Abstract
The concept of health citizenship features prominently within contemporary active ageing policy rhetoric, which promotes the rights and responsibilities associated with maintaining health and wellbeing in older age. Given that rural environments present distinct opportunities and challenges related to active ageing, it is important to critically examine what health citizenship looks like for rural older people, and how rural settings support or inhibit health citizenship at various levels of environmental context. This qualitative research critically examines the ecological factors that influence rural older people’s capacity to enact health citizenship. It draws on data gathered through 2 World Cafes with older people (n=53), and semi-structured interviews with local government, health and community stakeholders (n=34) in a rural Australian local government area. Discussions with interviewees and World Café participants focused on perceptions of older people’s responsibilities to maintain their own health and wellbeing, and who should be responsible for supporting them to fulfil their obligations. Findings highlight that the capacity of rural older adults to assume rights, and practice responsibilities associated with health citizenship is influenced by structural, environmental and individual factors. These factors relate to both the capacity and desire of various actors to fulfil their responsibilities to rural older people, and individual ability to engage with these actors to access their rights.
Presenters
Rachel WintertonDeputy Director and Senior Research Fellow, John Richards Centre for Rural Ageing Research, La Trobe University, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Citizenship, Rural environments, Active ageing
