The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences
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J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · Sep 2003
The metaphor of "family" in staff communication about dying and death.
Caregiving staff need to have a way to make sense out of the death and dying of nursing home residents. A range of cultural and institutional factors (e.g., disenfranchised grief; professional distance) thwart their expression of grief. This research examines the neglected area of staff's social construction of the meaning of their relationship with dying and deceased residents. ⋯ The family metaphor provides cultural scripts that enable staff to overcome barriers to the expression of grief. The family metaphor structures the meaning for staff of death and bereavement, and it provides a bridge between their work and personal experience.
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J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · May 2003
9-11, personal stress, mental health, and sense of control among older adults.
We assessed whether the events of 9-11 affected the personal stress, mental health, or sense of control of older adults participating in an ongoing longitudinal study, and whether baseline characteristics were associated with the magnitude of any such changes. ⋯ Older adults more closely resembling those who died during 9-11 and those with greater levels of religiosity were most likely to have their sense of control affected by this catastrophic event.
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J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · Jan 2002
Theories on coping with loss: the impact of social support and self-esteem on adjustment to emotional and social loneliness following a partner's death in later life.
This longitudinal study focused on the role of self-esteem and social support in adjustment to loneliness experienced by bereaved elderly persons. This study also examined the contributions of a general and a specific coping theory toward explaining loneliness. A distinction has been made between emotional loneliness and social loneliness/perceived support. The theory of mental incongruity predicts that the presence of more favorable conditions, such as higher self-esteem or more social support, results in less loneliness (i.e., less incongruity). According to the theory of relational loneliness, the partner's death leads to a loss of identity, thus increasing emotional loneliness, and social support does not mitigate emotional loneliness following a loss. ⋯ The findings highlight the need to integrate theoretical concepts. In explaining adjustment to a partner's death, attention should be paid to underlying mechanisms relevant to the restoration process (e.g., identity change) and the ways in which the adjustment process can be improved (e.g., intimate relationships) or impeded (e.g., dependency-sustaining relationships).
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J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · Nov 2001
Does engagement with life enhance survival of elderly people in Sweden? The role of social and leisure activities.
This research examined whether engagement with life, defined as involvement in social, leisure, and productive activities, produced a survival advantage among oldest old persons in Sweden. Survival was investigated with respect to activities that involved (a) social integration, (b) physical mobility, and (c) neither social nor physical aspects. The authors also investigated the degree to which any observed survival benefits were related to prior health differences that select older adults into active roles. ⋯ Although most of the observed associations between activity involvement and survival are a byproduct of the confound between poor initial health and low activity levels, solitary activities have a positive influence on the survival of very old individuals, especially men, suggesting that nonsocial aspects of activities may promote health and longevity in late old age.
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J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · Sep 2001
Self-efficacy and the progression of functional limitations and self-reported disability in older adults with knee pain.
The prospective relationships between self-efficacy beliefs, in conjunction with measures of knee pain and knee strength, and subsequent decline in both physical performance and self-reported disability among older adults with knee pain were examined. ⋯ These data underscore the important role that self-efficacy beliefs play in understanding functional decline with chronic disease and aging. Self-efficacy beliefs appear to be most important to functional decline in older adults when they are challenged by muscular weakness in the lower extremities.