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Baby boomers as future care users—An analysis of expectations in print media

Jönson, Håkan LU and Jönsson, Anders LU (2015) In Journal of Aging Studies 34(Aug). p.82-91
Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate media presentations of baby boomers as future care users. The Swedish baby boomer generation, born in the 1940s, and known as the '40s generation, has been characterized as youthful and powerful, and a question investigated in the study was whether boomers are supposed to display these characteristics as care users. We analyzed 481 articles in Swedish newspapers, published between 1995 and 2012, with a qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the '40s generation was predicted to become a new breed of demanding, self-aware care users. These claims were supported by descriptions of the formative events and typical characteristics of these individuals, which were then projected onto their... (More)
The aim of the study was to investigate media presentations of baby boomers as future care users. The Swedish baby boomer generation, born in the 1940s, and known as the '40s generation, has been characterized as youthful and powerful, and a question investigated in the study was whether boomers are supposed to display these characteristics as care users. We analyzed 481 articles in Swedish newspapers, published between 1995 and 2012, with a qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the '40s generation was predicted to become a new breed of demanding, self-aware care users. These claims were supported by descriptions of the formative events and typical characteristics of these individuals, which were then projected onto their future behavior as care users. Such projections tended to portray contemporary care users as passive, submissive, and partly responsible for problems associated with elder care. Consequently, approaches that focus on differences between cohorts need to incorporate a constructionist dimension to highlight the problem of generationism. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
generation, eldercare, age stratification theory, baby boomers, media images
in
Journal of Aging Studies
volume
34
issue
Aug
pages
82 - 91
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:26162728
  • wos:000359029400009
  • scopus:84930650652
  • pmid:26162728
ISSN
0890-4065
DOI
10.1016/j.jaging.2015.05.001
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6d324408-8d55-4756-887c-0bba6f79bf99 (old id 5431742)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:26:56
date last changed
2022-03-19 20:54:22
@article{6d324408-8d55-4756-887c-0bba6f79bf99,
  abstract     = {{The aim of the study was to investigate media presentations of baby boomers as future care users. The Swedish baby boomer generation, born in the 1940s, and known as the '40s generation, has been characterized as youthful and powerful, and a question investigated in the study was whether boomers are supposed to display these characteristics as care users. We analyzed 481 articles in Swedish newspapers, published between 1995 and 2012, with a qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the '40s generation was predicted to become a new breed of demanding, self-aware care users. These claims were supported by descriptions of the formative events and typical characteristics of these individuals, which were then projected onto their future behavior as care users. Such projections tended to portray contemporary care users as passive, submissive, and partly responsible for problems associated with elder care. Consequently, approaches that focus on differences between cohorts need to incorporate a constructionist dimension to highlight the problem of generationism.}},
  author       = {{Jönson, Håkan and Jönsson, Anders}},
  issn         = {{0890-4065}},
  keywords     = {{generation; eldercare; age stratification theory; baby boomers; media images}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{Aug}},
  pages        = {{82--91}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Aging Studies}},
  title        = {{Baby boomers as future care users—An analysis of expectations in print media}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2015.05.001}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jaging.2015.05.001}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}