Spotlight session

New Directions in Intergenerational Research on Support and Care in Ageing Families

Organiser and Chair

Merril Silverstein is a Professor of Gerontology and Sociology at Syracuse University, USA.

His area of expertise includes among others ageing, family, intergenerational relationships, demographic and policy and cultural contexts. He was the editor-in-chief of Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences between 2010-2014 and now serves as the Principal Investigator of the Longitudinal Study of Generations in the US.

Content and structure

In this session, expert scholars will present their latest research as brief (“flash”) talks with an emphasis on the innovation they bring to the study of support and care to and from older adults in multigenerational families. Innovations are defined by advances in theory and conceptual frameworks, methodological approaches, and empirical contributions to the field of family gerontology. The session will contribute to a better understanding of intergenerational relationships in ageing families in terms of the support older adults receive and provide in changing times and across diverse places. The emphasis will be on the importance of changing family structures, economic conditions, cultural orientations, environmental conditions, and welfare state benefits for intergenerational exchanges and the wellbeing of older and younger generations.This session will involve a series of six-minute “flash” presentations, highlighting research findings that illustrate an innovation in intergenerational family studies. These presentations will be followed by a panel discussion among the participants comprised of structured questions posed by the session organizer about innovations and future directions in intergenerational research within social gerontology. The final segment of the session will involve audience comments and questions posed to panellists.

Session participants

• Fred Berger, University of Innsbruck, Switzerland
• Martina Brandt, University of Dortmund, Germany
• Mirkka Danielsbacka, University of Turku, Finland
• Emily Grundy, University of Essex, UK
• Karsten Hank, University of Cologne, Germany
• Merril Silverstein, Syracuse University, USA