Abstract
This paper relates commonly held models of ageing to the assumptive worlds of policy makers and service providers. Different models of old age are related to culture (class and ethnicity), gender and the age of the beholder. The common western European view that old age is a time of inevitable and increasing dependence is mirrored by a system of service provision that emphasises dependency rather than rehabilitation. A ‘terminal drop’ model is closer to the majority experience of ageing today, but it does not appear to be part of the assumptive worlds of policy makers or service providers, or even of old people themselves. The paper concludes with a brief assessment of the possibilities for change in assumptive worlds.

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