François Höpflinger
François Höpflinger has been prominently involved in the Swiss National Research Programme “Ageing” and has significantly contributed to advancing and coordinating activities in the field of social gerontology in Switzerland. He was pivotal in founding the Center for Gerontology at the University of Zurich. In recent years, he has carried out the following five projects:
1) Living arrangements in old age: In 2003, a survey was conducted on living arrangements and living needs in old age, which was funded by the Age-Stiftung Zürich (Age Foundation Zurich). A follow-up survey was organized in 2008, using the same research design.
2) On behalf of the Swiss Health Observatory, the project Need for Care in Old Age in Switzerland examined different demographic and epidemiological scenarios concerning need for care in old age and the development of dementia. Based on the findings, care scenarios were spelled out for a number of Swiss cantons (OW, AI, ZG, UR).
3) Children, teenagers, and their grandparents: The project was part of NRP 52 (Childhood, Youth and Intergenerational Relationships in a Changing Society) and was conducted in cooperation with the University of Geneva. It included a survey on the relationships between adolescent grand children and their grandparents. In 2008, a first report on intergenerational relationships in Switzerland based on the findings of the NRP 52 has been published, , as part of compiling new developments regarding intergenerational relationships within families and within society.
4) Work and career after 50: A project, funded by Avenir Suisse, included a questionnaire survey asking approximately 800 personnel managers to give their assessment of the work and employment situation of people in the later stages of life and planned strategies to deal with a demographic ageing workforce.
5) Complex intergenerational relationships – an intercultural comparison: Within an ethnological research project (Prof. Jürg Helbling, Claudia Roth, University of Luzerne) on complex intergenerational relationships – comparing Burkina Faso and Switzerland -, the macro-sociological context of intergenerational structures in two extremely different societies are analysed.
For more information, please visit the web pages of François Hoepflinger.