Being old' and 'feeling old' in contemporary Italy

Active ageing and Covid-19

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2306417
AutoresValeria Cappellato (0000-0003-2752-1490, University of Turin), Eugenia Mercuri (0000-0002-1913-9091, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro”, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume72
Fascículo7
Páginas1378-1395
Data de publicação2024-11-01
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCurrent Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0011-3921 • E-ISSN: 1461-7064
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00113921231201626
OpenAlexW4387221521
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas36

Over the last 20 years, ageing has been studied through the lens of an active ageing perspective, which considers older adults as responsible for their own conditions. However, the COVID-19 health emergency has highlighted its limits. Drawing on a sample of semi-structured interviews - collected before and during the pandemic - with people aged 65 years and above who are self-sufficient and live in Turin, Italy, this article explores the representations and perceptions of ageing, to highlight the possible effects of the COVID-19 emergency. The results show that representations of ageing revolve around two fundamental viewpoints: one considers older adults as a cost for the community because of their unproductiveness; the other overlaps the loss of self-sufficiency with a definition of 'real' old age. Furthermore, the interviews introduce a distinction between those who - considered productive despite their age - were called to provide a service to the community during the lockdown, and those who were judged vulnerable because of their age. Such ambiguous messages have raised new questions about an active and successful ageing imperative

Active ageing · Ageing · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Feeling · Older people · Pandemic · Perception · Perspective (graphical) · Sample (material) · Sociology · Viewpoints · Aging and Gerontology Research · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Gerontology