Older workers and extended working life - Managers' experiences and age management.

BACKGROUND: In 2020 the Swedish Government started a gradual raising of the retirement age, but employers have been silent on the issue. Little is known about whether and how they reflect on what it will mean for their organization, or whether they already have, or are going to, make arrangements in order to facilitate and motivate older workers to stay longer. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore and describe managers' experiences of older workers and age management in connection with the increase of the retirement age in Sweden. METHODS: Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with fourteen managers from a broad set of organizations in the public and private sectors, and from the Middle and East of Sweden. The transcribed material was analysed in line with qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The analysis ended up in seven main categories with associated sub-categories: Older Workers, Retirement Ages, Transition Initiatives, Competence Transfer, Competence Development, Increased Retirement Ages, Knowledge Gaps. CONCLUSION: Our findings reveal that there is an ambivalence in addressing the issue of age among the interviewed managers, what we have interpreted and labelled as "silent age discrimination", and it was shown that they do not have elaborated strategies for age management.

Staffing agency: A bridge to working during retirement.

BACKGROUND: The ageing population has initiated a debate about a prolonged working life. There is an interest in finding the pre-retirement predictors of bridge employment and retirement decisions, but the understanding of the experiences of bridge employees is still limited. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to describe the characteristics of the pensioners working for a staffing agency, their motivational aspects, work patterns and types of services they provided. METHODS: This article analyses the results from a Swedish staffing agency's yearly co-worker questionnaire from December 2017. The response rate was 44% (N = 1741). The design is descriptive, with correlation analyses and construction of typical cases. RESULTS: Most study participants were aged 65-74 years. Sixty-five percent were men, 66% were cohabitating/married, dominating education level was secondary school or higher education (79%). Important incentives for working were the social context and to gain extra income. A majority of the respondents also stated that their work increased their overall well-being. Seventy-eight percent worked 25 hours per month or less, 37% wanted to work more, 3% wanted to work less. Private services dominated with 61%; most common were gardening (43%), trades (33%) and cleaning (31%). CONCLUSIONS: More men than women chose this form of work. While single women need to work out of economic necessity, men, to a larger extent, work for the social context and well-being. The highest work frequency in 2017 (14%) in the population was found for those who retired in 2015, i.e. two years after their retirement year. A majority indicated that the work they were doing was different from earlier in their working life.

Telework and Lifelong Learning.

The increase of telework during the pandemic is predicted to impact working life, not only in terms of a larger number of employees working from home, but more importantly, it may transform the way we conceptualise work. This will in turn impact systems for and participation in lifelong learning. There is a risk for increased social inequalities, as neither telework nor lifelong learning is evenly distributed among workers. Statistics on telework in the EU show that there are differences between age groups, nations, sectors, and professions. If these trends will steer forward, there is a risk of widening gaps between countries, companies, and workers. To establish the current knowledge base, we have gathered literature reviews from several disciplines. One finding is that the previous literature on telework has not included lifelong learning in any form (formal, non-formal and informal). Based on a review of previous studies, we suggest a number of research questions for future research. This is relevant as research about telework and lifelong learning has the potential to contribute to a sustainable working life in terms of providing more flexible arrangements for employees and to support the lifelong learning that takes place in contexts such as the office, home, online meetings, and virtual reality.

The COVID-19 pandemic as disjuncture: Lifelong learning in a context of fear.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a number of fundamental changes in different societies, and can therefore be understood as creating "disjuncture" in our lives. Disjuncture is a concept proposed by adult educator Peter Jarvis to describe the phenomenon of what happens when an individual is confronted with an experience that conflicts with her/his previous understanding of the world. Faced with a situation that creates disjuncture, the person is compelled to find new knowledge and new ways of doing things; i.e., he/she must embark on a learning process. The recent introduction of social distancing as a measure aiming to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus has dramatically changed people's behaviour, but this measure does not only have preventive and desirable effects. There is an associated risk for increased isolation among the older generations of the population, as well as a change in intergenerational relationships. Although the current pandemic (as disjuncture) may potentially initiate major learning processes in the human collective, we should remember that disjuncture is often theorised within neutral, or even positive, contexts. In a context of fear, however, learning may result in a narrowing of mindsets and a rejection of collective efforts and solidarity between generations. In terms of the types of learning triggered by the current pandemic (as disjuncture), one problem is non-reflective learning, which primarily occurs on a behavioural level. We need to recognise this and engage in reflective learning if we are to make the choices that will lead to a society that is worth living in for all generations. Our goal must be to learn to be a person in a post-pandemic society.

La pandémie de COVID-19, une disjonction : l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie dans un contexte de peur ­ la pandémie de COVID-19 a provoqué un ensemble de changements fondamentaux dans différentes sociétés et l'on peut, par conséquent, en déduire qu'elle a créé une « disjonction ¼ dans nos existences. La disjonction est un concept proposé par l'éducateur d'adultes Peter Jarvis pour décrire le phénomène survenant quand un individu est confronté à une expérience contradictoire avec sa perception antérieure du monde. Face à une situation qui crée une disjonction, la personne est forcée d'acquérir de nouvelles connaissances et de trouver de nouvelles façons de faire les choses : ainsi doit-elle, par exemple, entreprendre un processus d'apprentissage. Si la récente introduction de la distanciation sociale, une mesure qui vise à réduire la transmission de la COVID-19, a entraîné un changement spectaculaire dans le comportement des gens, elle n'a toutefois pas eu uniquement des effets préventifs et désirables. Elle est en effet associée à un risque d'isolement accru pour les générations âgées de la population ainsi qu'à une mutation des rapports intergénérationnels. Bien que l'actuelle pandémie (en tant que disjonction) puisse potentiellement déclencher d'importants processus d'apprentissage au sein du collectif humain, nous devons garder présent à l'esprit que la disjonction est souvent théorisée dans des contextes neutres, voire positifs. Dans un contexte de peur, néanmoins, l'apprentissage pourrait avoir pour conséquence de rendre les mentalités plus fermées et de rejeter les efforts collectifs et la solidarité entre les générations. En ce qui concerne les types d'apprentissages déclenchés par l'actuelle pandémie (en tant que disjonction), on constate un problème qui apparaît d'abord sur le plan comportemental : l'apprentissage non réflexif. Nous devons reconnaître cela et nous livrer à un apprentissage réflexif si nous voulons faire les choix qui conduiront à créer une société où il vaut la peine de vivre pour toutes les générations. Notre objectif doit consister à apprendre à devenir des personnes dans une société postpandémique.

Growth Through Education: The Narratives of Older Adults.

The focus of Narrative Gerontology is placed on stories about the aging process. In the present paper, the learning of older adults in a Senior University context is captured by means of stories written by the participants themselves. The examination of older adults' stories, as they look back on life or any narrative that connected to a specific area of life, can contribute to our understanding of growth later in life. The aim of the study is to examine how growth manifests itself later in life. Participants at Senior University were asked to share their experiences of education later in life. Participation was voluntary and the identity of each participant was kept anonymous for the purpose of the research project. Fifty-three stories written by Senior University participants (n = 38 women and 15 men) were analyzed according to: (i) an inductive analysis of the stories that resulted in a description of the main topics addressed in the stories, and (ii) a deductive analysis that invoked a theoretical framework concerning the existential aspects of older adults' learning, including "corporeality," "relationality," "spatiality," "temporality," and "materiality." The two analyses were compared, and it was noted that "relationality" and "spatiality" corresponded to the educational experiences in the stories. "Relationality" was observed to be concerned with the social dimensions of life; but in the context of Senior University, "relationality" was strongly intertwined with the learning process. "Spatiality" addressed how older adults relate to physical- and mental space. Participation at Senior University entailed an expansion of both physical- and mental space for the participants. A number of tensions were identified in the stories. One the one hand, the stories can be interpreted as illustrations of moving forward and embracing continued growth and development. On the other hand, the stories can be interpreted as illustrations of resistance toward aging and decline. Since life is complex and contradictory, multiple, and even contradictory plots, co-exist in life stories.

A scoping review of the incentives for a prolonged work life after pensionable age and the importance of "bridge employment".

BACKGROUND: With a growing share of older people in almost every population, discussions are being held worldwide about how to guarantee welfare in the immediate future. Different solutions are suggested, but in this article the focus is on the need to keep older employees active in the labor market for a prolonged time. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to find out and describe the incentives at three system levels for older people 1) wanting, 2) being able, and 3) being allowed to work. MATERIAL: The literature search embraced articles from the databases Scopus, PsycInfo, Cinahl, AgeLine and Business Source Premier, from May 2004 until May 2016. After the removal of 506 duplicates, the selection and analysis started with the 1331 articles that met the search criteria. Of these, 58 articles corresponded with the research questions. METHOD: The design was a 'scoping review' of the research area bridge employment and prolonged work life. RESULTS: The results show that most investigations are conducted on individual-level predictors, research on organizational-level predictors is more scattered, and societal-level predictor information is scarce. CONCLUSIONS: Attitudes and behavior according to a prolonged work life could be summarized as dependent on good health, a financial gain in combination with flexible alternative working conditions.

Occurrence of both breast and ovarian cancer in a woman is a marker for the BRCA gene mutations: a population-based study from western Sweden.

AIM: This study aimed to analyze whether the occurrence of both breast and ovarian cancer in a woman serves as a marker for BRCA gene mutations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This population-based study included 256 women in western Sweden who developed both invasive breast and ovarian tumors between 1958 and 1999. Archival paraffin tissue blocks of their tumors were retrieved for DNA-extraction to analyze the founder mutation, BRCA1 c.3171_3175dup (c.3171ins5), which is most common in this geographic area and four other common Scandinavian BRCA1 gene mutations and one BRCA2 mutation. Together, account these mutations for approximately 75% of the BRCA1/2 gene mutations in the clinical unit. RESULTS: Ninteen percent (95% confidence interval (CI) 14-24%) of the women carried one of the analyzed BRCA1 gene mutations but none of the women were positive for the analyzed BRCA2 mutation. One-third of the women with both tumors before age 60 were mutation carriers. BRCA1 c.3171_3175dup (c.3171ins5) constituted 84% of all identified mutations. Although the majority of breast cancers were invasive ductal and atypical medullary types, a variety of other breast malignancies were seen among mutation carriers. Serous ovarian carcinomas predominated among ovarian tumors. A variety of other ovarian tumors, including three granulosa-theca cell tumors, were also observed among mutation carriers. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of both breast and ovarian cancer in a woman is associated with a high likelihood of a constitutional BRCA1 mutation. These women and their families might therefore be considered for mutation screening after appropriate genetic counselling.