“I'm still raring to go”: Successful aging among lesbian,gay, bisexual,and transgender older adults

While we know that minority status differentiates the experience of aging, little research has been done to examine the ways in which patterns of successful aging may differ in diverse subgroups of older adults. In this exploratory study, we investigated and described experiences of successful aging in a sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Directed by a community-based participatory research process, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 22 LGBT adults, age 60 and older. We took an inductive, grounded theory approach to analyze the taped and transcribed interviews. We coded respondent experiences in four domains: physical health, mental health, emotional state and social engagement. Four gradations of successful aging emerged. Very few in our sample met the bar for “traditional success” characterized by the absence of problems in all four domains of health. Most of the sample was coping to a degree with problems and was categorized in one of two gradations on a continuum of successful aging: “surviving and thriving” and “working at it.” A small number was “ailing”: not coping well with problems. Some of the experiences that respondents described were related to LGBT status; others were related to more general processes of aging. The research suggests that a successful aging framework that is modified to include coping can better describe the experiences of LGBT older adults. The modified conceptual model outlined here may be useful in future research on this population, as well as more broadly for diverse populations of adults, and may be adapted for use in practice to assess and improve health and well-being.     

From these roots: The role of historically Black colleges and universities in preparing the nation’s gerontologists for an aging society

ABSTRACT

The aging of the United States population is creating an increased need for social workers and other helping professionals with training in gerontology. Recent estimates indicate that less than 3% of MSW students are enrolled in an aging concentration, as compared to 19% enrolled in children/youth concentrations. In addition, the phenomenon of a diverse baby boomer generation joining the ranks of persons age 65 and older has created a plethora of scholarship and curriculum development aimed at readying the aging network for the unprecedented growth of older persons. Social work can make unique professional contributions to the field of gerontology and older persons. This study asserts, however, that social work is not adequately prepared to practice in an increasingly diverse aging society. The social work profession has articulated commitments to acknowledging and affirming how diversity and culture shape the human experience and to developing social workers who can competently engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. However, there remains a need in social work education for more widespread use of culturally relevant pedagogies that can help achieve these goals. Informed by both the Afrocentric and Black perspectives, this study presents a content analysis of the curricula infused at two historically Black universities. The nature and extent of the contributions of historically Black universities to social work education is the focus of this article. The scope of this investigation also includes the identification of prominent Black social work educators and discusses the implications of these perspectives for more culturally informed gerontology curricula that promote culturally competent gerontological social workers.     

Challenges to Aging in Place: Understanding Home Maintenance Difficulties

Age-related declines in capabilities may compromise older adults’ ability to maintain their homes, threatening successful aging in place. Structured interviews were conducted with 44 independently living older adults (mean age = 76.1, standard deviation = 4.7) to discuss difficult home maintenance tasks and how they managed those tasks. Solutions to managing difficulties were categorized as person-related or environment-related. The majority (85%) of responses were person-related solutions. An understanding of the specific challenges that older adults face in maintaining their homes can guide redesign efforts and interventions to effectively support older adults’ desire to age in place.     

Representations of older adults in television advertisements

The purpose of the present study was to examine a comprehensive set of television advertisements, across networks and times of day, to determine how older adults are portrayed. Older adults appeared in 15% of advertisements, and in those ads, older women were underrepresented relative to men, and older adults appeared less frequently on youth-oriented networks and during the evening. Older adults tended to play incidental roles in the advertisements and to promote a circumscribed, stereotyped set of products and services. Moreover, their characters portrayed overwhelmingly positive attributes and traits. Results from the current study suggest ways in which portrayals in television advertisements might shape attitudes that viewers have about older adults and aging.     

Toward a discourse shift in social gerontology: From successful aging to harmonious aging

Successful aging, though controversial, is used as an overarching conceptual framework in social gerontology. In this theory critique, the discourse of successful aging is identified as problematic with respect to four dimensions. First, successful aging is ageist in nature, and it produces a disharmony between body and mind. Second, successful aging, with the emphasis on quantifiable activities driven by the “busy ethic,” overlooks the deeper concern of quality experience. Third, the capitalist and consumerist components of successful aging are under-addressed. Fourth, successful aging is a discourse developed upon Western (specifically American) values and thus may not readily apply to other cultures.Harmonious aging, as proposed, is inspired by the Yin–Yang philosophy. Harmony refers to the balance based on differences instead of uniformity. This new discourse aims to recognize the challenges and opportunities of old age itself, ease the tension between activity and disengagement theories, heal the integrity of body and mind, and emphasize the interdependent nature of human beings. The call for the discourse shift attempts to promote intellectual exploration of what constitutes a good old age and to capture more cross-cultural diversities in the context of global aging. This theoretical endeavor is important to change the status quo of gerontology as being “data rich but theory poor,” and to contribute to cross-cultural gerontological research, education and communication.     

GenPhilly: A Strategy for Improving the Sustainability of Aging in Community Initiatives

GenPhilly is an innovative, replicable model that was developed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to inspire and engage emerging leaders from a variety of disciplines to promote and sustain an aging-in-community agenda. Administrative support is provided by the Area Agency on Aging, Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, yet it was designed by its members to be peer-led. In this way, young professionals in their 20s and 30s can capitalize on popular culture to create unique professional development opportunities and get younger generations thinking about the type of city in which they themselves want to get older. The group has benefited the field of aging by building awareness of aging services in the wider community; facilitating cross-disciplinary learning and innovation around aging issues; stressing the competitive advantage for emerging leaders from all fields to know about aging issues; strengthening the aging network workforce; breaking down stereotypes about working with older adults; and introducing expertise from outside the aging network to benefit older adults. Encouraging the development of similar groups will not only benefit the field of aging, it will assist the next generation of leaders in many fields to plan better for their communities and for themselves.     

Designing an Ageless Social Community: Adapting a New Urbanist Social Core to Suit Baby Boomers in Later Life

ABSTRACT

Since 90% of older adults prefer aging in place (Wang, Shepley, & Rodiek, 2012), it is important that neighborhood design supports successful aging. Beyond basic needs, research indicates quality interaction is associated with positive health and well-being benefits, particularly for older adults. In this, design supporting social relationships plays an essential role. This study's purpose was to identify New Urbanist neighborhood and social space design attributes supporting older residents' physiological and social needs. This case study used keyword-in-context analysis with focus group interview data to identify domains supporting social interaction for residents aging in place including: location factors, social factors, design factors, and programmatic factors.     

Discourse of successful aging in The Globe & Mail: Insights from critical gerontology

While the determinants of successful aging receive much attention from researchers, few studies have considered media portrayals of successful aging. Yet the mass media shape the agenda for discussing and understanding aging and transmit the meanings and various experiences of aging between generations. Through thematic analysis of 146 articles featuring older adults in various contexts including family, work, civic engagement, social policy, health care, consumer market, and leisure published in The Globe & Mail in 2004–2006, this paper explores stereotypes of successful aging. Drawing on the insights from critical gerontology and critical discourse analysis, this study suggests that the three themes in the media discourse of successful aging (successful aging as an individual choice, individual responsibility for unsuccessful aging, and how to age successfully by staying engaged) embody the neo-liberal principles of containing the costs of eldercare and maximizing individual effort and responsibility for managing risks of disease and decline in later life.     

Challenges to Aging in Place: Understanding Home Maintenance Difficulties

Age-related declines in capabilities may compromise older adults' ability to maintain their homes thus threatening successful aging in place. Structured interviews were conducted with forty-four independently living older adults (M(age) = 76.1, SD = 4.7) to discuss difficult home maintenance tasks and how they managed those tasks. Solutions to managing difficulties were categorized as person-related or environment-related. The majority (85%) of responses were person-related solutions. An understanding of the specific challenges that older adults face in maintaining their homes can guide redesign efforts and interventions to effectively support older adults' desire to age in place.     

A 3-D model of health decline: disease, disability, and depression among Black and White older adults

Much of the research on health decline in older adulthood has specified a single causal direction between two health domains, often measured at the same time point, making it difficult to disentangle the mechanisms of health decline over time. Using three waves of data over seven years from older residents of North Carolina, a 3-D model is used to examine the temporal ordering of general health decline and the pathways of influence across three health domains (disease, disability, and depression). In addition, we test whether the 3-D model of health decline is similar for Black and White older adults. Results indicate that both prevalent and incident disease lead to increases in depression and that prevalent disease leads to greater disability three years later. Depression, in turn, leads to disease, identifying a cycle of health decline that is, for the most part, similar for Black and White older adults. The effect of widowhood is more deleterious to the health of Black older adults than for their White counterparts.     

Older adults' perceptions of work

Traditional definitions of work may not reflect the activities of older adults. A broader definition that incorporates non-economic as well as economic measures may better describe their participation in the labor force and the meanings they ascribe to these activities. Because productive activity has been linked to successful aging, it is important to understand how elders perceive work. Twenty-six community-residing older adults were interviewed over a two-year period. Participants were mostly female and represented diverse cultural, religious and educational backgrounds. All these individuals participated in some activities they perceived as work. Three themes emerged as describing their attributions of meaning or importance to productive activities: contribution to self-concept, giving back to community, and staying engaged. Findings suggest that the productive activities of older adults contribute to quality of life for them and have implications for society as well.     

Functional Ability,Neighborhood Resources and Housing Satisfaction among Older Adults in the U.S.

The purpose of this study was to explore neighborhood resources that influence the housing satisfaction of older adults. The study included 10,146 participants from the 2009 panel of the American Housing Survey who were 65 years and older. Hierarchical regression modeling was performed to examine older adults’ perceptions of neighborhood resources and consequently the role these resources play in predicting housing satisfaction among community dwelling and residents of assisted living, controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, education, and housing maintenance. In addition, three levels of physical functioning among residents of assisted living were examined. Results showed that there were differences in housing satisfaction by residences and levels of physical functioning. Subjective evaluations of neighborhoods and the near surrounds were significant predictors of housing satisfaction. Results of the study suggest that policy makers and housing professionals need to continue to consider the role of supportive neighborhoods and social environments in promoting successful aging particularly for frail older adults.     

Abuse and Neglect Experienced by Aging Chinese in Canada

The traditional values of Chinese culture promote care and respect toward older adults. While it appears to be ironic to discuss issues of abuse and neglect in the Chinese culture, research findings in Chinese societies do indicate the occurrences of such problems. However, little research on the abuse and neglect of older Chinese in Western societies has been available. This study aims to examine the incidence of abuse and neglect and the associated correlates based on data collected from a random sample of 2,272 aging Chinese 55 years and older in seven Canadian cities. The findings show that 4.5% of the participants reported experiencing at least one incident of maltreatment or neglect within the past year. The most common forms of neglect and abuse experienced by the aging Chinese include being scolded, yelled at, treated impolitely all the time, and ridiculed. Close family members such as spouses and sons are those that most commonly maltreat older Chinese. Those who were more likely to report at least one incident of maltreatment or neglect were older adults living with others; they tended to have no education, more access barriers, more chronic illnesses, less favorable mental health, and a higher level of identification with Chinese cultural values. The findings implied that the face value of respect and care received by older people in Chinese culture should not be taken for granted. Culturally appropriate precautionary steps are needed for prevention and early problem identification.     

Graduate Social Work Students' Interest in Working with Older Adults

This study examined Master's in Social Work students' (N = 304) interest in working with older adults following the use of case studies to infuse aging content into the foundation social work curriculum. Faculty members were provided with extensive materials to support their use of the cases with aging content in class. Compared to an earlier study, students were significantly more interested in working with older adults after they were exposed to the cases. Factors that predicted students' interest include age and attitude towards aging, specifically seeing older adults as having vitality. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Abuse and neglect experienced by aging chinese in Canada

The traditional values of Chinese culture promote care and respect toward older adults. While it appears to be ironic to discuss issues of abuse and neglect in the Chinese culture, research findings in Chinese societies do indicate the occurrences of such problems. However, little research on the abuse and neglect of older Chinese in Western societies has been available. This study aims to examine the incidence of abuse and neglect and the associated correlates based on data collected from a random sample of 2,272 aging Chinese 55 years and older in seven Canadian cities. The findings show that 4.5% of the participants reported experiencing at least one incident of maltreatment or neglect within the past year. The most common forms of neglect and abuse experienced by the aging Chinese include being scolded, yelled at, treated impolitely all the time, and ridiculed. Close family members such as spouses and sons are those that most commonly maltreat older Chinese. Those who were more likely to report at least one incident of maltreatment or neglect were older adults living with others; they tended to have no education, more access barriers, more chronic illnesses, less favorable mental health, and a higher level of identification with Chinese cultural values. The findings implied that the face value of respect and care received by older people in Chinese culture should not be taken for granted. Culturally appropriate precautionary steps are needed for prevention and early problem identification.     

Sustainability Processes among Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Supportive Service Programs

ABSTRACT

Sustainability remains a concern for community models to better support older adults’ aging in place in their own homes and communities. Based on qualitative data from leaders of 53 Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Supportive Service Programs, which is among the most prominent community practice models in aging, we aimed to develop an empirically-grounded framework on sustainability processes. Results indicated that programs use funding, staff members, interorganizational partnerships, and volunteers to offer services to attract older adults, and that older adults’ participation, in turn, is perceived as influencing the accrual of additional resources. Across themes, respondents discussed the importance of being responsive to the community and facilitating consumer participation.     

A bio-psycho-social model of successful aging as shown through the variable “physical activity”

In this article, we present and explain a bio-psycho-social model of successful aging with subjective well-being as a criterion of a successful aging process. We focus on physical activity because it is a crucial behavior. Physical activity can support successful aging in two different ways: first, due to its physiological and cognitive effects, and Second, an older person can enhance subjective well-being (SWB) while being physically active. The model points out that an older person can regulate SWB. To do this, an older person should set and pursue personally and culturally valued goals. The strength of the association between setting a goal and goal pursuance, respectively, and SWB depends on the extent a person is able to satisfy psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness). But, the decision as to which goal will be set and pursued does not belong to the older person exclusively. The bio-psycho-social model explains that the chance to enhance SWB is restricted by personal dispositions (e.g., physiological constitution, psychological factors) and social–structural constraints (e.g., predominant stereotype of aging, facilities especially for target groups). Funding credit: Landesstiftung Baden Württemberg gGmbH [Landesstiftung Foundation]     

Older Adults' Perceptions of Well-Being after Intergenerational Experiences with Youth

Abstract

Drawing upon Ryff's (1995) positive dimensions of well-being in older adulthood, thisstudy investigated older adults' perceptions of well-being following participation in anintergenerational program. Specifically, we examined the relationship between age, years of volunteer service, and sense of well-being among older adults (n= 46; 55 to 100 years of age) participating in intergenerational programs at 10 sites in Midwestern, agriculturally based communities. Using a mixedmethods design, results revealed that olderadults perceive a heightened sense of well-being from intergenerational interactions wit youth. Older adults reported successful aging included staying active, not worrying aboutone's problems, feeling young, and keeping up with the children and community. Adults aged 74-85 experienced significantly greater satisfaction and enjoyment than their older counterparts, particularly in anticipating working with youth and positive self-perception. No relationship emerged between years of involvement in the program and well-being. Implications for research and program development are discussed.     

Lift Every Voice: Voices of African-American Lesbian Elders

Old lesbians of African descent have experienced racism, heterosexism, homophobia, and ageism. This article explores the topics of aging, ageism, heterosexism, and minority stress among older African-American lesbians. The narratives and subsequent analysis offer significant contributions to the dialogue regarding Black aging lesbians in the aging and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities generally and in the African-American and African-American lesbian communities specifically.     

Ethical implications of the promotion of elder volunteerism: A critical perspective

This critical inquiry explores the question: What are the ethical implications of promoting normative ideals for healthy aging, such as volunteerism and civic engagement, that specifically emphasize productivity and contribution? In this paper, we identify the values and ethical standpoints embedded in the discourse promoting volunteerism and productive aging and then describe what this suggests about how older adults are viewed, valued and judged. More specifically, we argue that older adult volunteering has at times been framed in a manner that dually suggests: a) lifelong productivity is a necessary condition to be a good old person; and b) lifelong productivity is a necessary condition to be a good old citizen. We then demonstrate that the current promotion of older adult volunteerism and productive aging is ethically troubling because: 1) it fails to capture the full potential of the self — and in particular, the aging self; and 2) it grounds justice in a narrowly defined and unfair distributive scheme. An alternative model of aging is then presented based on equal regard for all persons insofar as this approach is inclusive of the diversity of older adults and aging processes, and policy implications are discussed.