In this edition of GR we have our usual range of contributions which reflects the breadth (and depth) of our members’ interests and activities in the field of gerontology. In the education and careers section we have an article from Sheila Peace summarising the membership survey. This reveals the diversity of our membership and our strong practitioner base. Some 46% of those responding to the survey have a practice based qualification, although only 5% identified themselves as currently working in practice. The survey provides considerable food for thought for our new Executive Committee, especially in terms of the benefits of membership and the importance of the website. However it will be important to ensure that, in developing our strategy for the Society that we do not lose sight of the function of the Society as giving an identity to those interested in ageing research, education, policy making and practice. One very important and visible activity of BSG is as a supporter of Ageing and Society which is our official journal. Tony Warnes provides a thoughtful and reflective review of the first 30 years of Ageing and Society, based upon the celebratory lecture he gave at the 2010 Annual Conference at Brunel University in July and a symposium involving former Ageing and Society editors. The journal is now well established within the international gerontological field but, as Tony says, there is still much to do to promote the understanding of ageing to a much wider audience. Tony is stepping down as Editor in September and we all owe him a ‘vote of thanks’ for his efforts in ensuring that Ageing and Society is now such an important journal in the field. He also features in our profile section and shares his journey into ageing research with us.
In our news and reviews section we have a number of items, including a message from our new President Professor Miriam Bernard, a review of the recent ERA conference, the launch of Professor Christina Victor’s new book by Policy Press, a review of a recent one day seminar hosted by the Cancer Experiences Collaborative (CECo) Older People Research Group, the inaugural lecture by Professor Mima Cattan from Northumbria University and of course the report from our Honorary Secretary Dr Wendy Martin. We also have a short tribute to one of members-Sue Paulson-who sadly passed away in June.
In our research section we have four stimulating articles. The first two articles focus on older people from ethnic minorities. The first is by Karen Jutlla (Keele University) who reports a biographical study to explore migration in Asian communities and how this impacts on service use among Sikh carers for an older person with dementia. Repositioning was found to be a central concept to the experience of the carers, couched within complexities of gender and idealisation of their societies of origin. The second is by Rosalind Willis, Karen Glaser, and Debora Price (King’s College London) who describe how they are applying the Andersen behavioural model to their study of the provision and receipt of informal support among Britain’s ethnic minorities. They describe how the model is of use for gerontological research and for their analysis that seeks to separate the influence of ethnicity from other factors such as socioeconomic inequality.
The third article from Craig Berry (ILC-UK) follows the recently published research and discussion paper The Future of Retirement. As the government is to make policy changes in regard to retirement and pensions, he warns that in order for policy changes to be fair they need to take account of the several factors that influence the decision of when to retire. The fourth article is by Glenda Cook (Northumbria University) and an international team who discuss their study that found older people did not appear to utilise technology for their needs. Cook and colleagues therefore point to the potential for technology to assist in the promotion of well-being in later life.
Our policy and practice links, in part at least, to some of the themes identified in our research section. The short article from the l’DGO group highlights the importance of getting research activities into the policy/practice domain where they have a chance to make a real difference to the lives of older people. BSG has been involved in the development of the ‘Making the Case for the Social Sciences: Ageing’ impact brochure which illustrates the impact and benefits of social science research. A full report of the ministerial launch of this document will appear in the October GR. The paper from Hussein and colleagues from King’s College London highlights important issues relating to the social care workforce and the importance of migrant workers to this sector of the economy. From a gerontological perspective workforce issues do not always attract the research interest that they warrant and, as this paper illustrates, migrants are not just receivers of care but an important element of the care providing workforce
Following the AGM there are a number of changes to the Committee. Our new President, Mim Bernard, has taken over from Judith Phillips. The election results, announced at the 2010 AGM, are as follows:
Professor Robin Means (University of West Of England): elected as President-Elect.
John Miles (Keele University): re-elected as a Member of the Executive Committee.
Dr Veronika Williams (Brunel University): elected as Treasurer-Elect.
Congratulations to you all –we hope you enjoy your roles on the Executive Committee. We would also like to thank our Past President, Judith Phillips and retiring Executive Committee members, Julia Twigg and Sheila Peace for all their hard work, commitment and dedication to BSG.
The 39th BSG conference took place at Brunel University from 6-8th July and was preceded by an NDA sponsored workshop for postdoctoral researchers and followed by one of the seminars in the ESRC funded series on ‘New Ageing Populations’ (co-ordinated by Paul Higgs, Karen Lawton and Karen Ballard). The Brunel conference organising team would like to thank all the delegates and presenters, and the University, for making the conference such a great success. A full report will appear in the October GR. However we are sure that all our readers would wish to take this opportunity to congratulate Professor Anthea Tinker of King’s College London on being awarded the Alan Walker prize in recognition of the significant contribution she has made to British and international social gerontology. (seehttp://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/news_details.php?news_id=1410&year=2010r.). We are now looking forward to the 40th anniversary conference which will be held at the University of Plymouth from 5-7th of July. Put the date in your diary!
Veronika Williams, Wendy Martin, Sam Nyman and Christina Victor
Co-editors