The Ageing and Social Change research environment

Photographer: Lars-Christer Hydén

The Ageing and Social Change research environment conducts leading-edge research on key social, political and cultural issues of ageing. While providing basic and advanced academic training within these fields, the environment also contributes to the proliferation of knowledge about ageing within society.

Research on Ageing and Social Change aims at integrating analyses of changing societies in Sweden and Europe with the study of individual ageing processes within the theoretical framework of life-course research.

Issues of ageing and social change are conceptualised and analysed in terms of structural and institutional shifts (life-course policies, labour markets, welfare and legal systems, social inequality, integration and exclusion), in terms of changes in work, social networks, everyday life and health of older people (employment, life-long learning, retirement transitions, health behaviours, ageing with morbidities and disabilities, support needs and care systems) and regarding new societal and technological frameworks of ageing.

Staff from sociology, (social) psychology, gerontology, economy, methodology, communication sciences, journalism, anthropology, social policy and other disciplines are operating in the framework of the environment.

An internationalised research environment

Ageing and Social Change is a genuinely internationalised and well-integrated research environment.

Research is largely conducted in collaboration within international networks. The majority of the staff are internationally recruited.

Moreover, the Research Environment Ageing and Social Change is involved in national and international training and co-supervision of PhD researchers within a H2020 Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Action to encourage transnational, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility.

The environment is involved within the International Association for Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG), and within the Swedish National Graduate School on Ageing and Health (SWEAH). Ageing and Social Change is supported by an advisory group of European and national experts, and project advisory groups add to these advice capacities.

Research on Ageing and Social Change

Research plan

While being committed to interdisciplinarity as a key issue for ageing research, the research environment emphasizes perspectives from the social, behavioural and political sciences.

Researchers coming from numerous academic disciplines within these fields integrate their views in examining issues related to welfare systems, social structure, technology, economy, migration, gender, health, disability, care, geography, architecture and other areas.

To cover this wide range appropriately, the research environment initiates scientific partnerships with many national and international actors in the field of ageing and invites further collaboration.

Methods and analytical tools

Researchers in the environment apply and develop advanced methods and analytical tools within the framework of the disciplines involved.

The combination of advanced methods, from statistical analysis to qualitative studies of different kinds, makes it possible to pursue a thorough investigation of the institute’s research interests.

Focus on the relationship between life-course and social change

The main focus of the research on ageing and later life is on the relationship between the life-course and social change in three broad areas.

Thematic area I:Ageing and social structure

Social inequality of ageing, social integration, social exclusion and changing welfare systems

Thematic area II: Ageing between health and disease

Health, morbidity and care, support needs and living with morbidity

Thematic area III: Ageing in context

Changing social, technological and spatial environments.

Research programmes, projects, research infrastructure and funded research networks

Illustration brain.

PREPARE Rehab

Transforming Rehabilitation: Personalised Care for a Better Quality of Life. PREPARE improves the lives of people with chronic noncommunicable diseases by developing tools that will enable optimal therapy strategies.


PREPARE Rehab website
Hands

FuturISE

Socio-empirical exploaration, moral-philosophical clarification, and public deliberation of ideas and conceptions of intergenerational solidarity in Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.


FuturISE Research
Cornflowers.

Research Programme DEM(H)CARE

An interdisciplinary research programme aiming to improve coordination between home care, municipal health care, and primary care for people with dementia living at home.

Completed studies

Four hands.

St@ndbyMe

An educational tool for ethical, transparent, and safe activities in adult education, targeting the digital inclusion of older persons in Europe.

Reducing Old-Age Social Exclusion - ROSEnet

Old-age exclusion involves interchanges between multi-level risk factors, processes and outcomes. It leads to inequities in choice and control, resources and relationships, and power and rights in key domains of life.


Reducing Old-Age Social Exclusion - ROSEnet
Illustration.

Ageism - a Multi-national, Interdisciplinary Perspective

The goal is to challenge the practice of ageism by enhancing scientific knowledge on ageism, bringing together different disciplines of research and developing collaborations with various actors.


Ageism - a Multi-national, Interdisciplinary Perspective

Other scientific activities and networks

Graduate schools, journals seminars and international networks

The research environment is involved in the Swedish National Graduate School for Competitive Science on Ageing and Health (SWEAH).

Moreover, the envuronment is closely linked to the Journal of Aging and Social Change (JASC), which is edited at The Division of Ageing and Social Change, ASC. ASC is also organizer of the Interdisciplinary Seminar on Ageing Research (ASC-ISAR).

The environment is part of The Socio-gerontechnology network, which brings together scholars from various social science and design disciplines interested in critical studies of ageing and technology, as well as MIRAI 2.0, which is a collaboration between 19 Swedish and Japanese universities, aiming to contribute to long-term research collaboration and to promote Sweden and Japan as nations of world-leading large-scale research infrastructure.

Publications

Selected recent publications

2025

Laura J. W. Hogerwerf, Bianca Suanet (2025) Breaking the Silence on Loneliness in Society: Emerging Adults' Experiences With the Taboo and Stigma of Loneliness Emerging Adulthood (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Hanna Mac Innes, Helena Bjurbäck (2025) Att främja hälsa hos äldre personer genom ett socialt förebyggande arbete Ohälsa som socialt problem: socionomers arbete med hälsa och ohälsa, p. 71-89 (Chapter in book)
George Pavlidis (2025) Correction: Exclusionary states in older age and their temporary effects on cognitive decline (vol 13, 264, 2025) BMC Psychology, Vol. 13, Article 348 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
George Pavlidis (2025) Exclusionary states in older age and their temporary effects on cognitive decline BMC Psychology, Vol. 13, Article 264 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI

Doctoral and post doctoral studies

Research education in Ageing and Social Change

Postgraduate education includes a PhD programme on Ageing and Social Change and postdoctoral studies that are embedded in the research activities within the local, national, European and international networks of The Division of Ageing and Social Change, ASC.

The aim of postgraduate studies is to extend and deepen the student’s theoretical and methodological knowledge and understanding of ageing and later life as a research area.

Doctoral research

Doctoral studies are primarily connected to ongoing research projects at ASC and the University’s formal regulations for dissertations apply.

Exploring the Role of Sectoral Factors for Late Working Life Inequalities and Exclusion in Europe

Landry Botokou

The PhD research contributes to the body of knowledge on ageing and labour market inequalities by focusing on the meso-level in general and sectors specifically. It examines sectoral differences in the employment of older workers and assesses the impact of sectoral factors on the employment chances of older workers in selected European countries.

Social inequalities in retirement after extended working lives

Annika Heuer

As the contexts of late working lives are changing, it is not fully clear how post-retirement inequalities evolve and how the change in post-retirement inequalities is related to macro-social change and shifts in life courses. This thesis examines changing post-retirement inequalities in quality of life from a time- and country-comparative multilevel perspective.

Is Demography Our Destiny? Ageing and Election Participation in Sweden

Milos Milovanovic

The research project explores how demographic ageing in Sweden influences electoral participation. It employs a multi-method research approach, including machine learning, decomposition analysis, and age-period-cohort modelling. The objective is to determine whether demographic shifts explain turnout trends and whether age should be considered as an essential factor in political participation and representation alongside gender and ethnicity.

Bridging Generations and Risks: Pathways to Solidarity in the Green Transition

Nico Mira

This project investigates how different generations perceive and respond to risks, and how these perceptions influence intergenerational solidarity in the context of the green transition. By examining media discourses, focus groups, surveys, and public deliberation, it aims to identify barriers and opportunities for fostering inclusive and collaborative climate action across generations.

Postdoc research

Risks and potentials with flexible employment pathways in late working life in Sweden

Gülin Öylü

This project analyzes the relationship between flexible employment pathways in late working life - including employment type, intensity, contract type, and employer changes - and labor market exit outcomes in Sweden. Using Swedish registers, it examines patterns and trends of flexible employment pathways across groups and over time, taking into account individual life courses and labor market structure.

On going

Calendar

Seminars and conferences

News

Bianca Suanet.

How we can reduce loneliness among older adults

"We need to understand why some individuals become lonely and provide them with support at various levels in society before it happens," says Bianca Suanet, professor at LiU who researches an inclusive society for the elderly.

Students at workshop.

Digitalisation, Discrimination, and Technology

To categorise every person over 60 as someone who neither wants nor can understand new digital technology is discriminatory. This was one of the topics discussed at a doctoral course in Norrköping.

Anna Olaison, senior associate professor at the division of social work at Linköping University.

New research programme looking for solutions for dementia care

By 2050, the number of older people diagnosed with dementia in Sweden may have doubled compared to today. Providing care to everyone will be a big challenge. A new research programme will be launched at LiU to find solutions for the future.

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Organisation