The intersection of old age and disability is imbued with ambiguity, both in services and in concepts
The definition of disability plays an important role in the organisation of and access to services. Most disability services are protected by subjective rights, so if the criteria are met, services cannot be denied, for example for budgetary reasons. It is therefore important what the criteria are.
In this doctoral thesis in social and public policy, the intersection of disability and old age is examined through the Finnish service system, international research and the written accounts of older people with disabilities. The research shows that there is no jointly agreed upon or common definition of disability and that the concept is ambiguous, especially for older people.
- Disability is defined in many different ways in different contexts and there is no clear and unambiguous definition of disability. Disability is also defined for different reasons and purposes, and that is how it should be perceived: for example, disability as defined in the Disability Services Act does not tell us what disability really is or how people experience it, says Era.
The definition of disability guides the provision of services
The dissertation highlights the differences in defining disability in the research on ageing and disability that guide services and policies for older people and persons with disabilities in Finland and around the world. In ageing research, disability is seen more as an individual impairment, while disability research has long relied more on social perspectives. For example, the social model of disability, according to which environmental barriers is often a disabling factor rather than the individual impairment, has guided the development of international disability policies.
- Disability services and services for older people have evolved based on different research fields, so that an older person with disabilities receives very different types of services depending on whether they are seen as "disabled" or "old”, Era points out.
Salla Era's PhD thesis "Reimagining boundaries: Policies, concepts and everyday life at the intersection of disability and old age" will be examined on Saturday 23.11.2024 at 12 noon in the Lea Pulkkinen Hall of the Agora building of the Ģֱ. The opponent in the public examination will be Professor Håkan Jönson (Lund University) and the custos will be Professor Teppo Kröger (Ģֱ). The language of the defence will be English.
Era's doctoral thesis is available to read here:
Background information:
Salla Era graduated from the Ģֱ in 2018 as a Master of Social Sciences in social and public policy. She has a bachelor’s degree in social services from University of Applied Sciences and has worked as a social counsellor in disability services. Era has conducted her research as part of the Centre of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care funded by the Research Council of Finland. Era's research has also been funded by the Olvi Foundation, Tukilinja and the Finnish Society for Disability Research, as well as the Concordia Foundation.
More information:
Salla Era
Project researcher
