Marco Socci
Biographic Data
| ID | 1210437 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marco Socci |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marco |
| FAMILY NAME | Socci |
| SIGNATURE | SOCCI M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Istituto Nazionale di Riposo e Cura per Anziani |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9093-2167 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 15 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Interdisciplinarity and epistemic reflexivity. A methodological approach to the study of later-life transitions
Research on later-life transitions spans multiple disciplines, yet perspectives often remain fragmented. This paper demonstrates how interdisciplinarity, guided by epistemic reflexivity, can produce a more integrated understanding of later-life transitions. Drawing on a meta-narrative review, four research traditions – education, sociology, gerontology, and management – are examined to reconstruct discipline-specific storylines and generate a cro…
Labour market and retirement in Italy
Purpose Active ageing (AA) concerns the optimisation of opportunities for health, social participation and security of people as they age. Limited research exists on understanding the multilevel governance of AA policies, including those targeting the labour market and retirement. The aim of this study is to identify and analyse national and regional AA policies focused on paid-work and the retirement transition in Italy. Design/methodology/appro…
Social Participation of Frail Older People with Functional Limitations Ageing Alone in Place in Italy, and Its Impact on Loneliness
(1) Background: Older people ageing in place alone with functional limitations experience several difficulties in daily life, potentially hampering their social participation. This in turn could impact their perceived loneliness. This paper aims to investigate these issues based on findings from the IN-AGE (“Inclusive ageing in place”) study carried out in 2019 in Italy. (2) Methods: The focus of this paper is on the Marche region (Central Italy)…
Identifying Active Aging Policy Objectives in Italian Regions
Background: In light of the main challenges recognized as being linked to the operationalization of the active aging concept at the policy level, the present study aimed to understand whether and to what extent Italian regional governments plan to deal with these challenges, i.e., implementing inter-sectoral and multilevel cooperation in a mainstreaming aging perspective; creating participatory processes by involving stakeholders in policymaking;…
Recruitment of Adolescent Young Carers to a Psychosocial Support Intervention Study in Six European Countries
Young carers provide a substantial amount of care to family members and support to friends, yet their situation has not been actively addressed in research and policy in many European countries or indeed globally. Awareness of their situation by professionals and among children and young carers themselves remains low overall. Thus, young carers remain a largely hidden group within society. This study reports and analyses the recruitment process i…
The Active Ageing Index and policy making in Italy
Although the active ageing concept generally has positive connotations, with expected benefits at the micro, meso and macro levels, the application of this concept in terms of policy making presents challenges and risks to be avoided (for instance, a predominantly productivist interpretation and a top-down imposition with limited possibilities for bottom-up exchanges; or a disregard for the risk of excluding older people with more disadvantaged b…
Difficulties and Needs of Adolescent Young Caregivers of Grandparents in Italy and Slovenia
Many adolescent young caregivers (AYCs) care for a grandparent (GrP) with chronic disease, especially in countries with no or low developed long-term care systems and/or level of awareness of and policy responses to young caregivers. This mixed-methods study aimed at shedding light on the needs and difficulties faced by a sample of 162 adolescents aged 15-17, caring for GrPs, living in Italy (87) and Slovenia (75), respectively. A multiple linear…
Active Ageing in Italy
In ageing societies, active ageing (AA) has been recognized as a useful conceptual tool due to its holistic approach to social issues and recognised benefits from it at multiple levels (micro, meso and macro) for addressing demographic challenges. However, one of the main problems identified in relation to AA, is to turn into practice, at the policy making level, the many positive aspects that it promises at the conceptual level, as is demonstrat…
Changes in Volunteering of Older Adults in the Time of the Covid-19 Pandemic
This paper elucidates the relationship between possible changes in volunteering experienced by older people during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their motivation to volunteer, as well as the direct or indirect experience of COVID-19 symptoms. Given the well-known positive benefits of volunteering in older age both for individuals (in terms of improved health and wellbeing) and society at large, there is a paucity of studies on older volunteers in th…
Research and Innovation for and with Adolescent Young Carers to Influence Policy and Practice—The European Union Funded “ME-WE” Project
Young carers are children and adolescents who provide care to other family members or friends, taking over responsibilities that are usually associated with adulthood. There is emerging but still scarce knowledge worldwide about the phenomenon of young carers and the impact of a caring role on their health, social and personal development spheres. This paper provides an overview of the main results from the ME-WE project, which is the first Europ…
Caring for Frail Older People Living Alone in Italy
When frail older people age alone in place, with increasing functional limitations, they require support in performing daily living activities. In this respect, it is important to assess their preferences in terms of future housing solutions, and their opinions/orientations on the care responsibilities of both family and public services. The present study aimed to explore these aspects in Italy. Qualitative interviews were carried out in 2019 wit…
Factors Worsening and Mitigating the Consequences of the Covid-19 Outbreak on the Overall Health of Informal Caregivers of Older People with Long-Term Care Needs Living in Germany and in Italy
Population ageing and the higher prevalence of multimorbidity in later life are increasing the demand for Long-Term Care (LTC) worldwide; this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As in Europe and beyond, the bulk of care for frail older people is carried out by informal caregivers. This study aimed at understanding the factors affecting the overall worsening health of informal caregivers of older people with LTC needs living in Germany…
Role and Characteristics of Personal Care Assistants of Frail Older People with Functional Limitations Ageing in Place in Italy
When older people become frail with functional limitations, and age alone in place, caring support is fundamental for performing daily living activities. The present study aimed to explore the current role and characteristics of privately hired Personal Care Assistants (PCAs) of older people in Italy, in light of the decreasing care availability of the family and the low provision of public services. In the study “Inclusive ageing in place” (IN-A…
Frail Older People Ageing in Place in Italy
Functional limitations, chronic diseases and frailty often occur in later life. These aspects become very challenging when older people age alone in place, thus needing support in the activities of daily living, and in this context, it is important they can access and use health services. The present study aimed to explore these issues in Italy. In 2019, 120 qualitative interviews were carried out within the "Inclusive Ageing in Place" (IN-AGE) p…
The Impact of Covid-19 on the Health and Experience of the Carers of Older Family Members Living with Dementia
This quantitative study ( n = 370) compares the pandemic-related experiences of the family carers of older people living with dementia during the first wave of the pandemic, in two countries with different care regimes: Italy (Mediterranean) and Hungary (Eastern European). It aims at answering the following research questions: (1) How did the pandemic affect the subjective health of carers, and what were their experiences with care-related worrie…
The first cross-national study of adolescent young carers aged 15–17 in six European countries
For the first time, this article will provide a cross-national profile of adolescents who provide unpaid care to their ill or disabled family members in six European countries with varied levels of awareness, policy and service provision regarding adolescent young carers. Utilising an online survey, 2,099 adolescent young carers were identified in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. This article focuses on the impact…
The 2021 cross-national and comparative classification of in-country awareness and policy responses to ‘young carers’
Many children under the age of 18 are drawn into unpaid caring roles because they live in families where there is chronic illness, mental health problems or substance misuse, and because other alternatives are not available. Many of these children, widely referred to as ‘young carers’, provides regular and significant amounts of care, often ‘hidden’ because of the absence of awareness by professionals in the fields of education, health and social…
The influence of gender and class on the transition to retirement
The aim of this study is the reconstruction of the multifaceted points of view related to the transition from work to retirement using a gender perspective. This article includes 40 interviews of ageing Italian workers, 24 women and 16 men, carried out in the cusp of retirement (wave 1) and two years after retirement (wave 3). The experiences related to the 'decision to retire' and 'life after retirement' were analysed using a complex theoretical…
Italian Adolescent Young Caregivers of Grandparents
The article aims to describe the experiences of 87 Italian adolescent young caregivers (AYCs) of grandparents (GrPs), with reference to the caregiving stress appraisal model (CSA) that provides a theoretical lens to explore the difficulties encountered and support needed in their caring role. Qualitative data were drawn from an online survey conducted within an EU Horizon 2020 funded project. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out, and th…
A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Care Arrangements of Older People with Limited Physical Abilities Living Alone in Italy
Older people with limited physical abilities, who live alone without cohabiting family members, need support ageing in place and to perform daily living activities. In this respect, both the available informal and formal care seem crucial. The present study aimed to explore the current role of the care arrangements of older people, especially if they have functional limitations. Qualitative interviews were carried out in 2019 within the " Inclusi…
Active Ageing
While active ageing has emerged as a main strategy to address the challenges of population ageing in Europe, recent research has stressed the need to increase knowledge on within-country differences to promote active ageing through appropriate policy responses. This article draws on the Active Ageing Index (AAI) to capture recent trends in active ageing in Italy with a focus on sub-national diversity. To this end, we compute AAI breakdowns by reg…
Cross-national Analysis of Legislation, Policy and Service Frameworks for Adolescent Young Carers in Europe
Despite some national examinations of policy responses for young carers (YCs), this study provides a first comprehensive cross-national comparison of the different legislation, policy and service frameworks that exist to protect and support adolescent young carers (AYCs) in six European countries (Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom) and how these are enacted. Until now, research has focused on estimating numbers …
Older adult entrepreneurs as mentors of young people neither in employment nor education and training (Neets). Evidences from multi-country intergenerational learning program
Population aging is exacerbating the loss of competences in the workforce and simultaneously young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) are struggling to be reengaged in employment. These issues, which are deemed priorities for the European policy agenda, could be addressed by triggering active aging dimensions, valuing and exploiting older adult entrepreneurs’ knowledge for enhancing youngsters’ entrepreneurial atti…
Positive and Negative Impacts of Caring among Adolescents Caring for Grandparents. Results from an Online Survey in Six European Countries and Implications for Future Research, Policy and Practice
Although up to 8% of European youngsters carry out high-intensity care for a family member, adolescent young carers (AYCs), especially those caring for their grandparents (GrPs), remain an under-researched group. This study aimed at addressing the current knowledge gap by carrying out an online survey in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The analysis included a final sample of 817 AYCs aged 15-17 years…
Employees’ Longer Working Lives in Europe
This paper identifies, within companies' sectors of activity, predictors of Human Resource (HR) policies to extend working life (EWL) in light of increasing policy efforts at the European level to extend working life. Three types of EWL practices are investigated: the prevention of early retirement (i.e. encouraging employees to continue working until the legal retirement age); delay of retirement (i.e. encouraging employees to continue working b…
Retirement plans and active ageing
This study explores whether the plans of older workers on the cusp of retirement are in line with the active ageing agenda set by policy makers in Europe. The study was carried out in Italy, England, and the United States of America (USA). A total of 133 older workers who planned to retire within the next 10–12 months were interviewed (55 in England, 40 in Italy and 38 in the USA) between May 2014 and early 2015 using common semi-structured quest…
The 2021 cross-national and comparative classification of in-country awareness and policy responses to ‘young carers’
Many children under the age of 18 are drawn into unpaid caring roles because they live in families where there is chronic illness, mental health problems or substance misuse, and because other alternatives are not available. Many of these children, widely referred to as ‘young carers’, provides regular and significant amounts of care, often ‘hidden’ because of the absence of awareness by professionals in the fields of education, health and social…
Cross-national Analysis of Legislation, Policy and Service Frameworks for Adolescent Young Carers in Europe
Despite some national examinations of policy responses for young carers (YCs), this study provides a first comprehensive cross-national comparison of the different legislation, policy and service frameworks that exist to protect and support adolescent young carers (AYCs) in six European countries (Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom) and how these are enacted. Until now, research has focused on estimating numbers …
The Active Ageing Index and policy making in Italy
Although the active ageing concept generally has positive connotations, with expected benefits at the micro, meso and macro levels, the application of this concept in terms of policy making presents challenges and risks to be avoided (for instance, a predominantly productivist interpretation and a top-down imposition with limited possibilities for bottom-up exchanges; or a disregard for the risk of excluding older people with more disadvantaged b…
Retirement plans and active ageing
This study explores whether the plans of older workers on the cusp of retirement are in line with the active ageing agenda set by policy makers in Europe. The study was carried out in Italy, England, and the United States of America (USA). A total of 133 older workers who planned to retire within the next 10–12 months were interviewed (55 in England, 40 in Italy and 38 in the USA) between May 2014 and early 2015 using common semi-structured quest…
Older adult entrepreneurs as mentors of young people neither in employment nor education and training (Neets). Evidences from multi-country intergenerational learning program
Population aging is exacerbating the loss of competences in the workforce and simultaneously young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) are struggling to be reengaged in employment. These issues, which are deemed priorities for the European policy agenda, could be addressed by triggering active aging dimensions, valuing and exploiting older adult entrepreneurs’ knowledge for enhancing youngsters’ entrepreneurial atti…
Positive and Negative Impacts of Caring among Adolescents Caring for Grandparents. Results from an Online Survey in Six European Countries and Implications for Future Research, Policy and Practice
Although up to 8% of European youngsters carry out high-intensity care for a family member, adolescent young carers (AYCs), especially those caring for their grandparents (GrPs), remain an under-researched group. This study aimed at addressing the current knowledge gap by carrying out an online survey in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The analysis included a final sample of 817 AYCs aged 15-17 years…
Employees’ Longer Working Lives in Europe
This paper identifies, within companies' sectors of activity, predictors of Human Resource (HR) policies to extend working life (EWL) in light of increasing policy efforts at the European level to extend working life. Three types of EWL practices are investigated: the prevention of early retirement (i.e. encouraging employees to continue working until the legal retirement age); delay of retirement (i.e. encouraging employees to continue working b…
New Multilevel Partnerships and Policy Perspectives on Active Ageing in Italy
Active ageing (AA) policies aim to improve quality of life of older people by enabling better social participation and inclusion. Despite many international initiatives to promote AA undertaken in recent years, Italy did not systematically address this policy challenge until very recently. This paper presents the first national Plan-of-Action (PoA) (2019-2022) adopted by this country for supporting policy design and recommendation in this field. …
The Participation of Senior Citizens in Policy-Making
Worldwide, active aging policy calls for greater participation of senior citizens in the social, economic, and political realms. Despite emerging evidence of initiatives engaging senior citizens in social activities, little is known about the use of participatory approaches in the design and/or implementation of policies that matter to older citizens. This article identifies initiatives facilitating the civic participation of older people in poli…
Active Aging
Building on the active aging framework, the aim of this study, carried out between 2016 and 2018, is to analyze concrete experiences of older individuals acting as key players of social change in six local communities of five European countries (Bulgaria, Denmark, England, France, Spain). The 19 seniors involved in the study, according to social contexts, individual past experiences, knowledge, and motivations, acted as senior social entrepreneur…
Italian Adolescent Young Caregivers of Grandparents
The article aims to describe the experiences of 87 Italian adolescent young caregivers (AYCs) of grandparents (GrPs), with reference to the caregiving stress appraisal model (CSA) that provides a theoretical lens to explore the difficulties encountered and support needed in their caring role. Qualitative data were drawn from an online survey conducted within an EU Horizon 2020 funded project. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out, and th…
A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Care Arrangements of Older People with Limited Physical Abilities Living Alone in Italy
Older people with limited physical abilities, who live alone without cohabiting family members, need support ageing in place and to perform daily living activities. In this respect, both the available informal and formal care seem crucial. The present study aimed to explore the current role of the care arrangements of older people, especially if they have functional limitations. Qualitative interviews were carried out in 2019 within the " Inclusi…
Active Ageing
While active ageing has emerged as a main strategy to address the challenges of population ageing in Europe, recent research has stressed the need to increase knowledge on within-country differences to promote active ageing through appropriate policy responses. This article draws on the Active Ageing Index (AAI) to capture recent trends in active ageing in Italy with a focus on sub-national diversity. To this end, we compute AAI breakdowns by reg…
Cross-national Analysis of Legislation, Policy and Service Frameworks for Adolescent Young Carers in Europe
Despite some national examinations of policy responses for young carers (YCs), this study provides a first comprehensive cross-national comparison of the different legislation, policy and service frameworks that exist to protect and support adolescent young carers (AYCs) in six European countries (Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom) and how these are enacted. Until now, research has focused on estimating numbers …
Difficulties and Needs of Adolescent Young Caregivers of Grandparents in Italy and Slovenia
Many adolescent young caregivers (AYCs) care for a grandparent (GrP) with chronic disease, especially in countries with no or low developed long-term care systems and/or level of awareness of and policy responses to young caregivers. This mixed-methods study aimed at shedding light on the needs and difficulties faced by a sample of 162 adolescents aged 15-17, caring for GrPs, living in Italy (87) and Slovenia (75), respectively. A multiple linear…
Active Ageing in Italy
In ageing societies, active ageing (AA) has been recognized as a useful conceptual tool due to its holistic approach to social issues and recognised benefits from it at multiple levels (micro, meso and macro) for addressing demographic challenges. However, one of the main problems identified in relation to AA, is to turn into practice, at the policy making level, the many positive aspects that it promises at the conceptual level, as is demonstrat…
Changes in Volunteering of Older Adults in the Time of the Covid-19 Pandemic
This paper elucidates the relationship between possible changes in volunteering experienced by older people during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their motivation to volunteer, as well as the direct or indirect experience of COVID-19 symptoms. Given the well-known positive benefits of volunteering in older age both for individuals (in terms of improved health and wellbeing) and society at large, there is a paucity of studies on older volunteers in th…
Research and Innovation for and with Adolescent Young Carers to Influence Policy and Practice—The European Union Funded “ME-WE” Project
Young carers are children and adolescents who provide care to other family members or friends, taking over responsibilities that are usually associated with adulthood. There is emerging but still scarce knowledge worldwide about the phenomenon of young carers and the impact of a caring role on their health, social and personal development spheres. This paper provides an overview of the main results from the ME-WE project, which is the first Europ…
Caring for Frail Older People Living Alone in Italy
When frail older people age alone in place, with increasing functional limitations, they require support in performing daily living activities. In this respect, it is important to assess their preferences in terms of future housing solutions, and their opinions/orientations on the care responsibilities of both family and public services. The present study aimed to explore these aspects in Italy. Qualitative interviews were carried out in 2019 wit…
Factors Worsening and Mitigating the Consequences of the Covid-19 Outbreak on the Overall Health of Informal Caregivers of Older People with Long-Term Care Needs Living in Germany and in Italy
Population ageing and the higher prevalence of multimorbidity in later life are increasing the demand for Long-Term Care (LTC) worldwide; this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As in Europe and beyond, the bulk of care for frail older people is carried out by informal caregivers. This study aimed at understanding the factors affecting the overall worsening health of informal caregivers of older people with LTC needs living in Germany…
Role and Characteristics of Personal Care Assistants of Frail Older People with Functional Limitations Ageing in Place in Italy
When older people become frail with functional limitations, and age alone in place, caring support is fundamental for performing daily living activities. The present study aimed to explore the current role and characteristics of privately hired Personal Care Assistants (PCAs) of older people in Italy, in light of the decreasing care availability of the family and the low provision of public services. In the study “Inclusive ageing in place” (IN-A…
Frail Older People Ageing in Place in Italy
Functional limitations, chronic diseases and frailty often occur in later life. These aspects become very challenging when older people age alone in place, thus needing support in the activities of daily living, and in this context, it is important they can access and use health services. The present study aimed to explore these issues in Italy. In 2019, 120 qualitative interviews were carried out within the "Inclusive Ageing in Place" (IN-AGE) p…
The Impact of Covid-19 on the Health and Experience of the Carers of Older Family Members Living with Dementia
This quantitative study ( n = 370) compares the pandemic-related experiences of the family carers of older people living with dementia during the first wave of the pandemic, in two countries with different care regimes: Italy (Mediterranean) and Hungary (Eastern European). It aims at answering the following research questions: (1) How did the pandemic affect the subjective health of carers, and what were their experiences with care-related worrie…
The first cross-national study of adolescent young carers aged 15–17 in six European countries
For the first time, this article will provide a cross-national profile of adolescents who provide unpaid care to their ill or disabled family members in six European countries with varied levels of awareness, policy and service provision regarding adolescent young carers. Utilising an online survey, 2,099 adolescent young carers were identified in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. This article focuses on the impact…
The 2021 cross-national and comparative classification of in-country awareness and policy responses to ‘young carers’
Many children under the age of 18 are drawn into unpaid caring roles because they live in families where there is chronic illness, mental health problems or substance misuse, and because other alternatives are not available. Many of these children, widely referred to as ‘young carers’, provides regular and significant amounts of care, often ‘hidden’ because of the absence of awareness by professionals in the fields of education, health and social…
The influence of gender and class on the transition to retirement
The aim of this study is the reconstruction of the multifaceted points of view related to the transition from work to retirement using a gender perspective. This article includes 40 interviews of ageing Italian workers, 24 women and 16 men, carried out in the cusp of retirement (wave 1) and two years after retirement (wave 3). The experiences related to the 'decision to retire' and 'life after retirement' were analysed using a complex theoretical…
Recruitment of Adolescent Young Carers to a Psychosocial Support Intervention Study in Six European Countries
Young carers provide a substantial amount of care to family members and support to friends, yet their situation has not been actively addressed in research and policy in many European countries or indeed globally. Awareness of their situation by professionals and among children and young carers themselves remains low overall. Thus, young carers remain a largely hidden group within society. This study reports and analyses the recruitment process i…
The Active Ageing Index and policy making in Italy
Although the active ageing concept generally has positive connotations, with expected benefits at the micro, meso and macro levels, the application of this concept in terms of policy making presents challenges and risks to be avoided (for instance, a predominantly productivist interpretation and a top-down imposition with limited possibilities for bottom-up exchanges; or a disregard for the risk of excluding older people with more disadvantaged b…
Medicine (20 works) · Psychology (18 works) · Gerontology (15 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving (12 works) · Older people (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Active ageing (10 works) · Family Support in Illness (9 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (9 works)