Paper short abstract:

By exploring the case of elderly Eritrean women working (or who have worked) as domestics in Milan, this papers show how they try to overcome their condition of loneliness and marginalization by forging new social relations and how they reframe the meanings of ageing in the diaspora.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the meanings that ageing and loneliness have for elderly Eritrean women who, after a life spent working as domestics for rich or middle-class Italian families in Milan, are now, or soon will be, in retirement. Some of these women did not have the opportunity to marry or to have children, they worked for many years without a formal contract and they now are facing all the difficulties of surviving in Milan with a minimum pension and very little social capital. For other members of the diaspora, and for other domestics in better circumstances, their life histories epitomize the model of an unsuccessful migratory trajectory and the opposite of what a 'good ageing' should be. Their much-hated loneliness is, for them, a silent space filled with regrets and bittersweet memories. But it is also a space in which to reconsider critically the social, economic and political forces that led them into exploitation, a condition that they now actively try to overcome by forging new social relations and by reframing what it means to become an elder in the diaspora.

Paper short abstract:

This research explores how care for elderly parents across borders affects Japanese migrants' lives and the choices they make - from everyday practices through mobilities to long-term strategies.

Paper long abstract:

As the world's fastest aging nation, Japan faces various challenges in elderly care. While the government has introduced a series of measures that have signified a shift from care exclusively within the family towards its socialization, adult children still bear the (moral) responsibility for it. This becomes more complicated when they happen to live abroad.

This research explores how care across borders affects Japanese migrants' lives and the choices they make - from everyday practices, through mobilities, to long-term strategies. A series of in-depth qualitative interviews with respondents in Austria and Bulgaria help shed light.

As their parents' needs vary, so do choices migrants have to make regarding care arrangements. While financial backing may not always be necessary, staying in touch and providing emotional support via modern communication technologies is a common practice.

When the parents are physically and mentally fit, care can also mean flying back to Japan once a year to spend time together and do chores and paperwork for them.

When the parents' physical and mental condition requires more intensive care (including in care facilities), adult children living abroad are faced with decisions not only about how to finance their much more numerous trips home, but also whether to change jobs and places of residence within the host country in order to be more flexible, whether to proceed with their application for host-country citizenship, and ultimately whether to continue living separately from their parents.

Overall, care across borders presents Japanese migrants with challenges on different levels.

Paper short abstract:

Taking into account the history of mobility in the Dominican Republic, this talk explores the racialized and gendered ageing experiences of Northern American and European retirees. Thereby it challenges the common division into the "young old" and "oldest old", as other variables come to the fore.

Paper long abstract:

Thousands of European, Canadian and US-American retirees are choosing the north coast of the Dominican Republic as their place of residence for later life. From afar, the country is commonly imagined as a tropical paradise per se, however, the retirees are confronted with an often unexpected reality after having resettled in the Dominican Republic. In my talk, I will explore the encounters between mobile retirees and Dominicans along the lines of racialized and gendered experiences.

First, I will present various actors' reflections on the Dominican north coast that are formulated in two opposing ways: either as the tropical paradise perfectly suited for the ageing body or as a "Sodom and Gomorrah", corrupted by tourism and internal migrants looking for quick money.

Based on this, I will explore the care arrangements, charity work and lives of binational couples by showing how ageing experiences of "western" retirees in the Dominican Republic are firmly shaped by racialized and gendered expectations. I will focus on the intersection of ageing and mobility and will thereby shed light on the implications of retirement mobility on an individual, interpersonal and transnational level. Looking at these particular dimensions of ageing challenges the common division of ageing people into the two following categories: firstly, the healthy "young old", who are able to shape their own ageing, and secondly, the frail "oldest old", who are even more vulnerable through their migration, as other strong influencing factors, in addition to physical fitness and numeric age, come into play.

Paper short abstract:

In China, millions of older adults travel long distances to and temporarily sojourn in cities to provide care for grandchildren. This study uses daily routine as a methodological tool to examine how these migrant grandparents construct good ageing through grandchild care in the context of mobility.

Paper long abstract:

Recent years have witnessed a worldwide increase in the prevalence of grandparents' participation in grandchild care. In China, millions of older adults travel long distances to and temporarily sojourn in major cities to provide care for grandchildren. Widely referred to as "migrant grandparents" or "floating elderly," the size of this demographic segment has risen sharply amidst China's rapidly population aging and socioeconomic and cultural transformations. As one of the first academic attempts to systematically study this group, this study explores how grandchild care and urban sojourning complicate grandparent caregivers' experiences of aging. Specifically, drawing on anthropological studies of daily routine, this article ethnographically examines how migrant grandparents interpret the tension and difficulties in establishing and maintaining their daily routines related to grandchild care over the course of urban sojourning. Based on fieldwork on migrant grandparents in Shenzhen, China's city of immigrants, this study shows that migrant grandparents construct good aging through grandchild care. The process of establishing new routines for attending to the needs of their adult children and grandchildren provides migrant grandparents with meaningful opportunities to construe themselves as socially and morally valuable persons in old age. On the other hand, the tension in maintaining their daily routine suggests that their interpretation highly depends on the young generation and the social network and is hence experiencing constant challenges. Their efforts in constructing a sense of good aging through caregiving face an uncertain future in light of the nature of urban sojourning and the transitional stage of their lives.

Paper short abstract:

Drawing on 16 months ethnography with older people in a low-income area in Kampala, this paper outlines the ways that mobile phone use maps intergenerational continuities across distances and despite wider contextual shifts.

Paper long abstract:

This paper on intergenerational 'care at a distance' is based on findings from a 16 month ethnography in a low-income area in central Kampala, which is part of a global comparative study of ageing around the world. The majority of research participants in Kampala originate from Northern Uganda, either as long-term labour migrants in the city or people displaced during the recent LRA insurgency. This movement maps both location and life course; returning home to the village is an almost universal aspiration for old age, with the city often stereotyped as a place of 'youth'. Whilst older people continue to work 'Monday to Monday' in Kampala, younger people are described as 'the dotcom generation', increasingly exposed to Western media and ideas of individuality and consumption. In the context of 'dotcom', there is a widely held concern amongst participants and researchers that respect and care for elders is declining. In this way, social shifts related to long term rural-urban migration, displacement and globalisation pervade the ways ageing is discussed and experienced. However, ethnographically, it becomes evident that the same 'dotcom' technologies, specifically mobile phones, are also extending intergenerational obligations across distances. This is particularly apparent in relation to health and care, with regular phone calls and remittances between the city and the village. This paper draws on systematic observations of phone use and extensive interviews with older participants, both in Kampala and in their home villages, to outline the ways intergenerational continuities are mapped within and across shifting terrains.

Paper short abstract:

Digital technology holds a promise to improve older adults' well-being and promote ageing in place. it is important to investigate how elderly users feel about and engage with these technologies and by that construct the meaning of healthy aging

Paper long abstract:

Digital technology holds a promise to improve older adults' well-being and promote ageing in place. Much of this technology is designed to be fitted into the home to allow independent living for as long as possible.

Digital interventions using M-health, Assistive Technologies (ATs) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) may support elderly to improve their quality of life, improve physical and mental health status, and reduce caregivers burden. However, there are a variety of factors preventing elderly users to accept and actually use those technologies. Thus, it is important to investigate how elderly users feel about and engage with these technologies and by that construct the meaning of healthy aging. This paper based on a qualitative and quantitative study to explore elderly patients' perspectives and usability of a Smartphone app to improve adherence in fall prevention interventions.

Falls remain an important risk factor for elderly worldwide as the population gets older. In this research an app was developed and tested to facilitates elderly's' understanding of the interconnections between behavior, lifestyle and fall prevention. It designed to document fall events via a digital diary and recommending the user what is best to do to prevent fall. It was found that the mobile phone self-report system was reliable and perceived easy to use.