Painters' self-portraits offer the opportunity to study signs of ageing through the centuries. In this paper, we examine 687 self-portraits by 506 European painters from the 15th to the 20th century. To qualify for the analysis, painters had to be unquestionably identified, have known years of birth and death, and the self-portraits had to be dated unequivocally. ‘Age scores’ for the characteristics of the lower face were developed. Ptosis of the upper eyelid, bags under the eyes and the characteristics of beards were also recorded. Among the main findings, the painters of self-portraits that exhibited ptosis of the upper eyelid had a higher actual age than those of portraits which did not (55 versus 38 years). Similarly, those that represented bags under the eyes were older painters (47 versus 33 years). The percentages of portraits with eyelid ptosis and bags under the eyes were similar through the centuries and in three zones of Europe. The age scores of the lower half of the face were also consistent in all centuries, except at ages 40–49 years. The painters' average lifespan significantly increased during the 18th century; and within Europe a north–south lifespan gradient has been evident since the 17th century. We conclude that ageing has had similar facial manifestations over the last five centuries, except between 40 and 50 years of age.

The pursuit of independence and avoidance of unnecessary care-home admissions are key elements of British government policy for the care of older people. The present government's objective to maintain independence has been compromised by the ‘Residential Allowance’ which, as a component of social security payable to residents in independent-sector homes, could be seen as an incentive to place people in care-homes rather than seek care-at-home. In order to remove this incentive, the government proposed to abolish the allowance and instead transfer resources by a grant to local authorities. This was intended to promote independence by making available funds with which social services departments could support domiciliary care. This paper examines the potential impact of the proposal from the perspective of front line practitioners and managers. Calculations of the proposal's likely effects in five authorities were made from a simulation of their usual decision-making processes. The results, applied to the national picture, showed only a marginal effect of the change upon admissions to care homes. The potential effect of the change in diverting admissions from care homes was seen to be hampered by organisational influences which vary between authorities.

Most adults do not achieve the levels of physical activity currently recommended for a healthy lifestyle. Population surveys suggest that there is a linear decline of activity levels with age, yet physical activity has many health benefits for older adults. If these are to be more widely adopted among older people, health policy and promotion require an understanding of the factors that influence decreasing activity with age. This study examined the patterns of physical activity of 699 participants in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study who were aged 60 years when interviewed in 1991 and followed up four to five years later. It examined the factors that influenced whether or not the subjects achieved currently recommended levels of activity, by applying random effects models with a seasonal adjustment. It was found that higher levels of physical activity associated with a healthier lifestyle, and that socio-economic factors played a minor role in determining the level of physical activity. A substantial amount of physical activity occurred at work but was lost by those who had retired, for while those who were not working were more physically active at home or at leisure than those in work, the majority of the sample did too little physical activity outside work to compensate for the loss of work-based activity. One conclusion is that health promotion initiatives that encourage people to become more physically active should be targeted at those who are about to retire.

The purposes of this study were to explore the self-rated and objectively measured quality of life of people with early-stage dementia and to describe their personal experiences and reactions to the negative public view of dementia. Information was collected from 23 participants who lived in a mid-western United States metropolitan area. Self-ratings were collected by semi-structured and structured interviews, and the objective measures were the Quality of Life Index (QLI) and the Single Item Quality of Life Scale (SIQLS). It was found that 21 of the participants perceived their current QOL as ‘good’ or better, and that the mean scores for the QLI and the SIQLS were 22.8 and 7.3 respectively. Triangulation of the subjective and objective data established their congruence. The QLI scores suggested that people with early-stage dementia often perceived their current life as good and that the participants were as satisfied with their life as the general population. Their accounts also revealed that many had experienced stigma and that this appreciably affected their psychosocial wellbeing. The findings of this study provide new insights into the ways in which health-care professionals and the general public can and should view and treat people with dementia.

Managing the assets of older people is a common and potentially complex task of informal care with legal, financial, cultural, political and family dimensions. Older people are increasingly recognised as having significant assets, but the family, the state, service providers and the market have competing interests in their use. Increased policy interest in self-provision and user-charges for services underline the importance of asset management in protecting the current and future health, care and accommodation choices of older people. Although ‘minding the money’ has generally been included as an informal care-giving task, there is limited recognition of either its growing importance and complexity or of care-givers' involvement. The focus of both policy and practice have been primarily on substitute decision-making and abuse. This paper reports an Australian national survey and semi-structured interviews that have explored the prevalence of non-professional involvement in asset management. The findings reveal the nature and extent of involvement, the tasks that informal carers take on, the management processes that they use, and that ‘minding the money’ is a common informal care task and mostly undertaken in the private sphere using some risky practices. Assisting informal care-givers with asset management and protecting older people from financial risks and abuse require various strategic policy and practice responses that extend beyond substitute decision-making legislation. Policies and programmes are required: to increase the awareness of the tasks, tensions and practices surrounding asset management; to improve the financial literacy of older people, their informal care-givers and service providers; to ensure access to information, advice and support services; and to develop better accountability practices.

Is growing older a process of decline or of keeping active? Foucauldian theory suggests particular regimes of fitness will discipline ageing bodies in distinctively different ways. This paper reports a comparative ethnographic and qualitative interview study of a ‘fitness exercise’ and a ‘dance exercise’ group for the over-fifties. The findings demonstrate the ways in which contradictory cultural discourses in the fitness training curricula are associated with different subjective experiences of physical and psychological ageing. The ‘fitness exercise’ group focused on individual fitness levels for the ageing body in the terms of the cultural discourses of health and physiology. The ‘dance exercise’ group focused on the graceful ageing body in the terms of the cultural discourses of the psycho-social benefits of movement in relation to others. The study combined phenomenological and social constructionist dimensions, and exemplifies the ways in which the subjective experience of the ageing body may become embedded in particular cultures of fitness.

Opportunities for older people to take part in decision making about public policies and services are expanding in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. This paper considers the potential of older people's participation in policy processes for both transforming the policy process and for achieving socially just outcomes. It argues that the way in which such participation takes place, in particular the nature of the deliberative processes, affects both who will feel able to take part and the capacity to develop new policy discourses which can challenge official perspectives and assumptions. It draws from critical perspectives on deliberative democracy to provide a theoretical framework. This work emphasises the importance of story telling and forms of exchange designed to offer recognition to others, as well as the rational argument more usually associated with deliberation on matters of public policy. The argument is illustrated with examples of participation initiatives that have involved ‘active’ older people and those who are users of social care services. Different styles and processes of exchange are distinguished in the three case studies. In one, active facilitation enables individual stories of ageing and of service use to be woven into collective narratives that offer an alternative vision of care services. In another, a strong emphasis on ‘greeting’ enables conflicting views to be expressed without participants falling out. In the third, styles of exchange familiar in formal debate limit the development of an alternative discourse. The conclusion suggests that attention needs to be given to the process of participation as well as to outcomes.

This study examines the personal meaning and importance of music in the lives of older people, paying particular attention to the ways in which music contributes to self-identity and the quality of life. The data derive from qualitative interviews with a sample of older Australians aged 65 years and over who live in rural and urban settings. The findings reveal that music provides people with ways of understanding and developing their self-identity, of connecting with other people, of maintaining wellbeing and of experiencing and expressing spirituality, and that it provides strong associations with and memories of a person's life. Specifically, the results show how music is used as a source of entertainment as well as a forum to share and interact with others. Music was described as a personal experience to which people assigned meaning and emotions. The informants also described how music allowed them to engage in imaginative play and to escape from some of the hardships experienced in later life. The results reveal that music promotes quality of life by contributing to positive self-esteem, by helping people feel competent and independent, and by lessening feelings of isolation and loneliness. The paper argues that music can be used to maintain and promote a better quality of life for older people.