Social Ties
Asynchronous Session
Promoting Social Inclusion with a New Preventative Care Provision for Older Women in China: An Example as Dancing with Care
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jia Xu
This study asks how well a new form of preventative care provision —dancing with care (DWC) - promotes social inclusion for older women in China. It aims to explore whether DWC could be regarded as an effective way to solve challenges that older women face in improving social involvement bases on healthy lifestyle. This study argues different dimensions of DWC contribute to improving older women’s social involvement conditions, including happiness, social network involvement, social support for preventative care service, and regard of grandchild as a social adhesive, and it adheres to preventative care formulation that older women positively need in urban community. Using semi-structured interviews in selected DWC communities, located in south China, this study proposes that the DWC communities were able to contribute greatly to including their older women’s preventative care needs. It suggests an attractive option for older women to be included into the active social inclusion in the community and provides a better understanding of the role of a new preventative care provision which could act as a reference for promoting social involvement of older people worldwide.
Factors Influencing Sustainable and Healthy Eating Among the Ageing Population: Evidence from Turkey
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Isin Yazicioglu, Lana Repar, Joe Bogue
Global ageing affecting around 12.2% of the world’s population, with a projection to double and reach 2.1 billion by 2050 is an important factor in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Ensuring the health and well-being of this ageing population through a transition to Sustainable and Healthy Eating (S&HE) is essential for development, given the role nutrition plays in enhancing the quality of life and mitigating the potential burden on healthcare systems and environment. S&HE defined as dietary patterns that are nutritionally balanced, healthy, less animal-based with a low environmental impact, can positively influence cognitive performance and reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases. Targeted marketing strategies and public awareness programmes contribute adherence to S&HE. Less is known about the current food choices and motivations behind the ageing population and sustainable and healthier choices. This study investigates the factors that facilitate the ageing population's acceptance of sustainable and healthy foods. The aim of this research is to address the limited knowledge of S&HE behaviours of the ageing population in Turkey, with diverse consumption habits mainly reflecting an Eastern culture. A survey was conducted using a convenience sample of consumers aged between 60 and 70 living in Istanbul. Results reveal how ageing populations perceived S&HE and which personal and contextual factors stimulate them to adopt S&HE behaviours. Findings contribute to knowledge on sustainability and consumer behaviour in relation to S&HE. Implications are of importance to policymakers and businesses in creating promotion strategies for transforming food choices and supporting healthy ageing and sustainable behaviours.
Spoofing in Sweden: How Senior Citizens Handle BankID Frauds
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mia Marie Hammarlin
In a report from March 2024, the national bank in Sweden states that frauds through so-called social engineering, or spoofing, by telephone have become one of the most common types in the country, generating hundreds of millions of Swedish kronor yearly. The victims are often older adults. The fraudsters frequently claim to be calling from the bank, misleading the victims into signing something with BankID, an electronic identification system in Sweden with a 94% usage rate among smartphone owners. In an interview study with Swedish citizens – to date 10 men and 11 women aged 75–89 – focusing their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) competence, many stories are told about how they try to protect themselves from these kinds of frauds. The results are ambiguous: first, they blame the banks for not giving citizens enough protection against this type of crime; second, they are utterly surprised that other seniors fall for this kind of social engineering, saying “How can they be so stupid and naïve?”; third, they practice all sorts of advanced strategies not to be fooled by anyone, leading to increased suspicion and feelings of vulnerability. However, BankID is not only used to solve bank errands; it is the individual key to all public authorities’ websites, blurring the distinction between different everyday tasks online. Building on theories that challenge technique-optimistic “digital by default” political strategies in society, this talk acknowledges a certain kind of existential media vulnerability (Lagerkvist 2022) among older adults, seen as a digitally vulnerable group.
