International Rural Aging Project

Invited Symposia

Older People in Europe’s Rural Areas (OPERA)

Conveners: G. Clare Wenger, University of Wales, Bangor, UK
Thomas Scharf, University of Keele, Keele, UK

Date Saturday, June 10
Time 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Location Parlor A

Content 
This paper presents the results of an ambitious research project, OPERA, comparing the situation of older people in some of Europe's most rural areas. Quantitative data, collected in between 1988 and 1991, using comparable questionnaires, are presented. The project was initiated before the radical political changes in Central Europe and the effects of those changes on the project will be described. Six countries - Wales, the Netherlands, West and East Germany (before re-unification), Poland and Hungary - are compared in terms of the nature of the rural areas, the integration of older people in personal relationships, community life, economic structures and networks of help. The implications of the findings for social policy in Europe will be discussed.