55 research outputs found
Pävi Naskali, Marjaana Seppänen & Shahnaj Begum (eds.), Ageing, Wellbeing and Climate Change in the Arctic. An interdisciplinary analysis (London: Routledge, 2015)
No full textBook review of: Pävi Naskali, Marjaana Seppänen and Shahnaj Begum (eds.), Ageing, Wellbeing and Climate Change in the Arctic. An interdisciplinary analysis (London: Routledge’s series on advances in climate change research, 2015
Exploring Age-Friendly Environments in Rural Settings:Case Study from Finnish Lapland
No full textThe environment plays a vital role in ensuring quality of life for older people in the rural north. In this chapter, I examine how older people identify the characteristics of age-friendly environments in rural settings. “Age-friendly environment” can be understood in different ways: as a natural , human-built or social environment. Analysing interviews conducted in the Enontekiö region of northern Finland, I ascertain older people’s perceptions and understanding of what constitutes an age-friendly environment. In addition, I investigate the changes and challenges which older persons encounter in their daily lives that affect the potential of their environment to be age-friendly. The analysis reveals that the key elements of such an environment are good forest, land, fresh water, good connections with family, neighbours, and the community, and an accommodating built environment
Gender difference of older persons in the context of Arctic change
No full textAbout 14 percent of the population of the Arctic region is 65 years of age or older. This age cohort, in which women constitute the majority, is increasing rapidly. As a consequence of climate change and other anthropogenic changes, the region faces a huge transformation, one posing challenges to its society, economy, culture, environment and infrastructure. Older people are particularly affected by these challenges. Differences in gender roles among this age group suggest that the changes in the Arctic will impact men and women differently. For example, a number of studies show that elderly women are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change. To date, the gender dimension of climate change as it affects older persons has not been adequately addressed, at least in the Arctic context. This paper reviews the existing literature to investigate how gender positioning will manifest itself among elderly men and women (including indigenous elders) as the Arctic addresses climate change. The paper also shows how the anticipated differences stem from inequality between the genders. The research takes the form of a comprehensive review of scientific articles and literature from the Arctic and PubMed databases, as well as from other relevant sources
Age-friendly environments in the stories of older people in the Finnish Arctic
No full textResearch on age-friendly environments (AFEs) lacks an account of the Nordic North by the diverse older population of that region. This chapter addresses this gap, asking (a) what are the particular elements of an AFE that older people (native Finns, immigrants and Sámi) consider important for their daily life; and (b) what are the problems and challenges that create distances for the older population and do these differ among native Finns, immigrants and Sámi?After first discussing the concept of an AFE and distance for groups, I proceed, drawing on Eales et al. (2008), to analyze the needs, expectations and resources cited in interviews by older people living in the Finnish Arctic. By identifying AFE-related distances in the region, the chapter widens the understanding of AFEs in the Finnish North. Significantly, the study illustrates positive as well as negative distances. Positive distances included long distances from crowds, crime and congestion and short distances to nature, a garden or a gym. Negative distances were those causing a sense of detachment: distance in time; distance within the community, such as that between native Finns and newcomers; and distances restricting access or opportunities to maintain social relationships.<br/
Distances and sense of belonging:Older people in Finnish Lapland and digital communication technologies
No full textThe chapter examines the meaning that place and sense of belonging have for ageing people in Finnish Lapland. This consideration is analyzed in the context of a changing elderly care politics that emphasizes digitalization as a way to shorten geographical and social distances using a range of technological and digital communication services. The research questions are: What is the significance of place and sense of belonging for older people as assessed by themselves and their relatives; and what is the significance of digitalization as causing or increasing distances for older people? The data were collected through interviews of older people living in the Finnish North and their relatives. The results suggest that a personal feeling of being at home in a place arose from a holistic relationship to the cultural-material surroundings, from being a member of an Indigenous people and from close relationships among family members, friends and others in one's neighborhood. The respondents’ views of digitalization as a means to strengthen a sense of belonging varied depending on their cognitive skills and working life background. Some older people relied on traditional technology, some made good use of new technological opportunities, and some reported negative experiences of the technology.This book demonstrates how the largely neglected and multifaceted concept of distance can be used as a primary lens to expand and enrich our understandings of what older people say about their lives, needs and wishes in diverse surroundings in the Northern periphery and beyond.It asks how physical, social and emotional distances shape older people’s everyday lives and practices. Contributions from leading experts provides interdisciplinary investigations into the experiences and stories of older people in the Northern periphery. These insights demonstrate the utility of the concept, distance, when reflecting on the central aspects of contemporary ageing societies. The book explores key themes such as care, age politics, technology, intergenerational relations and migration, providing perspectives that are applicable across a variety of international geographical contexts.This innovative book offers a valuable theoretical and methodological contribution with critical new perspectives on ageing in relation to distances. It will be of interest to students and scholars interested in sociology, human geography, health and social care, ageing and gerontological studies, gender studies and Arctic studies
Ageing and Gender in the Nordic Arctic
Full text linkIn this thesis I undertake to determine how considerations of equality and social justice
shed light on the challenges facing older people in the Arctic at large and the Nordic Arctic in particular. My specific aim is to investigate ageing and gender in the Nordic Arctic with a view to addressing gaps in the scope and depth of the present knowledge on these issues. To this end, the main research question is how ageing and gender in the region interact with equality and social justice.
The thesis brings various strands of research together: Arctic studies, human rights
and ageing studies and gender studies. In addressing issues such as human rights, human
securities and gender equality, the study shows how the ongoing transformation in the
Arctic has influenced the wellbeing of the region’s older population. It also illustrates
how the focal issues are interconnected.
The work consists of five articles and an introductory synthesis. It work draws on qualitative methods applied to two sets of data: 1) published scientific literature and
relevant policy reports and 2) interviews carried out in Finnish and Swedish Lapland between 2011 and 2017, the latter designed in keeping with the ethical guidelines provided by the University of Lapland and experts on ageing-related ethics. A thorough initial study of the two sets of data provided an analytical framework for the research proper. Using this, I examined the phenomena descriptively and critically through the lens of equality and social justice, drawing on human rights and feminist standpoint approaches. Specifically, I analyse the concerns of the older population in the Nordic Arctic and address salient issues of equality and social justice that challenge older people as the region confronts climate change, environmental change and changes in sources of livelihood.
The research findings reveal and address gaps in our knowledge of the specific vulnerabilities facing older persons - vulnerabilities that play a part in the social context of the region. I present the marginality of the older population as connected with age, gender, functional capacity and indigeneity. In addition to highlighting the importance of older persons’ concerns, the research produces new knowledge offering 8 | Shahnaj Begum: Ageing and Gender in the Nordic Arctic insights to policy makers and stakeholders and potentially enabling older people to gain more control over their lives. The principal claim put forward in the study is that the transformation of the Arctic at large is increasing inequality and injustice for the older population in the Nordic Arctic.Väitöskirjassani tarkastelen iäkkäiden ihmisten kohtaamia haasteita arktisella, erityisesti Pohjoismaiden arktisella alueella tasa-arvon ja sosiaalisen oikeudenmukaisuuden näkökulmista. Tutkimus täydentää erityisesti ikääntymistä ja sukupuolta koskevaa tietämystä ja syventää näiltä osin Pohjoismaiden arktista aluetta koskevaa ymmärrystä. Tutkimus yhdistää monia tutkimusaloja: arktisen tutkimuksen, ihmisoikeuksien tutkimuksen, ikääntymisen tutkimuksen ja sukupuolentutkimuksen. Tutkimus tarkastelee ihmisoikeuksia, inhimillistä turvallisuutta ja sukupuolten tasa-arvoa sekä näiden välisiä yhteyksiä ja osoittaa tapoja, joilla arktisen alueen muutos vaikuttaa iäkkään väestön hyvinvointiin.
Väitöskirja koostuu viidestä artikkelista sekä yhteenvetoartikkelista. Laadullisia tutkimusmenetelmiä käyttäen tarkastelen kahdenlaisia aineistoja: 1) tutkimuskirjallisuutta ja poliittisia selontekoja sekä 2) Suomen ja Ruotsin Lapissa vuosina 2011–2017 tehtyjä haastatteluja. Haastattelut toteutettiin Lapin yliopiston ja ikääntymisen etiikan asiantuntijoiden eettisten ohjeiden mukaisesti.
Tutkimuksen analyyttinen viitekehys perustuu molempien aineistojen perinpohjaiseen tarkasteluun. Analysoin erityisesti iäkkäiden ihmisten elämään liittyviä haasteita, jotka liittyvät tasa-arvon ja sosiaalisen oikeudenmukaisuuden ajankohtaisiin kysymyksiin. Tarkastelun kehyksenä on arktisen alueen muutos, joka koskee ilmastoa, sosiaalista ja luontoympäristöä sekä elinkeinoja. Tasa-arvon ja oikeudenmukaisuuden
näkökulmat ohjaavat aineiston deskriptiivistä ja kriittistä tulkintaa. Analyysissa sovellan kahta lähestymistapaa: ihmisoikeusperustaisuutta (Human Rights Approach, HR) ja feminististä lähtökohtateoriaa (Feminist Standpoint Approach, FS).
Tutkimus täydentää pohjoista arktista aluetta koskevaa tutkimustietoa osoittamalla arktisen alueen yhteiskunnalliseen kontekstiin liittyvät, ikääntyneiden haavoittuvuutta tuottavat tekijät. Tutkimustulosten perusteella iäkkäiden ihmisten marginalisoituminen on yhteydessä ikään, sukupuoleen, toimintakykyyn ja alkuperäisväestöön kuulumiseen. Tutkimus korostaa iäkkäitä ihmisiä koskevien kysymysten tarkastelun tärkeyttä 10 | Shahnaj Begum: Ageing and Gender in the Nordic Arctic ja tuottaa tietoa, jonka avulla on mahdollista kehittää toimintamalleja ikääntyneiden ihmisten elämänhallinnan ja hyvinvoinnin tukemiseksi. Väitöskirja tarjoaa uusia näkökulmia päättäjille ja sidosryhmille. Sen pääviesti on, että arktisen alueen muutos vaikuttaa iäkkään väestön asemaan Pohjoismaiden arktisella alueella epätasa-arvoa ja epäoikeudenmukaisuutta lisäävästi.ei tietoa saavutettavuudest
CLIMATE CHANGE AND VULNERABILITY OF THE ARCTIC ELDERLY: AN ASSESSMENT FROM HUMAN RIGHTS POINT OF VIEW
No full textThere are increasing challenges among the elderly in the Arctic region. Global warming due to climate change is one of the major reasons for these challenges. Because of climate change temperature in the region increases, which results in rapid melting of sea ice causing various environmental, social, cultural and economic problems. Population in the region suffers from these problems where elderly people are the most vulnerable. Climate change has already affected the elderly lives in different ways, such as, by physical, social, political, cultural and psychological ways. These have serious consequences in terms of human rights of this vulnerable group of people. However, the elderly people’s human rights issues have not been adequately researched in the context of this region. The goal of this paper is to present elderly related human rights issues, particularly the rights that are affected due to climate change in this specific region
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