Intergenerational Family Mediation and Older People: Ageism and Active Ageing in Aragon

Abstract

What characteristics are becoming evident in the new family mediation services in light of the active aging policies and ageism in Aragon? The last decades are marked by demographic changes with strong repercussions on the population pyramid in Spanish. As in the rest of Europe, the general trend is the aging of the population with the appearance of specific needs that give shape to new social demands of families.

Family mediation with elderly and dependent people has been focused on the domestic sphere, where family decisions were made that had as their objective decisions between relatives regarding situations of dependency of parents or ascending relatives. New challenges for intergenerational family mediation are appeared. The greater longevity and improvement in the conditions and quality of life of people in the life cycle of the elderly.

This work exposes the emergency need for intergenerational mediation based on family mediation services in Aragon. The work carries out an analytical exploration methodology based on case studies of family mediation to theorize the knowledge projected from new experiences of intergenerational mediation. Three specific cases of social services that make use of intergenerational mediation are analyzed and the results of the analysis of the cases are offered from emerging categories of intergenerational mediation.