Senior
Connections: Capital Area Agency on Aging
E. Ayn
Welleford, Ph.D., VCU Department of Gerontology
This study explored perceptions of aging and successful aging in a community sample of low-income, African American elder volunteers. The participants’ expressions of their experiences and contributions embody Erikson’s concept of Generativity, moving toward Ego Integrity. Findings depict individuals aging successfully, far from the deficit model typically presented for this population. Establishing and evaluating model programs that are grounded in theory and empirically supported will inform policy decisions as we strive to improve the lives of elders.
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Historically, “Gerontological theories have been based on the experiences of white, middle-class men” (Calasanti, 1993). As our aging population grows in quantity and heterogeneity, our knowledge and programs must match the diversity. Participants in this study represent a group who fall victim to “triple-jeopardy”: low-income females from racial and ethnic minority groups.
The “new gerontology” calls for a more positive view of aging and theories of successful aging (Rowe & Kahn, 1998). As a recent review of the literature indicates, attitudes about aging are slowly becoming more positive (Holkup, 2001). Researchers are becoming more interested in exploring “successful aging,” a concept gaining more emphasis. Rowe and Kahn (1998) document three components of successful aging: Absence of disease, maintenance of mental and physical health, and active engagement with life.
The purpose of this study was to explore beliefs about successful aging in a population of individuals who portray many of the successful aging characteristics and do not fit the predictions of traditional gerontological theory. Participants consisted of 20 community-dwelling African-American Elders enrolled in the Foster Grandparent Program through Senior Connections: Capital Area Agency on Aging. Participants ranged in age from 60 to 89 (mean = 74). Average monthly income was $800 (range=$300-$858). Individuals enrolled in the Foster Grandparent Program are older adults (60+ Program qualification) who are low-income (Program qualification), lack much formal education, and reside in the Richmond Metropolitan area. The Foster Grandparent Program Assistant Coordinator recruited volunteers at monthly in-service meetings.
Topical interviews were conducted at the Senior Connections: CAAA office and lasted approximately one to two hours. The design of the interviews was emergent; topical questions changed based on responses of initial respondents. Participants were invited to tell their stories as they chose, to refuse to pursue any topics, and to end the interview if they chose. The initial interview questions included:
1. What does aging mean to you?
2. What is a word or phrase that describes a good life?
3. What is a word or phrase that describes successful aging?
The investigators transcribed all audiotape-recorded interviews within 24 hours of the interview. The Ethnograph (Seidel, Friese, & Leonard, 1995), a software package for qualitative data analysis, was used for data organization and management. The multiple coding of segments allows for search and retrieval based on single and multiple codes. Using this technique, coded segments can be retrieved by any property, category, or concept allowing for the comparison with other similarly coded segments. The analytic process is based on immersion in the data and repeated sortings, codings, and comparisons that characterize the grounded theory approach. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method as described by Glaser and Strauss (1967).
Senior Connections: Capital Area Agency on Aging is dedicated to helping seniors maintain their quality of life and independence as they age. Established in 1973, Senior Connections is governed by a Board of Directors and operates as a private, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization. It receives federal funding under the provisions of the Older Americans Act, administered by the Virginia Department for the Aging. State and local funding is obtained at the regional level from city and county governments. Services provided by Senior Connections include Home Care Services, Community-Based Services, Long Term Care Ombudsman Services, Senior Employment Services, and Volunteer Opportunities.
Four life area themes comprised of seven predominant concepts emerged from interview data regarding successful aging. Participants described aging as successful or not in regard to four life areas: Self, Others, Lifework, and Faith. Each theme was comprised of dominant concepts.
In relation to Self, participants described the Wisdom people obtain through added life experiences as a key theme of aging successfully. One participant described aging like this, “Aging is another phase of your life. It’s just another experience. You have to go with the flow. I can sit back and have time to think and learn from them.” A second component of Self is Physical Well-being and Attractiveness. Participants described feeling good in terms of their own level of functioning. One participant said, “I can’t run as fast as I used to but I can walk. There are people who can’t do that. Look how blest I am.” Another participant described her feeling about her appearance as, “I’m gonna wear make up until I can’t see to, until I’m too shaky to put on the lipstick.” A third component is Personal Control. Participants who described personal control in relation to aging described life as what you make of it. One participant said, “ Nothin is hard unless you make it hard. Life is what you make of it. If you go out and you don’t do right, then wrong is gonna follow you. You go back over your steps and see what you did wrong. The past is the past, you can’t live in the past, you gotta live ahead of yourself. What is gonna be my future?” The Personal Control concept was also illustrated as setting personal boundaries. An example was, “If people start gossiping I get up and leave.” From their personal storying in relation to Self, participants expressed the importance of continued development, making their own decisions, and perceived wellness as necessary to successful aging.
In relation to Others, participants described themselves in a Perceived Role of Elder, Connectedness, and using Straight Talk. Perceived Role as Elder was illustrated by one participant when describing the teacher she assists at her Foster Grandparent site. She said, “She’ll go to the board and teach it the way I showed her. She’ll say, ‘you are so helpful.’ She’s 28; she doesn’t have much experience. She said, ‘Now I know how to deal with it.’ She’ll sit back and watch me sometimes.” One participant stated that her kids know, “when momma gets tired of me she’s gonna ask me to leave.” This statement illustrates the Straight Talk needed to maintain relations to Others that these elders believed were part of successful aging. Finally, Connectedness appears in the following participant’s statement, “We can’t go nowhere without seein people we know. The phone is always ringin with people wantin us to do stuff. We don’t mind it because that’s what you’re put here for, to help one another.” The illustrations in relation to Others as themes of successful aging portray elders’ views of themselves as connected, revered, and strong in their relationships.
The third theme focused on Life Work. Participants described the purpose and meaning in their lives in relation to the work they do. One participant described her need for purposeful activities this way, “I joined the Foster Grandparent Program because I got tired of sittin at home. I just can’t sit at home.” Referring to her work there, she said, “I was sick one time for three days and the teacher said, ‘I didn’t think I was gonna make it.’ The research literature is replete with evidence regarding the importance of purposeful and meaningful activities to success in adult life.
Faith is the fourth and final underlying recurrent theme. Participants’ faith language was apparent as they described all aspects of successful aging. Faith language was evident as they described their relation to Self, “People say, you’re so happy. I’m happy because God wants me to be happy.”Another participant describes her relationship with Others, “You don’t have to be a minister to minister to one another; you just have to be a person who helps.”
Each of the four themes overlaps the other as illustrated in the participants’ personal storying of what successful aging means to them. Some stories depicted their own successful aging while some illustrated successful aging of people they knew. The themes that emerged from the current data: Self, Others, Life Work, and Faith are not new tenets in the aging literature. However, the picture of successful aging that emerges from this seemingly at-risk population may be surprising to some. As Gerontological research informs program development for our increasingly diverse population of elders, the themes of successful aging and late life development must form the foundation in order for our elders to thrive.
In order to further substantiate the existing themes we plan to interview a sample of non-volunteering elders.
Just as programs are designed specifically to assist children and adolescents to master particular life phase tasks the same is necessary for our elder population and their particular life phase. After reviewing the experiences of the elders who work with the Foster Grandparents Program it is difficult to say who benefits most from these services: the children or the elders. According to Erikson, the life task to be mastered at this phase is integrity. Programs should be designed based on Eriksonian theory that enable participants to feel generative across adulthood. The current findings support combining this foundational theory with the budding research in Successful Aging, thereby creating programs that are grounded in a new gerontology. Providing opportunities for elders to remain generative will enable their own successful aging in relation to Self, Others, Life Work, and Faith.
Senior Connections: Capital
Area Agency on Aging
http://www.seniorconnections-va.org/
Dr. Ayn Welleford
VCU Department of Gerontology
awellford@vcu.edu