Older People as Social Pioneers

. The five papers examined reveal diverse responses among older people to social and economic change. The main themes were: the changing accommodation and care needs of older people in urban areas as customary forms of family‐based support are compromised; the strength and resourcefulness of family obligations in managing support and care; and similarities and contrasts in private sector and governmental responses to needs. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, the inventiveness of families in establishing networks of support and in contriving physical aids to patients with paralysis is impressive. In the rural areas and townships of South Africa, the strength of family ties is revealed in the readiness of social‐benefit recipients to support others. In Ontario, Canada, several thousand retirees have responded to the marketing of vacated housing in a collapsed mining town; and in the Basque Country,‐ the older residents of new supported housing have few regrets about not living with their children but worry that others see them as recipients of charity. Around the Mediterranean, increasing numbers of retirees from several northern European countries are exploring new ways of developing mutual help, of pressing the authorities and businesses for better services, and seeking a resolution between their ethos of self‐responsibility and how to help those who cannot help themselves. Change is endemic, and constructive and assertive responses from older people are widely seen.