Older Men's Lay Definitions of Successful Aging Over Time: The Manitoba Follow-Up Study (original) (raw)
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Definition of Successful Aging by Elderly Canadian Males: The Manitoba Follow-Up Study
The Gerontologist, 2003
Purpose: Although the concept of successful aging is used widely in the field of gerontology, there is no agreed-on standard or common underlying definition for measuring success in aging. Our recent survey of an elderly male population asked respondents to define ''successful aging.'' This paper describes the themes that evolved from those definitions, explores interrelationships between the themes, and examines the association between characteristics of respondents and the themes provided in their definition. Design and Methods: The Manitoba Follow-up Study has followed a cohort of 3,983 World War II Royal Canadian Air Force male aircrew recruits since July 1, 1948. At a mean age of 78 years in 1996, the survivors were surveyed and asked, ''What is your definition of successful aging?'' and ''Would you say you have aged successfully?'' A content analysis identified themes emerging from their definitions. Results: The most frequent of the 20 component themes from the definitions of successful aging as provided by 30% of the 1,771 respondents related to ''health and disease''; ''physical,'' ''mental,'' and ''social activity'' were more likely to be found in a definition including ''interest,'' ''having goals,'' ''family,'' or ''diet,'' and they were less likely to be mentioned with themes of ''independence'' or ''health.'' Many of the themes reflect an individual's attitudes toward life and the aging process. Current life satisfaction, self-rated health, and limitation in activities of daily living were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of reporting specific themes in definitions. Implications: As health care professionals adapt to the changing demographic composition of society, it should be of interest to understand what successful aging might mean to the elderly males to whom they are attending.
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement, 2009
Sans une défi nition universellement accepté du vieillissement réussi, chercheurs examiner plus en plus les vues profanes et défi nitions du vieillissement des personnes âgées. Pour utiliser les défi nitions non initiés dans les études de vieillissement, cependant, les chercheurs doivent aborder le cohérence de ces défi nitions. En 2004, les membres survivants de la cohorte mâle du Manitoba Suivi Study (âge moyen : 83 ans) ont été deux fois demandé leur défi nition du vieillissement réussi. Une échelle de cohérence a été défi nie, et une catégorie de cohérence a été attribuée sur la base de la similitude des thèmes dans chacune des 654 paires de défi nitions. Au moins la moitié des thèmes principaux étaient similaire dans 70 pour cent de la défi nition de paires; 80 pour cent des répondants ont répété au moins un thème. Événements de santé positive ou négative dans l'intervalle de quatre semaines entre les défi nitions et les caractéristiques spécifi ques des répondants n'ont pas variés de catégories. Cette preuve de cohérence confi rme notre dépendance continue des défi nitions du vieillissement réussi.
Reconsidering How Successful Aging is Defined
Advances in social work, 2021
Successful aging is a prominent framework within gerontology, yet an understanding of how aging adults define "successful aging" is often missing in the social work discourse around what it means to age well. This cross-sectional, exploratory study used an online survey to explore community-dwelling adults' (aged 55+; n=471) definition of successful aging, the underlying components across all definitions, and any differences in components based on whether or not the adults identified as aging successfully. Summative content analysis yielded five main themes and 13 sub-themes for those who identified as aging successfully and five main themes and 11-sub-themes for those who identified as not aging successfully with elements of health constituting the largest percentage of responses across both groups. Bivariate analyses found participants in the "not aging successfully" group mentioned elements of Being Healthy and Financial Security more than those in the aging successfully group, and elements of Sustain Participation, Curiosity, and Learning less than those in the "aging successfully" group. The findings illustrate the extent to which aging adults view successful aging as the presence of health and ability. Social workers should be mindful to the ways in which adults view successful aging and the elements they believe to contribute to successful aging in order to provide and tailor programs, services, and resources that are supportive of aging adults' needs and wishes.
Successful Aging: Perceptions of Adults Aged Between 70 and 101 Years
The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 2003
In this research, content analysis was employed to investigate older adults' perceptions of successful aging and the relationship of these perceptions to definitions given in the literature to date. Participants were 18 males and 42 females between the ages of 70 and 101 years. Analyses revealed older adults mentioned only 1 or 2 criteria of successful aging if asked for a definition; however, when prompted, they rated almost all the criteria emerging from the literature as highly important. Participants reported adjusting to the situations they were in by compensating for losses that occurred and selecting activities that best suited their capabilities. Overall, older adults' perceptions of successful aging were similar to aspects identified in the literature. Not all aspects, however, were seen as important by all participants, and only low to moderate correlations were found between some aspects of successful aging.
Critical Perspectives on Successful Aging: Does It " Appeal More Than It Illuminates "
" Successful aging " is one of gerontology's most successful ideas. Applied as a model, a concept, an approach, an experience, and an outcome, it has inspired researchers to create affiliated terms such as " healthy, " " positive, " " active, " " productive, " and " effective " aging. Although embraced as an optimistic approach to measuring life satisfaction and as a challenge to ageist traditions based on decline, successful aging as defined by John Rowe and Robert Kahn has also invited considerable critical responses. This article takes a critical gerontological perspective to explore such responses to the Rowe–Kahn successful aging paradigm by summarizing its empirical and methodological limitations, theoretical assumptions around ideas of individual choice and lifestyle, and inattention to intersecting issues of social inequality, health disparities, and age relations. The latter point is elaborated with an examination of income, gender, racial, ethnic, and age differences in the United States. Conclusions raise questions of social exclusion and the future of successful aging research.
Reconsidering successful aging
Journal of Applied Gerontology, 2009
Many scholars now critique successful aging terminology. Nonetheless, there is incomplete analysis of the political motivations behind the development of and/or effects of widespread use of these terms. This article suggests that analysis of the people who developed the terms and the settings within which they work parallels an analysis of the terms themselves and illustrates the continuing negative perception of aging. This study fleshes out a more thorough critique of the sociopolitical contexts surrounding the successful aging paradigm so that it can help renew and expand existing critiques. The authors conclude that researchers need to be wary of adopting successful aging terminology without considering and expanding their understanding of the political motivations and results that accompanies it. New, expanded conceptualizations of successful aging are needed so that socially minded researchers and practitioners of gerontology do not contribute to ageism and discrimination against older adults.
Defining Successful Aging: A Tangible or Elusive Concept?
The Gerontologist, 2014
Purpose of the Study: Everyone wants to age successfully; however, the definition and criteria of successful aging remain vague for laypersons, researchers, and policymakers in spite of decades of research on the topic. This paper highlights work of scholars who made significant theoretical contributions to the topic. Design and Methods: A thorough review and evaluation of the literature on successful aging was undertaken. Results: Our review includes early gerontological definitions of successful aging and related concepts. Historical perspectives reach back to philosophical and religious texts, and more recent approaches have focused on both process-and outcomeoriented models of successful aging. We elaborate on Baltes and Baltes' theory of selective optimization with compensation [Baltes, P. B., & Baltes, M. M. (1990a). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation. In P. B. Baltes & M. M. Baltes (Eds.), Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 1-34). United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press], Kahana and Kahana's preventive and corrective proactivity model [Kahana, E., & Kahana, B. (1996). Conceptual and empirical advances in understanding aging well through proactive adaptation. In V. Bengtson (Ed.), Adulthood and aging: Research on continuities and discontinuities (pp. 18-40). New York: Springer], and Rowe and Kahn's model of successful aging [Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1998). Successful aging. New York: Pantheon Books], outlining their commonalities and differences. Additional views on successful aging emphasize subjective versus objective perceptions of successful aging and relate successful aging to studies on healthy and exceptional longevity.
Whose "successful ageing"? Lay-and researcher-driven conceptualisations of ageing well
Background and Objectives: To date, there is no consensus definition of successful ageing (SA). In the literature, conceptualisations of SA are generally researcher-driven operational definitions or layperson perspectives. The current study aims to systematically review and compare quantitative operational definitions of SA with qualitative, layperson perspectives of SA.
Journal of Applied Gerontology, 2009
Many scholars now critique successful aging terminology. Nonetheless, there is incomplete analysis of the political motivations behind the development of and/or effects of widespread use of these terms. This article suggests that analysis of the people who developed the terms and the settings within which they work parallels an analysis of the terms themselves and illustrates the continuing negative perception of aging. This study fleshes out a more thorough critique of the sociopolitical contexts surrounding the successful aging paradigm so that it can help renew and expand existing critiques. The authors conclude that researchers need to be wary of adopting successful aging terminology without considering and expanding their understanding of the political motivations and results that accompanies it. New, expanded conceptualizations of successful aging are needed so that socially minded researchers and practitioners of gerontology do not contribute to ageism and discrimination against older adults.