Overview

Spanning the period from the 1890s to the 1960s, this publication details the lives and survival strategies of elderly people as they struggle to remain independent. Megan Davies opens the door to the institutional world of the old age home, demonstrating how the legacy of the poor law and the demands of the emerging welfare state worked together to shape residential care facilities for seniors. She looks at the experiences of elderly people on British Columbia's economic and social margins both before and after the advent of old age pensions, analysing the myriad strategies used by the elderly poor to stay out of institutions and the role of family, community, and state support in this process. Davies' study of institutional life is multi-textured, informed by social and architectural theory while telling us much about daily life in these facilities. We learn about angry rebellion and harsh discipline, fun and festivals, death and compassion. And we see how the 20th century witnessed the gradual withdrawal of these institutions from the life of the community, further enhancing the marginal place of the old age home in our society.

Full Product Details

9780773525023

Table of Contents

Reviews

A concise, crisply written, and convincingly argued book. Davies displays an extremely impressive grasp of the Canadian and international historiography on aging, the family, institutionalization, professionalization, and the gendered dimensions of state social policy. James Struthers, Canadian Studies, Trent University Elegantly written and thoroughly researched, this book traces the evolution of old age homes from being welfare institutions for the poor in the late nineteenth century to medical institutions for the middle-class by the mid twentieth century, yet a clientele and set of facilities still marginalized within Canadian society and the welfare state. This impressive book convincingly demonstrates the use of studying and doing social history to better understand the past and more fully appreciate our own contemporary policies and practices in caring for the aged. This wonderful book is a rich social history of real people, policies and programs with many valuable lessons and insights for today on who has responsibility for the care of the elderly. Michael J. Prince, Lansdowne Professor of Social Policy, University of Victoria

"""A concise, crisply written, and convincingly argued book. Davies displays an extremely impressive grasp of the Canadian and international historiography on aging, the family, institutionalization, professionalization, and the gendered dimensions of state social policy."" James Struthers, Canadian Studies, Trent University ""Elegantly written and thoroughly researched, this book traces the evolution of old age homes from being welfare institutions for the poor in the late nineteenth century to medical institutions for the middle-class by the mid twentieth century, yet a clientele and set of facilities still marginalized within Canadian society and the welfare state. This impressive book convincingly demonstrates the use of studying and doing social history to better understand the past and more fully appreciate our own contemporary policies and practices in caring for the aged. This wonderful book is a rich social history of real people, policies and programs with many valuable lessons and insights for today on who has responsibility for the care of the elderly."" Michael J. Prince, Lansdowne Professor of Social Policy, University of Victoria"

Author Information

Megan J. Davies is professor emerita at York University and an activist community historian.

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