REVIEWING THIRTY YEARS OF RESEARCH ON AGING AND HEALTH: SOME REFLECTIONS ON WHAT I’VE LEARNED

Abstract

I’ll discuss three themes in my presentation. First, I’ll share some thoughts on the social nature of the work we do as gerontologists. My intent is to show that there really is no such thing as “my” work and (separately) “your” work. Instead, there is only “our” work – something we do collectively as a community of scholars. Second, I’ll present the three most important constructs that have emerged from my thirty years of research on aging and health: compassion, forgiveness, and helping others. I’ll discuss how each is related to health. Then I’ll show why I think they make a compelling statement about successful aging. Third, instead of merely reviewing my research findings, I want to describe my plans for the remainder of my career. I want to directly apply what I’ve learned about helping others for the betterment of people who are economically challenged.