TY - JOUR
T1 - Making a Case for Creating Living Labs for Aging-in-Place
T2 - Enabling Socially Innovative Models for Experimentation and Complementary Economies
AU - Weaver, Paul
AU - Marks, Michael
AU - Victor, Christina
AU - Spinelli, Gabriella
N1 - Funding Information:
PIC is currently supported by a combination of government and foundation grants. In addition, PIC has developed partnerships with other NGOs to provide valuable services to older adults. Over time, for example, PIC developed a solid relationship with the Anne Arundel Volunteer Center (AAVC). AAVC pairs volunteers with local NGOs, so their respective organizational missions complemented each other. PIC became a major source of AAVC referrals. This kind of mutual working relationship extended to dealings with statutory bodies.
Funding Information:
We want to thank our key case study informants: for the LL case, Sam Hawksley and Philippe Granger; for G&TC Dawn Sines and Jane Lawrence; for TBHER/HERMAN Kate Macdonald; and for PIC, Barbara Huston and Linda Hogan. Funding. The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding that has supported the research for this paper. The authors specifically acknowledge the UK Innovation Agency project number 971440 that has sponsored Give&Take Care CIC under the Long Term Social Care Revolution Competition and the Big Lottery Grant to TBHER: number 31049576.
Funding Information:
In February 2016, the company won a major UK funding competition launched by Innovate UK under the “Long term social care revolution”. The contract allowed G&TC to be operational for 31 months until successful completion in August 2018. By then G&TC had established four sites either directly, or in collaboration with other social enterprise and charities in England, it had organized over 1500 hours of care and support for older adults and had involved around 500 partners as caregivers and care recipients. G&TC has secured some continuation funds from the BetterCare fund in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, the Design Council and Unltd and a philanthropic grant. In addition, an interim agreement with Vista ltd in Leicester has allowed continuing to operate the Leicester site.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2019 Spinelli, Weaver, Marks and Victor.
PY - 2019/4/2
Y1 - 2019/4/2
N2 - Aging is continuously depicted as a force majeure event despite clear and robust premonitions of its coming. However, such depiction serves to justify the unpreparedness and inadequacy of policies manifesting in loneliness and isolation, unsatisfied demands in health and social care, lack of suitably inclusive residential and social facilities, and inequitable access to support and services. Recent years have seen an increase in social innovation that involves alternative transaction models, such as time-banks and circular economies. These initiatives represent collective responses to changes and challenges such as aging by identifying and innovatively capturing and exchanging locally- and freely- available assets with the intent to fulfill economic needs (more affordable goods and services), social ambitions (skills development and exchange, repurposing space, social inclusion, and cohesion) environmental aspirations (up-cycle) and psychological needs (sense of purpose, identity, belonging, recognition). Whilst it is often assumed that ad hoc measures are appropriate to resolve the challenges posed by an aging demographic, the learnt assumption that underpins this work is that aging is a systemic issue and ought to be understood, and resolved, in its context, not by producing niche- relevant policy and interventions, but considering the impacts it has on the whole society. Henceforth it is proposed that truly transformative social innovation for the aging population must consider and resolve the challenges of communities as these are where older adults can stay relevant socially and, in the presented approach, also economically. Through the review of four international case studies, a framework with four cornerstones has emerged. This includes the changing role of local and central governments, the models of value creation, co-creation mechanisms, and finally, technology, especially digital social currency. The concurrent presence of the four factors in the framework is not always a requirement for social innovation to emerge and flourish. However, the presented analysis suggests that all four themes have an impact even when not being direct agents of social innovation. The authors conclude by making a case for developing Living Labs for Aging-in-Place, to experiment and study proposed solutions for systemic challenges facing the aging population, grounded in community-led schemes.
AB - Aging is continuously depicted as a force majeure event despite clear and robust premonitions of its coming. However, such depiction serves to justify the unpreparedness and inadequacy of policies manifesting in loneliness and isolation, unsatisfied demands in health and social care, lack of suitably inclusive residential and social facilities, and inequitable access to support and services. Recent years have seen an increase in social innovation that involves alternative transaction models, such as time-banks and circular economies. These initiatives represent collective responses to changes and challenges such as aging by identifying and innovatively capturing and exchanging locally- and freely- available assets with the intent to fulfill economic needs (more affordable goods and services), social ambitions (skills development and exchange, repurposing space, social inclusion, and cohesion) environmental aspirations (up-cycle) and psychological needs (sense of purpose, identity, belonging, recognition). Whilst it is often assumed that ad hoc measures are appropriate to resolve the challenges posed by an aging demographic, the learnt assumption that underpins this work is that aging is a systemic issue and ought to be understood, and resolved, in its context, not by producing niche- relevant policy and interventions, but considering the impacts it has on the whole society. Henceforth it is proposed that truly transformative social innovation for the aging population must consider and resolve the challenges of communities as these are where older adults can stay relevant socially and, in the presented approach, also economically. Through the review of four international case studies, a framework with four cornerstones has emerged. This includes the changing role of local and central governments, the models of value creation, co-creation mechanisms, and finally, technology, especially digital social currency. The concurrent presence of the four factors in the framework is not always a requirement for social innovation to emerge and flourish. However, the presented analysis suggests that all four themes have an impact even when not being direct agents of social innovation. The authors conclude by making a case for developing Living Labs for Aging-in-Place, to experiment and study proposed solutions for systemic challenges facing the aging population, grounded in community-led schemes.
KW - aging-in-place
KW - community
KW - complementary economy
KW - co-production
KW - living lab
KW - social innovation
KW - time banking
KW - community currency
U2 - 10.3389/fsoc.2019.00019
DO - 10.3389/fsoc.2019.00019
M3 - Article
VL - 4
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - Frontiers in Sociology
JF - Frontiers in Sociology
M1 - 19
ER -