Gerontology, he has a specialist interest in the sociology and social policy of family life in old age, and has researched and published extensively in this area.

..Allison E. Smith is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Social Gerontology at Keele University. She is currently completing her doctoral research which focuses on the experiences of older people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods of cities in England and Canada.

Table of Contents

Introduction Ageing in urban environments

Setting the scene: the empirical study

Perceptions of the neighbourhood

Poverty and social exclusion

Social relationships Using services

Quality of life in urban areas

Everyday lives of older people

Conclusion and policy implications

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