Abstract

AimIn 2010, we interviewed 16 UK centenarians about their lives and later published a paper on the socio‐emotional aspects of positive ageing. We were struck by their ability to ‘move on’ from difficult situations which we recognized conceptually as ‘resilience’. In the effort to understand aspects of resilience as portrayed in their stories, we re‐examined their data.MethodologyIn the original study, we used participatory action research (PAR) for its storytelling and group process components. Here, we re‐examine data from the centenarians’ life stories using a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) lens.DesignWe focused on the notion of resilience in the centenarians’ stories guided by CBT insights to analyse and develop psychosocial interpretations.ResultsResilience comprised the ability to frame difficult life events in positive terms, accept what cannot be changed, manage worry and anxiety effectively, develop psychological flexibility in the face of change and continually seek opportunities for growth and development. We suggest that these resilient behaviours may have contributed to positive ageing.

Highlights

  • The increase in the ageing population and in particular the oldest old has contributed to the persistence of stereotypes which characterize older people as physically and mentally incapable and intellectually frail

  • Resilience comprised the ability to frame difficult life events in positive terms, accept what cannot be changed, manage worry and anxiety effectively, develop psychological flexibility in the face of change and continually seek opportunities for growth and development. We suggest that these resilient behaviours may have contributed to positive ageing

  • We have shown that 16 centenarians demonstrated resilience in their ability to positively frame very difficult life events by considering themselves ‘lucky’ or ‘fortunate’ thereby creating for themselves positive emotion

Read more

Summary

Introduction

The increase in the ageing population and in particular the oldest old has contributed to the persistence of stereotypes which characterize older people as physically and mentally incapable and intellectually frail. These stereotypes profoundly affect the way older people are perceived and treated and devalued by society and care professionals alike. One of the ways to combat ageism and reverse negative stereotyping is by taking older people’s stories into the public domain This has been one of the driving forces for storytelling with centenarians which has motivated and guided our study. The results showed that more women than men lived to be 100 the men who became centenarians tended to be healthier

Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call