Feliciano Villar

University of Barcelona | UB · Department of Cognition Development and Educacional Psychology

This paper examines the contributions that generativity in older age may make to the concept of successful ageing. To this end, two perspectives on successful ageing are described: successful ageing as a set of clinical criteria, and successful ageing as the application of adaptive processes aimed at achieving efficient functioning. After showing t...

Background: This study explores whether staff perceptions and reactions to sexual situations involving one or two persons with dementia (PWD) reflect an extreme cautionary stance (an overprotective and paternalist style) or a person-centered model of care (focusing on understanding the residents’ perspective and their rights). Method: Fifty-three s...

Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this article is to shed light on the attitudes of older people living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) toward non-heterosexual sexual orientation. Forty-seven residents living in 5 RACFs located in Catalonia (Spain) were interviewed in relation to the way they would think and react if another resident...

Aim: To explore and compare the views of both staff and residents about barriers to sexual expression in residential aged care facilities. Background: Although remaining sexually active in older age helps to preserve and promote well-being, the percentage of sexually active persons living in residential aged care facilities is low. Previous researc...

Research on later-life generativity has promoted a new view of older persons that, far from the traditional images of disability, dependence and frailty, recognises their capacities, and potential to continue growing, while underlining their participation and contributions to families, communities and society. The goal of this study was to carry ou...

Studies about older people’s participation in artistic activities have increased. However, a deeper understanding of older artists’ adaptation to the ageing process is still lacking. The purposes of this study were to explore how older artists and craftspeople perceive age-related changes, and to examine their adaptations to these changes. We carri...

This volume brings together experts in generativity and related fields to provide a compelling overview of contemporary research and theory on this topic. Generativity refers to a concern for—or acting towards—the benefit of future generations as a legacy of the self; it has implications for outcomes at the individual, relational and social, and br...

This volume brings together experts in generativity and related fields to provide a compelling overview of contemporary research and theory on this topic. Generativity refers to a concern for—or acting towards—the benefit of future generations as a legacy of the self; it has implications for outcomes at the individual, relational and social, and br...

This volume brings together experts in generativity and related fields to provide a compelling overview of contemporary research and theory on this topic. Generativity refers to a concern for—or acting towards—the benefit of future generations as a legacy of the self; it has implications for outcomes at the individual, relational and social, and br...

This volume brings together experts in generativity and related fields to provide a compelling overview of contemporary research and theory on this topic. Generativity refers to a concern for—or acting towards—the benefit of future generations as a legacy of the self; it has implications for outcomes at the individual, relational and social, and br...

This volume brings together experts in generativity and related fields to provide a compelling overview of contemporary research and theory on this topic. Generativity refers to a concern for—or acting towards—the benefit of future generations as a legacy of the self; it has implications for outcomes at the individual, relational and social, and br...

Research on older people's artistic participation has mainly focussed on its benefits. Fewer studies have addressed the antecedents of older peo-ple's artistic participation, especially barriers to artistic practices, and particularly those related with contextual factors. In this study, we examined which contextual barriers older artists perceive...

The objective of this chapter is to review the origin and historic development of the generativity concept, from its role within Erikson’s proposals to its subsequent development and more recent updates, including contributions from Kotre, McAdams, and others to the field. Methodological approaches to the study of generativity are also discussed, s...

Abstract: This study aims to explore the effects of childhood circumstances and conditions on the risk of exclusion from social relations in old age, using a life-course perspective and examining gender influence. Secondary analysis of SHARE. Weak and inconsistent consequences of the primary socialization context were found, however, in many cases,...

Narrative approaches have gained popularity as a way to understand the construction and development of political identities over a person’s life span. However, little is known about how lifetime activists remember and make sense of different types of political experiences. To overcome this gap, this study aims to explore thematic and structural fea...

This paper describes the learning framework for an innovative narrative-based training platform for healthcare professionals based on older patients’ narratives. The aim of Caring Stories is to place patients’ desires and needs at the heart of healthcare and by doing so to promote person-centred care (PCC). It is argued that this narrative-based ap...

The study explores the meanings that family caregivers of people with dementia ascribe to the past, present, and future of their role as a caregiver, and how their integration into caregiving trajectories is related to caregivers' burdens and gains. The sample was made up of 197 family caregivers (Mage = 62.1, SD = 12.3, 70.1% females). They comple...

Research on older people’s artistic participation has increased. However, the inclusion of a life course theory and the examination of differences between men and women in artistic trajectories is still scarce. In this study, we explored how life course transitions influence the artistic trajectories of older people throughout the lifecycle, and an...

Most studies on the benefits of late life civic engagement have focused exclusively on formal volunteering. Older adults' political participation is much more overlooked. The current paper explores the benefits of long-term participation in political organizations as described by actively engaged Spanish older people. We used an adaptation of McAda...

The aim of the paper was to define what narrative care is and identify and discuss everyday conversational narrative care strategies regarding people living with dementia in long-term care institutional settings. To do so, we differentiate between two approaches to narrative care: a big-story approach (reflecting on life stories) and a small-story...

This study explores the reasons why older people participate in sports. A total of 463 senior athletes (M = 61.4, SD = 5.5) who are actively engaged in competitive sports disciplines participated in this study. The participants indicated their degree of agreement with reasons for practicing sport on a 4-point Likert scale with 20 items, developed o...

Active aging has been associated with both personal and social benefits. However, active aging encompasses a broad range of activities, including self-oriented and community-oriented ones. The aim of this study was to explore to what extent generativity is a key factor in differentiating between both types of activity, and to contribute to the theo...

Research on caregiving for persons with dementia has mainly focused on its negative impact on caregivers. However, while some studies have found that positive aspects of care can also be found among informal caregivers, little attention has been paid to these positive aspects among staff working in long-term care facilities. The aim of this is stud...

This scoping review analyses existing literature on older adults’ participation in artistic activities. It identifes gaps in this research topic and suggests new directions for research. We followed the fve-step process defned by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and extended by Levac et al. (2010). Four electronic databases were searched, and 129 peer-re...

This study aims to explore and compare the reaction of long-term care staff to-wards situations of sexual intercourse in which one or both partners have dementia. Participants were 538 staff members at 28 Portuguese long-term care facilities. Data were collected using a printed questionnaire with seven vignettes with situations re-lated to the sexu...

Using a socioecological model as a theoretical framework, we aimed to explore the barriers to retain in competitive sport 463 senior athletes (aged 61.4 ± 5.5 years) actively engaged in sports disciplines from 4 European countries. Participants answered an open-ended question regarding perceived barriers to continued engagement in sports, and their...

Older adults face particular risks of exclusion from social relationships (ESR) and are especially vulnerable to its consequences. However, research so far has been limited to specific dimensions, countries, and time points. In this paper, we examine the prevalence and micro- and macro-level predictors of ESR among older adults (60+) using two wave...

We explored post-traumatic growth (PTG) in older adults immediately after the forced lockdown in Spain during March to April, 2020, due to the COVID–19 pandemic. The study also tried to identify the variables that predict PTG, focusing on the experience of COVID, sociodemographic variables, and social resources. In total 1,009 people aged 55 years...

Articles Being socially connected is a universal human need, but a substantial number of older men and women are or become excluded from these connections in later life. Exclusion from social relations (ESR) is unwanted as it undermines people's ability to lead a healthy, active, and independent life. Policies to reduce this form of exclusion have...

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for information-seeking, social contact and leisure activities is increasing in adults and older people. However, little is known about adults and older people who are already actively using ICTs to write a blog. The aim of this paper is to describe the benefits adults and older people ga...

In chapter 4, Ricardo Iacub and Feliciano Villar explore how negative aesthetics of old age contribute to or even construct a stigmatized sexuality that arouses feelings of disgust or else prompts ridicule. Such stigma naturalizes and limits critical and political thinking about the mechanisms of social control over eroticism in later life. In addi...

This chapter addresses barriers that older people living in long-term care facilities (L-TCF) have to face to express openly their sexual needs and maintain their rights to a sexual/erotic life. It examines research regarding three kinds of barrier: social attitudes toward sexuality in older age; organizational culture and models of care prevalent...

This multi-disciplinary volume brings together international scholarship from across cultural studies, humanities and social sciences. It involves critical review of a comparatively neglected issue – the desexualization of older people – that itself forms part of an emerging field of knowledge that relates to older people’s sexuality and intimacy....

Introduction Human sexuality requires complex frames of understanding because of the multiplicity of factors influencing how it is constructed and expressed. One of these factors lies in the capacity to promote and the actual generation of sexual desire traditionally associated with the notion of sensuality. In this chapter, we reflect on how narra...

Sexual needs and rights do not disappear just because older people live in long-term care facilities (for convenience, henceforth L-TCF). For instance, Bauer et al (2013) showed that most residents see themselves as sexual beings. In addition, most staff working in L-TCFs commonly report diverse sexual situations involving residents (Villar et al,...

Studies on older adults’ political participation have been scarce. Moreover, there is a lack of evidence concerning the experience and meaning of this participation from the perspective of those involved. This study aimed at exploring older adults’ personal narratives of political participation episodes. We conducted 40 life-story interviews with S...

The assessment by students of an experience with self-assessment questionnaires with feedback in three modalities is presented: a) Moodle; b) Kahoot!; c) pencil and paper. Two questionnaires were applied, one in the middle of the semester and the other at the end, in three subjects of Developmental Psychology. The results show a very positive asses...

Background and Objectives In the last decade, sport has been considered a tool in active aging to maintain physical fitness, improve mental wellbeing and form social relationships among older people. However, a thorough psychosocial understanding of the phenomenon of older athletes competing in sports events is lacking. Most research has focused on...

Objectives: The present study aims to explore the perception of common and best practices for dealing with resistance to eating of persons with dementia living in long-term care facilities. Methods: Forty-two staff members working in long-term care facilities were interviewed. They worked in four Spanish long-term care facilities; 21 were nursing a...

The aim of this study is to explore how staff manage apathy involving a person living with dementia (PLWD). Forty-two staff members working in four Spanish long-term care facilities were interviewed; 21 were nursing assistants and 21 technical staff. They read a vignette about a PLWD presenting apathy. Participants were asked (1) how a situation li...

Generativity is the task attached to middle-age in Erikson’s influential developmental theory. From this point of view, it has been defined as a concern for caring for and guiding the next generation and, in more general terms, for being productive and contributing to the well-being and improvement of families, communities and society as a whole. T...

Research on older people’s civic engagement has increased significantly in the last two decades, as have policy and practice initiatives aimed at promoting civic engagement among older adults. However, the growing interest of researchers and policy-makers in older people’s civic engagement has not been mirrored by a parallel effort to define what c...

Social exclusion in later life remains a major challenge for ageing societies. Despite widespread acceptance of its multidimensional nature, research and policy debates have tended to focus on exclusion from material resources or social relations, overlooking other recognised dimensions of social exclusion. In this context, exclusion from civic eng...

Living in a long-term care (LTC) institution provides older people experiencing health and social problems with a comprehensive range of support services that address their quality of life. Despite access to such services, challenges arise in relation to their participation in key activities both within and outside the institution. This chapter exa...

Studies on older adults' civic engagement have been dominated by a win-win narrative, which assumes that the activity is beneficial both for the individuals involved and for communities. However, civic engagement may also be a source of negative experiences. The aim of this study was to understand these experiences in greater depth through an analy...

Resumen Antecedentes y objetivo. La pandemia de la COVID-19 afecta de manera diferencial a distintos grupos etarios, concentrándose la mayor parte de fallecimiento entre las personas más mayores y con afecciones de salud previas. Esto ha implicado una mayor presencia de los mayores en la agenda informativa de todos los medios de comunicación. Este...

RESUM: En assignatures de Psicologia del Desenvolupament es va oferir als estudiants la possibilitat de respondre qüestionaris d'autoavaluació amb feedback, sobre els continguts d'aprenentatge. Els qüestionaris es van organitzar per temes i eren actius durant el període en que es treballava el corresponent tema a l'aula. Es presenten els resultats...

This study is aimed at exploring to what extent staff perceive older residents in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) as still having sexual needs, and how they think care in relation to sexual issues could be improved. The sample was self-selected and comprised 2115 staff members (including managers, technical and care assistants) employed at 152 Sp...

Social exclusion is complex and dynamic, and it leads to the non-realization of social, economic, political or cultural rights or participation within a society. This critical review takes stock of the literature on exclusion of social relations. Social relations are defined as comprising social resources, social connections and social networks. An...

Although the concept of “active aging” has been widely used as a framework to underpin an optimistic view of aging, few studies have focused on the activities it encompasses and what participants learn. The aim of this study was to explore and compare the learning outcomes acquired from different active aging activities. A sample of 448 people aged...

This study aimed to explore which kinds of residents’ sexual expressions cause the most discomfort to staff and to determine the situational circumstances that might be related to this perception of discomfort. The sample was made up of 1895 front-line care staff employed at 152 Spanish long-term care facilities. Participants’ answers to an open-en...

En los últimos años se ha asistido a un aumento de la participación en disciplinas deportivas competitivas durante la vejez. El objetivo de este artículo es reflexionar si los atletas veteranos mayores pueden considerarse un ideal de envejecimiento activo. Para ello, se exploran tanto los factores determinantes como el impacto de la práctica de dep...

En el presente artículo analizamos los significados existentes en torno a la participación en prácticas de apoyo colectivo en un grupo de hombres mayores integrantes de la comunidad de Axotlán, Estado de México. La muestra estuvo comprendida por ocho participantes, todos ellos seleccionados de manera intencional, buscando que fueran habitantes de l...

Objectives: To explore the extent to which staff members in long-term care facilities (LTCF) have experienced situations of sexual harassment, how they commonly and ideally manage the situation, and how their work position influences their responses. Design: Cross-sectional quantitative study, using the vignette technique. Method: A total of 2,196...

This study explores the difficulties that older lesbian, gay and bisexual residents may encounter when attempting to express their sexuality while living in long-term care facilities (LTCF), as perceived by staff. The sample was made up of 1714 staff members working in 152 Spanish long-term care institutions for older people. Answers to an open-end...

This study aims to explore attitudes towards age-discrepant relationships and examine the influence of variables such as gender, generation and culture on such attitudes. The sample was made up of 1,510 participants divided into three age groups (18–29, 60–69 and 70 years and over) from eight Latin American countries. Participants’ answers to two i...

This chapter is aimed at describing the emergence, consolidation, and future prospects of the Universities of the Third Age (U3A) in Spain. It examines the historical, social, and conceptual grounds on which the U3A appeared and developed. It highlights the dual nature of U3A in Spain, where a bottom-up model (university classrooms), based on lectu...

Aims and objectives: To explore staff reactions to residents' behaviour consisting in exposing their genitals in public, and to differentiate between what is perceived as common practice (what most staff do) and best practice (the best possible approach). Background: The presence of inappropriate sexual behaviours (ISBs) in long-term care facili...

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of studies addressing older people's political participation. Much of this literature, however, can be criticised for neglecting important aspects of seniors’ political participation, such as its dynamics across the lifecourse, its gendered nature and the influence of the particular socio-politic...

The chapter analyses barriers that older people living in long term care institutions face to express their sexual interest. It highlights how their health profile (diseases, medications) and generational experiences of such populations hinder sexual expression in institutions and discusses the key role of attitudes (staff, residents and family att...

Introduction This chapter deals with how sexual issues are dealt with, both by residents and professionals, in long-term facilities for older people. Sexuality is a valuable dimension of humanity that may be maintained until a very advanced age (Lindau et al., 2007), and even in the presence of severe illness and dependency at least some older adul...

Background and objectives This study analyzes critically existing knowledge concerning older people’s civic participation, pinpoints gaps in the literature, and proposes new directions for research. Research design and methods We conducted a scoping review of literature on older people’s civic participation. To conduct this review, we followed the...

In this paper, we argue that the capacity for narrative agency is significantly compromised in individuals with dementia due to at least three factors: (a) Dementia itself, which causes increasing difficulties in constructing and articulating coherent and meaningful stories, and sharing them with others; (b) cultural narratives about dementia, whic...

It is important to promote the use of Internet among older adults as it could help prevent isolation in later life and facilitates personal growth. However, older adults are usually depicted as mere consumers of Internet content rather than producers. This chapter presents data from a study on the motivations that lead older adults to write a blog....

Active aging is a concept used to describe and promote lifestyles that contribute to a healthy aging process. However, these lifestyles vary widely, and the concept of active aging encompasses many activities. This paper considers two axes to classify the range of activities that can contribute to active aging: the resources needed to carry out suc...

Objectives: The study had three objectives: (a) To determine how staff perceives the frequency of different sexual expressions in long-term care facilities for older people; (2) to quantify policies aimed at guaranteeing residents’ sexual rights in such institutions, and (3) to determine factors influencing the presence of these kind of policies. M...

Addressing older people’s social exclusion is a major challenge for contemporary societies. However, policies designed to address it have tended to focus on poverty and unemployment. This paper explores the relationship between social exclusion and political participation from the perspective of those already holding responsible roles within senior...

The purpose of this research was to explore attitudes toward older lesbians and gay men disclosing their sexual preferences in eight Latin American countries. The sample consisted of 1,539 participants belonging to three age groups (18–29 years, 60–69 years, and 70 years and over). Their answers to two open-ended questions were content-analyzed, an...

The participation of older people in civil society organizations has received considerable attention in recent years due to its potential for contributing to the health and well-being of the individuals concerned and also for creating social and economic benefits for the community. However, much of the previous literature has focused on human and s...

El derecho a la libre expresión de la identidad y orientación sexual de las personas mayores que viven en entornos institucionales se ve sometido a una serie de desafíos específicos que lo ponen en riesgo. El objetivo del artículo es identificar y reflexionar sobre esos desafíos y reflexionar sobre medidas para atenuarlos o eliminarlos. Para ello s...

This study aims at exploring staff perceptions of common and best practices toward a situation in which an older resident discloses their non-heterosexual sexual identity, differentiating between gay men, lesbians and bisexuals. A total of 2,254 staff members from 96 Spanish long-term care facilities took part in the study. They were asked about wh...

Volunteering in later life is an important way of staying involved in one’s community and engaging in a meaningful activity that has a positive impact on others. Previous research has mainly described the antecedents and consequences of volunteering; the process and experiences associated with performing this role has been less studied. The aim of...

El concepto de envejecimiento activo se ha propuesto como una forma de describir y promover estilos que vida que contribuyan a un buen envejecer. Sin embargo, estos estilos de vida son muy diversos, y son muchas las actividades que pueden incluirse dentro del concepto de envejecimiento activo. El presente artículo propone una clasificación de esas...

Aims (of the paper): This study explores staff responses, in terms of common practices, toward partnered sexual relationships in long-term care facilities where one or both people involved have dementia. It also tries to determine personal and institutional factors influencing these responses. Background: Although some studies, mostly qualitativ...

Background Applying a person-centred care (PCC) approach is an aspiration for many services attending people with dementia (PwD). However, the implementation and assessment of PCC practices represent a challenge to health professionals. Aim To evaluate the impact on staff of a programme aiming to involve people with dementia (PwD) in their individu...

This study has dual aims. First, it aims to explore the relationship between generativity and political participation, a neglected aspect of civic participation. Second, using different dimensions of generativity in a mixed methods study, it also aims to contribute to the theoretical and methodological literature on generativity as a multidimension...

The purpose of this study was to assess reports by psychologists and social workers in lawsuits regarding grandparent visitation rights in Barcelona (Spain). Seventy-three reports written during a five-year period were analysed Sixty-three per cent of cases recommended grandparents being granted visitation rights. A content analysis of the reports...

Older people’s active political participation is a core component of the active ageing model, which recognizes seniors’ right to have a say in decisions directly affecting their lives. This often occurs through seniors’ interest organisations; however, research into older people’s volunteering for political organizations is very limited. One import...

Objective: Although psychological factors have been explored in relation to other life transitions, their influence on retirement adjustment quality has been largely overlooked. This study assessed the contribution of personality traits and generativity before retirement in the prediction of hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing at two temporal points a...

It has been argued that older people's civic engagement has benefits for both individuals themselves and the community more broadly. Removing barriers to participation is, therefore, essential. However, the multi-dimensional nature of civic participation, as well as the different issues raised by recruitment and retention, complicate this. This stu...

The objective of the study was to assess the impact of an intervention in which people with dementia attended meetings to discuss their individual care plans on their quality of life. Fifty-two older people (M = 86.7 years, SD = 7.3) diagnosed with moderate-to-severe dementia living in four nursing homes in Spain participated in the study. The inte...

FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE AT: http://rdcu.be/mErX Understanding what older people learn from their civic participation is of critical importance both for individuals and organisations. This link has been neglected in prior research, and the evidence across diverse cultural contexts is particularly limited. However, the political context of older people’...

Aging population has increased a global concern to keep seniors active and healthy. Civic participation, in particular, has been highlighted for its social and community benefits, and its impact on elders’ health and well-being. To date, however, most studies have explored volunteering, with other types of civic activities, such as political partic...