{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,12]],"date-time":"2026-09-12T05:07:18Z","timestamp":1789189638425,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788998400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100031478","name":"NextGenerationEU","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2022RAESSJ_002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022RAESSJ_002"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100031478","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Population ageing is reshaping care systems and cultural meanings of later life. Present explorative qualitative study examined how healthcare professionals working with older adults in two Italian cities (Rome and Bergamo), represent old age. Moreover, we explored whether these representations vary by age, gender, and location. Fifty professionals aged 30\u201360 years, each residing and practicing professionally in either Rome (n = 25) or Bergamo (n = 25), were interviewed using an open-ended prompt on resources, difficulties, and transitions related to old age. A quali-quantitative approach based on Emotional Text Mining (ETM) was applied to verbatim transcripts. The analysis included text preprocessing, bisecting k-means clustering, and correspondence analysis. Seven clusters emerged: Witnessing ageing, Passing years, Challenging old age, Denial, Awareness, Rethinking services, and Old age as a problem. Correspondence analysis identified six factors; the first three, accounting for 60.24% of total inertia, were interpreted as Time (Present vs. Future), Places (Protected Shelter vs. Exposure to Risk), and Care (Assistance vs. Planning). Together, the factors and clusters outlined a symbolic field ranging from direct observation of ageing and reflection on time, to defensive responses and concerns about decline, and to greater awareness of older adults\u2019 needs and calls for more responsive services. No statistically significant differences emerged by age or gender. Conversely, cluster distribution was significantly associated with participants\u2019 location (Rome vs. Bergamo; \u03c72 = 49.84, p &lt; 0.001), suggesting possible differences in the representation of older adults across these two geographical areas. Overall, representations oscillated between proximity and defense, individual responsibility and system-level delegation, supporting reflective training and organizational interventions to strengthen care cultures.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091620","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T13:04:57Z","timestamp":1789045497000},"page":"1620","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Exploring Representations of Old Age Emerging from the Narratives of Healthcare Professionals Working with Older Adults in Two Italian Cities"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2074-9812","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Cordella","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dynamic, Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli, 1, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5085-3453","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michela","family":"Di Trani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dynamic, Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli, 1, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8553-4444","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessia","family":"Renzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dynamic, Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli, 1, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Gattuso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Piazzale S. Agostino, 2, 24129 Bergamo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-1789-9002","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ambra","family":"Galiccia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Piazzale S. Agostino, 2, 24129 Bergamo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-5193-4173","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paola","family":"Elia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dynamic, Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli, 1, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-2821-1260","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Giovanna","family":"Massari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Sciences and Promotion of Quality of Life, San Raffaele Telematic University, Via di Val Cannuta, 247, 00166 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8086-2801","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Greco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Piazzale S. 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Agostino, 2, 24129 Bergamo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Marsico, G., and Tateo, L. (2023). Parents, children, and the third age: The needs of the elderly. Humanity in psychology, Springer International Publishing."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Bolasco, S. (2010). Analisi multidimensionale dei dati. (Metodi, strategie e criteri di interpretazione) [Multidimensional data analysis: Methods, strategies, and interpretation criteria], ITA. 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