OLDER-PEOPLE AS SOCIAL PIONEERS

The five papers examined reveal diverse responses among older people t o social and economic change. The main themes were: the changing accom modation and care needs of older people in urban areas as customary fo rms of family-based support are compromised; the strength and resource fulness of family obligations in managing support and care; and simila rities and contrasts in private sector and governmental responses to n eeds. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, the inventiveness of families in establish ing networks of support and in contriving physical aids to patients wi th paralysis is impressive. In the rural areas and townships of South Africa, the strength of family ties is revealed in the readiness of so cial-benefit recipients to support others. In Ontario, Canada, several thousand retirees have responded to the marketing of vacated housing in a collapsed mining town; and in the Basque Country, the older resid ents of new supported housing have few regrets about not living with t heir children but worry that others see them as recipients of charity. Around the Mediterranean, increasing numbers of retirees from several northern European countries are exploring new ways of developing mutu al help, of pressing the authorities and businesses for better service s, and seeking a resolution between their ethos of self-responsibility and how to help those who cannot help themselves. Change is endemic, and constructive and assertive responses from older people are widely seen.