Understanding Of Successful Aging Research Articles

Changes in Resources and Volunteering: A Longitudinal Study of Active Engagement Among Older Europeans.

Volunteering is an important dimension of successful aging. Although prior studies have found that personal resources such as health and financial situations are associated with volunteering, there is a lack of research exploring the relationship between resource changes and volunteering. Here, we investigated whether changes in individuals' resources were associated with volunteer engagement among older Europeans. Using data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe, collected in five waves between 2011 and 2020 across 19 countries (57,410 observations from 17,498 individuals aged 50 and above), we employed asymmetric fixed-effect ordinal regression models to investigate whether positive or negative resource changes were associated with the frequency of volunteering over time. We used three resource indicators: health, financial condition, and time availability (measured by engagement in paid work, grandparenting, and family care). Health deterioration and worsening financial condition were associated with a decreased frequency of volunteering. A transition out of weekly paid work and beginning to provide weekly grandchild care were both associated with an increased frequency of volunteering. We did not detect any further significant effects of resource changes on volunteering. Our study revealed asymmetrical associations between changes in resources and volunteering, providing new insights into their interplay. The results deepen our understanding of successful aging by emphasizing the need to consider the dynamics of all resources that either facilitate or hinder active engagements among older adults.

Organizations’ Perspectives on Successful Aging with Long-Term Physical Disability

In recent decades, there has been considerable discussion surrounding what it means to age successfully, and what supports, services, and programs are needed to facilitate successful aging. Rehabilitation scholars advocate for models of successful aging that take into account the unique needs and priorities of those aging with long-term physical disability. The aim of this study is to explore how organizations that serve those with physical disability define successful aging for this population, and whether their understanding of successful aging is consistent with the needs and priorities identified by those aging with physical disability. To do so, we analyze qualitative data from a national online survey of disability organizations (N = 106 organizations). Organizations described the following domains of successful aging for those with physical disability: (a) autonomy and/or maximized independence; (b) living arrangement; (c) health and well-being; and (d) social connection and meaningful community engagement. Overall, organizations’ understandings of successful aging are consistent with the priorities identified by those aging with long-term physical disability. We discuss strategies that organizations can adopt to ensure that the programs and services that they offer facilitate these elements of successful aging.

LAY PERSPECTIVES ON SUCCESSFUL AGING IN ROMANIA

Abstract Successful aging is a topic of world-wide interest, yet much work focuses on specific and highly industrialized countries, such as the USA. The present study investigated lay perspectives of the concept of successful aging in young, middle-aged, and older adults from Romania. Ninety-three participants aged between 20 and 84 years were asked about definitions and determinants of successful aging. Based on a previous study, codes were developed to capture common themes among the answers, resulting in 14 categories. Participants mentioned four themes on average to describe successful aging, which varied by sociodemographic, health and psychological variables: individuals of younger age, with higher levels of education, in better health and those more satisfied with their aging mentioned more themes. Regarding specific topics, Social resources and Health were mentioned most frequently, followed by Quality of life, Financial situation, and Attitudes/Mechanisms. Young adults were more likely to mention Social resources, Success/Respect, and Aging themes, while older adults mentioned more often Meaning of life themes. Finally, we found that the themes mentioned were related to self-perception of aging, particularly among older adults: Older adults more satisfied and with positive views own aging were more likely to mention Social resources, Independence, and Attitudes/Mechanisms themes, while those with negative views on aging were more likely to mention Micro-environment themes. In sum, findings support the multidimensionality of lay perspectives of successful aging and offer insights on the understanding of successful aging in Eastern Europe, including topics and links to general and personal aging experiences.

ALASKA NATIVE SUCCESSFUL AGING IN NORTHWEST ALASKA: AGING IN A GOOD WAY STARTS WITH YOUR FAMILY

Abstract Alaska Natives (AN) view aging from a holistic perspective. One of the challenges of researching with cultural groups is the lack of data, or research, on culture and aging. This research explored successful aging from an AN perspective. A community-based participatory research (CBPR) model was used to engage participants at every stage of the research process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 AN men and 25 women. Kleinman’s Explanatory Model of Illness was adapted to gain a sense of the beliefs about aging and to guide the data analysis to establish an AN understanding of successful aging or attaining “Eldership” in Northwest Alaska. The foundation of the Norton Sound southern sub-region Model of Successful Aging is family, which contributed to Elders’ feelings of emotional well-being, ability to engage in their Native Way of life, maintain their physical health, and continue spiritual practices.

Concept Analysis of Aging With Disability in Adults

People with long-standing physical disabilities are living longer than at any time in history, owing to advancements in medical science, rehabilitation, and social systems. Approximately 12–15 million people in the U.S. are aging with long-standing disabilities that were acquired before age 40 years. This population is forecast to grow, resulting in a subset within the aging community. More research is needed to increase understanding of successful aging with disabilities, the pathways of aging with disability, and unique characteristics of the aging process. The purpose was to define and clarify the conceptual meaning of aging with disability, identify its attributes, antecedents, and consequences, and explore the significance and implications of the concept in nursing. Rodgers’ evolutionary method of concept analysis was used. Three databases, CINAHL, PubMed, and PsycINFO were used to retrieve literature. Inclusion criteria were publication year from 2001 to 2019, peer-reviewed academic journals, and English-language. Exclusion criteria included other than physical disability such as developmental, learning, or intellectual disability, focus on the aging process of people without disability, the main topic on the perspectives of caregivers or health care providers. Thirty-five articles met inclusion criteria. The analysis identified three antecedents (e.g., contributing barriers), three attributes (e.g., premature aging), and three consequences (e.g., accommodation needs). An understanding of the antecedents, attributes, and consequences of aging with disabilities will enhance quality of care including effective prevention and communication. Findings will guide researchers in developing a framework or theory to increase understanding of aging in individuals who acquired disability early in life.

Advancing our understanding of successful aging at work: A socioemotional selectivity theory perspective

Advancing our understanding of successful aging at work: A socioemotional selectivity theory perspective

PROTECTIVE FACTORS IN THE CONTEXT OF SUCCESSFUL AGING IN URBAN-DWELLING ALASKA NATIVE ELDERS

Recently, researchers have been exploring successful aging in rural communities of Alaska as it is experienced by Alaska Native Elders. Due to outmigration based on economic, medical, or familial influences, many Alaska Native elders leave their home communities to live in urban settings in Alaska, even though research suggests that most elders would like to remain in their home communities to grow old. Very little is known about the relocation process and how it impacts an elder’s views on successful aging. While established protective factors in rural communities involve family and extended family members, community, subsistence, and traditional activities, there is little knowledge of which protective factors exist in urban settlements supporting successful aging. This exploratory, qualitative study presents the protective factors of successful aging in the context of relocation of Alaska Native Elders from rural to urban dwellings. A life course approach and discourse analysis were used to analyze individual interviews asking how Alaska Native Elders experienced relocation and how successful aging was experienced similarly and differently in rural and in urban settings. A community-based participatory approach allowed for collaboration between researchers and communities as equal partners at all phases of the process, both contributing their expertise to enhance understanding of successful aging and supportive factors. Access to informal supports and meaningful community engagement were more important to rural Elders, and access to health care services and family engagement were important to Elders in urban communities. Challenges remain for Elders in urban environments to establish a sense of community.

THE CENTRALITY OF GENDER EXPRESSION FOR TRANSGENDER ELDERS AND CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF SUCCESSFUL AGING

Successful aging is a construct regularly addressed in the gerontological literature, most typically referred to as living in the best physical and cognitive health possible, experiencing the least amount of disease, and engaging actively within one’s social environment. There are, however, conceptually distinct aspects of aging for older adults who identify as transgender, particularly given lifelong experiences of marginalization and stigma. In order to identify factors transgender older adults consider most relevant to successful aging, a Theory-Generating Qualitative Meta-synthesis was conducted. The study utilized systematic methods and thematic analysis with qualitative data from empirical studies focusing on transgender aging experiences, particularly drawing upon data that amplified the transgender older adult point of view. Findings of this study indicate that although trans older adults do not minimize unique challenges inherent to aging as a gender minority, successful aging rests on the relief and resilience offered by authentic gender expression. As such, data from this study informed the development of a model of successful aging that centralizes the importance of gender expression. Understanding the central role of gender expression in later life can be especially impactful for social and health service providers, as it emphasizes gender affirming experiences as highly salient to one’s own assessment of quality aging. Furthermore, conceptualizing aging for transgender elders in a way that prioritizes the importance of identity can aid in preventing an unnecessarily deficits-based perspective for service providers, and supports the necessity of amplifying a culturally specific understanding of successful aging.

HIV MADE ME STRONGER: CONCEPTIONS OF SUCCESSFUL AGING AMONG OLDER WOMEN LIVING WITH HIV

Little is known about successful aging (SA) among older (50+) women living with HIV (OWLH). Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to examine subjective understandings of SA among OWLH. Participants were OWLH enrolled in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) and those not enrolled in WIHS: 8 in Atlanta, GA (3 WIHS and 5 non-WIHS) and 9 in Brooklyn, NY (6 WIHS and 3 non-WIHS). Semi-structured interviews ranged from 30 to 120 minutes. Several themes emerged in participants’ definitions of SA, e.g. self-care, taking HIV medications, and being resilient (“HIV made me stronger”). Both WIHS and non-WIHS participants emphasized life course perspective in their definitions of SA -- women viewed their aging successful as a more stable phase of life in contrast to hardships they experienced while being younger (e.g., drug use, incarceration). Data collection efforts are ongoing and will allow further characterization of SA among this population.

Interference control at the response level: Functional networks reveal higher efficiency in the bilingual brain

Abstract The bilingual advantage in interference control tasks has been studied with the Simon task, among others. The mixed evidence from the existing studies has led to contradictions in the literature regarding the bilingual advantage. Moreover, fMRI evidence on the neural basis of interference control mechanisms with the Simon task is limited. Previous work by our team showed that equivalent performance on the Simon task was associated with different activation maps in elderly bilinguals and monolinguals. This study aims to provide a more in-depth perspective on the neural bases of performance on the Simon task in elderly bilinguals and monolinguals, by adopting a network perspective for the functional connectivity analysis. A node-by-node analysis led to the identification of the specific topology that characterized the bilingual and monolingual functional networks and the degree of connectivity between each node across groups. Results showed greater connectivity in bilinguals in the inferior temporal sulcus, which plays a role in visuospatial processing. On the other hand, in monolinguals, brain areas involved in visual, motor, executive functions and interference control were more connected to resolve the same task. In other words, in comparison to the monolingual brain, the bilingual brain resolves visuospatial interference economically, by allocating fewer and more clustered regions. These results demonstrate a larger global efficiency in task performance in bilinguals as compared to monolinguals. Also, the provided evidence filters out the task-specific so-called bilingual advantage discussed in the literature and posits that bilinguals are strategically more efficient in a given performance than monolinguals, thus enhancing our understanding of successful aging.

Occupational complexity and lifetime cognitive abilities

Objective:To examine associations between complexity of main lifetime occupation and cognitive performance in later life.Methods:Occupational complexity ratings for data, people, and things were collected from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles for 1,066 individuals (men = 534, women = 532) in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. IQ data were available from mean age 11 years. Cognitive ability data across the domains of general ability, processing speed, and memory were available at mean age 70 years.Results:General linear model analyses indicated that complexity of work with people and data were associated with better cognitive performance at age 70, after including age 11 IQ, years of education, and social deprivation.Conclusions:The current findings are supportive of the differential preservation hypotheses that more stimulating environments preserve cognitive ability in later life, although the continued effects into old age are still debated. Studies that have early-life cognitive ability measures are rare, and the current study offers interesting prospects for future research that may further the understanding of successful aging.

Gender transitions in later life: a queer perspective on successful aging.

Most understandings of successful aging are developed within a heteronormative cultural framework, leading to a dearth of theoretical and empirical scholarship relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) older adults. This study explores the experiences of transgender persons who contemplate or pursue a gender transition in later life in order to develop culturally diverse conceptualizations of health and wellness in older age. Using the extended case method, in-depth interviews were conducted with male-to-female-identified persons (N = 22) who have seriously contemplated or pursued a gender transition past the age of 50. In addition, 170hr of participant observation was carried out at 3 national transgender conferences generating ethnographic field notes on the topics of aging and gender transitions in later life. Interpretive analyses suggest that many transgender older adults experience challenges to their gender identities that put their emotional and physical well-being at risk. Contemporary queer theory is used to understand these experiences and argue that greater attention to experiences of queer "failure" and negotiating "success on new terms" may be integral aspects of growth and development for transgender older adults. The Baby Boom generation is aging in a post-Stonewall, LGBTQ civil rights era, yet gerontology's approach to gender and sexual identity has largely been formulated from a heteronormative perspective. A framework for understanding older transgender persons' experiences informed by queer theory offers a new orientation for conceptualizing successful aging in the lives of marginalized gender and sexual minorities.

성공적 노후 교육프로그램의 수요도 및 효과성에 대한 실증적 연구

본 연구는 성공적 노후 교육에 대한 노인들의 수요도를 파악하고, 이를 바탕으로 성공적 노후 교육프로그램을 개발하여 그 효과성을 평가하는데 그 목적이 있었다. 우선 166명의 광주지역 노인일자리사업 참여자들을 대상으로 교육수요도를 파악한 결과, 대다수의 응답자들이 성공적 노후를 위한 노후생애설계교육을 희망하고 있으며, 교육내용의 측면에서는 성공적 노후 이해, 건강관리, 재무, 사회참여, 여가, 관계, 자아정립, 실천계획수립의 각 영역에 대한 교육의 필요성을 지적하였다. 이러한 조사결과에 근거하여 노인들의 욕구에 부합하는 성공적 노후 교육프로그램을 개발하였으며, 34명의 교육프로그램 지원자들을 대상으로 교육프로그램을 시행하여 교육내용 이해도의 측면에서 이 교육프로그램의 효과성을 평가하였다. 그 결과 본 교육프로그램은 교육내용 이해도의 측면에서 노년기변화, 성공적 노후 이해, 건강관리, 재무, 사회참여, 여가, 관계, 자아정립, 실천계획수립에 대한 이해도를 뚜렷하게 향상시키는 효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구결과에 근거하여 본 연구에서 개발된 성공적 노후 교육프로그램을 노인일자리사업 참여노인들을 대상으로 우선 실시를 제안하였다. The purpose of this study was twofold; one was to investigate the elderly people's educational needs on successful aging(Study 1), and the other was to construct the educational program for successful aging and evaluate its effectiveness(Study 2). For Study 1, data were collected with structured questionnaires from the 166 elderly people participating in the government job creation projects for the aged in Gwangju and analyzed using frequency analysis and means-of-different tests. It was found that most of the elderly people strongly desired the education successful aging in terms of health care, finance, social participation, leasure, social network and self acceptance. In Study 2, the educational program for successful aging was constructed based on the results of Study 1 and the effectiveness of the program was evaluated using one-group pretest-posttest experimental design. Data were collected from 34 voluntary participants in the program before and after the implementation of the program and analyzed using the paired samples t-test technique. It was found that the program had a positive effect on the improvement of the elderly people's understanding of successful aging in terms of health care, finance, social participation, leasure, social network and self acceptance. Based on these results, the implementation of the educational program designed in this study was recommended to improve the elderly people's quality of life and the directions for future research were advanced. successful aging, educational needs, educational program, effectiveness.

P02-358 - Prediction error signal correlates with fluid intelligenceand dopamine synthesis across the lifespan

IntroductionFluid intelligence expresses the capacity for interpretation of novel stimuli and flexible behavioral adaptation to such cues. Phasic dopamine firing closely matches a temporal difference prediction error (PE) signal important for learning and rapid behavioral adaptation. Both fluid intelligence and dopaminergic neurotransmission decline with age. So far, no study investigated the relationship between fluid IQ, PE signal and direct measures of dopaminergic neurotransmission. Here we used a multimodal imaging approach that combines positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging.MethodsA group of healthy controls was investigated with both 6-[18F]FluoroDOPA PET and functional MRI with a probabilistic reversal task. The task required a constant behavioral adaptation to changes in reward contingencies, while choosing between two abstract stimuli. A reinforcement learning algorithm was used to compute a trial-by-trial prediction error, which was the used as a regressor in the fMRI data analysis with SPM8.ResultsThe prediction error signal was associated with functional activation in the basal ganglia including the ventral striatum and putamen. Fluid intelligence was associated with the PE signal in the ventral striatum, which correlated with age-related changes in dopamine synthesis capacity in the prefrontal cortex.ConclusionThese findings provide insight into the role of age-related changes in dopaminergic neurotransmission on behavioral adaptation. The multimodal imaging approach allows the characterization of interactions between dopamine metabolism and learning-related neuronal activation and may thus be a useful tool to clarify mechanisms underlying learning and plasticity in old age, which are crucial to our understanding of successful aging.

A Comparison of Self-Rated and Objectively Measured Successful Aging Constructs in an Urban Sample of African American Older Adults

Sixty-seven (N = 67) urban African American older adults were divided into successful and nonsuccessful aging groups based on objective MacArthur (i.e., physical and cognitive functioning) and on self-rated health criteria. Only 30% of the sample met objective MacArthur criteria for successful aging compared to 63% who rated themselves as successful. Self-rated successful aging was best predicted by regular exercise, whereas objective successful aging was best predicted by demographic characteristics and cognition. Reading ability mediated the relationship between both education and cognition to objectively defined success. Finally, objective successful aging was related to quantity and quality of education, whereas self-rated successful aging was related to a wider variety of variables. Defining successful aging on objective factors alone may limit our understanding of successful aging in urban African American older adults.

A preliminary empirical test of a culturally-relevant theoretical framework for the study of successful aging.

This article aims to shed preliminary empirical light on the assumptions underpinning a culturally relevant theoretical framework for the study of successful aging. On the basis of the Kluckhohnian theory of cultural variation, this framework suggests that congruence exists between value orientations concerned with man-nature, time, activity, and relationships, and the manner in which the construct of successful aging is understood. Methodologically speaking, the research project upon which this article is based started out by adapting and further developing the vignette-based instrument that Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck designed to test the theory of cultural variation. Vignette-based interviews were then conducted with 30 Iranian immigrants to Sweden as a preliminary test of the hypothesis of congruence. The results presented in this article suggest that, as posed in the framework in question, there is a relationship between the value orientations that people prefer and the various understandings of successful aging that they uphold. The results suggest also that there is a variety of ways in which the construct of successful aging can be understood, and that variety encompasses other ways of thinking about successful aging besides the master nature, future, productivity, and individuality-oriented views that characterize the gerontological debate. Although further research is necessary, these preliminary results do infer that this framework might offer a theoretically interesting approach to the study of individual, generational, and cross-cultural understandings of successful aging.

Relational Values and Ideas Regarding “Successful Aging”

This paper is concerned with the manner in which people make sense of one of gerontology’s most debated constructs - successful aging. Gerontologists agree that, as a construct, successful aging is determined by cultural values. In practice, however, the gerontological debate equates successful aging with the delay of the aging process; activity; a future- orientation and managing on one’s own. It is this last assumption - the one associated with self-sufficiency - that is this paper’s point of departure. Understandings of what it means to age successfully are framed, for example, within the realm of either individual or collective oriented ideas regarding the role that family members ought to play in old age. As themes, familial obligations and expectations regarding the necessary family involvement for a good old age to be insured are therefore central to the cross-cultural study of successful aging. Yet, in the gerontological debate, the cultural variation that exists in regards to familial expectations is often disregarded since it is only individualist ideas in this respect that are taken for granted. As part of a preliminary empirical testing of a newly designed theoretical framework for the study of the relationship between cultural values and successful aging, value orientations regarding relational modes (i.e. whether individual, collateral and lineal relationships are preferred) and the understandings of successful aging that follow from them (i.e. whether successful aging is thought to be contingent self-sufficiency, half-sufficiency or dependency upon one’s family in old age) have been studied. Henceforth are theoretical and methodological reflections regarding the findings obtained in this study. This article aims to illustrate how the point of departure of the study in question facilitated and/or inhibited the tapping into respondents’ conceptualizations of family duties and the role that family members are expected to fulfill if successful aging is to be ensured.

Successful Aging And Creativity In Later Life

This study examined the meanings older people attached to successful aging and its relationship to creative activity. Thirty-six contributors to a senior art exhibition participated in this study and ranged in age from 60–93. Interviews with participants explored their understandings of successful aging and creativity, the factors viewed as necessary for each, and the benefits of creative activity and its relationship to successful aging. Qualitative data were coded by two independent reviewers. Content analysis confirmed six features of successful aging: a sense of purpose, interactions with others, personal growth, self-acceptance, autonomy, and health. The findings indicate that creative activity contributes to successful aging by fostering a sense of competence, purpose, and growth. Artistic creativity also facilitates successful aging by encouraging the development of problem-solving skills, motivation, and perceptions that translate into a practical creativity in the way these individuals manage their everyday lives.

Successful aging, life satisfaction, and generativity in later life.

This article explores the meanings older people attach to successful aging and life satisfaction and how these concepts can be differentiated. Forty elderly employees of the Ozarks Area Foster Grandparent Program (ages 61-92) were randomly selected and interviewed using an open-ended survey questionnaire. These questions explored understandings of successful aging and life satisfaction, the factors essential for each, and the differences perceived between these concepts. Qualitative data were coded by two independent reviewers. Respondents' understandings of successful aging involved attitudinal or coping orientations nearly twice as often as those for life satisfaction. Descriptions of life satisfaction emphasized the fulfillment of basic needs and was viewed as a precursor to successful aging. Content analysis confirmed five features of successful aging: interactions with others, a sense of purpose, self-acceptance, personal growth, and autonomy. The findings suggest that generativity contributes to successful aging and remains a vital developmental task in later life.