Older women's body image and embodied experience: an exploration

This paper presents and analyzes findings from unstructured interviews with women aged 61 to 92 regarding their perceptions and feelings about their aging bodies. The data are discussed in light of the existing literature on women's body image which has largely ignored the experiences of women in later life and which has tended to focus on adolescent and middle-aged women. Given the fact that beauty is equated with youthfulness and thinness in our society, older women face unique challenges as they strive to construct and maintain positive evaluations of self. The women in the study exhibit the internalization of ageist beauty norms even as they assert that health is more important to them than physical attractiveness and comment on the 'naturalness' of the aging process.     

Decoding deception: A look at the process

This study examined the effects of sex and response format on the process of decoding deceptive messages. A videotape was made containing 32 items (16 honest and 16 dishonest) in which encoders described a person they liked and a person they disliked both honestly and deceptively. Two response formats were used: (1) the rating of items on a six-point liking scale and a six-point deception scale and (2) a forced choice format whereby subjects had to choose between the four types of items. Decoders were given five sets of scores: (a) accuracy scores, (b) awareness of deception scores, (c) confidence scores, (d) cues scores, which were the number of items on which they mentioned using a particular type of cue (verbal, nonverbal, or both combined), and (e) a measure of response time for each item. In the accuracy analyses, there were so significant main effects for sex for either format. However, when decoding males, females (relative to males) tended to read the overt rather than the covert, affect. Females, however, were more aware of the possibility of deception but did not differentiate between honest and dishonest items. Males were more confident and took less time than females to make a decision. Females mentioned the use of cues more than males did. There were no significant correlations between accuracy and the process variables although for males, but not females, there were significant correlations among the process variables for both honest items and dishonest items.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Applied Psychology Congress (IAAP), Jerusalem, Israel, July, 1986.     

An Inside Look at an Outside Candidate

This article traces the author's emotional journey of a job search, from finding what seems to be the perfect position to being turned down for the job. It is intended to remind counselors, employers, and job seekers of the emotional side of a process that is often seen as a simple series of rational, cognitive, and carefully planned steps.     

Adult day care participation among impaired elderly

This study evaluates 35 impaired elderly clients of a social day care center and compares them with 116 impaired persons taken from a random sample of community elderly using the Duke Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) functional assessment instrument. Multiple discriminant analysis is used to determine if factors exist which predict use of adult day care facilities. Results indicate that three domains distinguish day care participation; social resources, economic, and mental health. Discussion and implications center on the conclusion that day care clients are more likely labeled as dependent by their families than are impaired community elderly.Charles M. Barresi is Professor of Sociology and a Fellow in the Institute for Life Span Development and Gerontology at the University of Akron at Akron, Ohio. He earned his Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Buffalo. His research interests include ethnicity in aging, gender differences in widowhood and patterns of family care-giving. He is co-editor of the forthcoming book, Ethnic Dimensions of Aging.Donna J. McConnell is a graduate of the University of Akron, Department of Sociology. She holds the degree of M.A. Specialist in Gerontology, and Donna is currently serving as rehabilitation counselor for the Mahoning County Transitional Homes in Youngstown, Ohio.Direct all correspondence to: Charles M. Barresi, Department of Sociology, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325.Revision of a paper presented at the 37th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, San Antonio, Texas, November 16–20, 1984. The authors would like to thank John Allen, Ronald Huiatt, and the Summit Senior's Team Corporation, for making the PISCES Project data available. Dennis Byrne and Geoffery Greer provided helpful suggestions with the analysis.     

“I Didn't Leave Y'all on Purpose”: HIV-Infected Mothers' Videotaped Legacies for Their Children

The authors analyzed twelve videotapes made by HIV-infected women for their children. Using grounded theory methods the concept of eternal mothering provides a framework to study the interactive aspects of mothering, and the significance of impending maternal death from a stigmatizing illness. In creating these videotape legacies, the mothers drew on personal experiences of gender, class, race, ethnicity, family configurations, and other social conditions. There is tension between women's self-presentation in an attempt to control the impressions they make on their children, and their decision to disclose stigmatizing secrets with the potential consequential loss of maternal authority and children's loyalty, as well as inherited shame by association.     

Risk-Based Analysis of the Danish Pork Salmonella Program: Past and Future

The Danish pork Salmonella control program was initiated in 1993 in response to a prominent pork-related outbreak in Copenhagen. It involved improved efforts at slaughter hygiene (postharvest) and on-farm (preharvest) surveillance and control. After 10 years, 95 million Euros, significant reductions in seropositive herds, Salmonella positive carcasses, and pork-attributable human cases (PAHC), questions have arisen about how best to continue this program. The objective of this study was to provide some analysis and information to address these questions. The methods used include a computer simulation model constructed of a series of Excel workbooks, one for each simulated year and scenario ( http://www.ifss.iastate/DanSalmRisk ). Each workbook has three modules representing the key processes affecting risk: seropositive pigs leaving the farm (Production), carcass contamination after slaughter (Slaughter), and PAHC of Salmonella (Attribution). Parameter estimates are derived from an extensive farm-to-fork database collected by industry and government and managed by the Danish Zoonosis Centre ( http://www.food.dtu.dk ). Retrospective (1994–2003) and prospective (2004–2013) simulations were evaluated. The retrospective simulations showed that, except for the first few years (1994–1998), the on-farm program had minimal impact in reducing the number of positive carcasses and PAHC. Most of the reductions in PAHC up to 2003 were, according to this analysis, due to various improvements in abattoir processes. Prospective simulations showed that minimal reductions in human health risk (PAHC) could be achieved with on-farm programs alone. Carcass decontamination was shown as the most effective means of reducing human risk, reducing PAHC to about 10% of the simulated 2004 level.     

Forging ahead: Linking health and behavior to improve quality of life in older people

This chapter will focus on conceptual and methodological issues related to health promotion/disability prevention for older people. The first section will begin with a discussion of why older people, as compared to younger persons, are not traditionally seen as targets of health promotion efforts. In recent years several national working groups have been established to examine how older people's health and functioning can be improved. Their objectives and recommendations for older Americans will be reviewed. The second section will address the conceptual framework underlying health and behavior research supported by the National Institute on Aging. The movement from correlational studies to studies of basic mechanisms linking health and behaviour will be discussed, with particular attention to interactions with aging processes. Examples of health and behavior research representing these processes will be presented as well as methodological issues in the measurement of health and functional outcomes for older people. Measurement of quality of life in the cognitively impaired is seen as especially difficult. The third section will review several common themes emanating from these research studies. These include attention to a life course perspective, variability in aging processes, alternative research approaches, and intervention strategies for both initiating and maintaining recommended behavioral changes. A fourth section will review current areas of investigation at the National Institute of Aging. Successful intervention strategies in both community and institutional settings will to presented. These include: (1) a comprehensive behavioral and environmental falls prevention program which has been shown to reduce falls in the community; (2) a health education program to increase older women's use of cancer-related health practices; and (3) behavioral strategies for reducing incontinence in nursing homes. A new NIA initiative on special care units for persons with dementia will also be discussed. The fifth and final section will deal with issues involved in the translation of research into policy and practice. Approaches for increasing the relevance of research to policymakers will be discussed.