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Updated: Jul 1, 2025

Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
Images of care: A pedagogy of rosiness about aging transitions
1Department of Political Science, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.
Abstract:
How do people learn about what it is like to become frail and require assistance with activities of daily living? This significant transition in the life course is often avoided and denied by those in North America. This paper examines images from the websites of agencies providing care to older adults in their homes as one aspect of a wider social pedagogy about aging. In particular, we find that agencies in Canada and the United States aim to attract potential clients with rosy and positive images of aging, using stock images that showcase active and healthy seniors. They do not present their core services of toileting, bathing, and lifting directly, but rather represent care indirectly through the touch and attention of caregivers towards an older adult. As a result, home care agencies reproduce dominant images of successful aging, in which frailty and the need for care are taboo.
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