Ageing Resource Communities

Throughout the world's hinterland regions, people are growing old in resource-dependent communities that were neither originally designed nor presently equipped to support an ageing population. This book provides cutting edge theoretical and empirical insights into the new phenomenon resource frontier ageing, to understand the diverse experiences of and responses to rural population ageing in the early 21st century. The book explores the resource hinterland as a new frontier of rural ageing and examines three central themes of rural population change, community development and voluntarism that characterize ageing resource communities. By investigating the links among these three themes, the book provides the conceptual and empirical foundations for the future agenda of rural ageing research. This timely contribution contains 15 original chapters by leading international experts from Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland and Norway.

Mark Skinner is Associate Professor of Geography and Director, Trent Centre for Aging & Society, Trent University, Canada. Neil Hanlon is Associate Professor and Chair, Geography Program, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada.

Introduction 1. Introduction to ageing resource communities New frontiers 2. New Frontiers of rural ageing: resource hinterlands 3. Place integration: notes on a Deweyan framework for community inquiry 4. Voluntarism, older people, and ageing places: Pathways of integration and marginalization Rural population ageing Introduction to rural population ageing 5. Rural ageing in farm communities in Ireland: Changing agricultural resources - changing lives 6. Austerity, welfare reform, and older people in rural places: Competing discourses of voluntarism and community? 7. Long-term care service delivery challenges for ageing in place in rural communities: A health region case study of home and residential care Rural community development Introduction to rural community development 8. Gamvik, "a good place to grow old": The role of voluntary organizations in an ageing resource dependent municipality in northern Norway 9. Experiences of economic change in small town New Zealand: Implications for voluntarism and community capacity 10. Planning for all ages and stages of life in resource hinterlands: Place-based development in northern British-Columbia Rural voluntary sector Introduction to rural voluntarism 11. Plugging the gaps? Voluntary sector innovation for supporting healthy rural ageing 12. Civic and voluntary contributions of retirement migrants and their impact on rural community sustainability: Perceptions of local governments 13. Voluntarism, community culture, and ageing in place in resource-based communities Discussion 14. Emerging issues in ageing resource communities 15. Towards new rural ageing futures