Women and Positive Aging

An International Perspective

Lisa Hollis-Sawyer, Amanda Dykema-Engblade

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780128004579
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Geriatrics

Women and Positive Aging: An International Perspective presents the noted research in the fields of psychology, gerontology, and gender studies, reflecting the increasingly popular and pervasive positive aging issues of women in today's society from different cohorts, backgrounds, and life situations.

Each section describes a bridge between the theoretical aspects and practical applications of the theory that is consistent with the scientist-practitioner training model in psychology, including case studies and associated intervention strategies with older women in each chapter. In addition to incorporating current research on aging women's issues, each section provides the reader with background about the topic to give context and perspective.

• Examines a comprehensive range of issues for aging women
• Details current research trends
• Encompasses a holistic model of women's aging
• Ranges from physical and mental health in response to aging changes, to social relationships and sexuality
• Presents a "how to put research into practice" section in each chapter
• Focuses on topical issues that are relevant to women wanting to optimize their life outcomes as they live, on average, longer than ever before

Section I

The Psychology of Women’s Aging

Outline

Section I. The Psychology of Women’s Aging

Chapter 1 Older Women and Their Mental Health Needs

Chapter 2 Women’s Resiliency and Psychological Adaptation to Aging

Chapter 3 Aging Self-Acceptance for Women

Chapter 4 Aging Women and Mental Aerobics

Section I. The Psychology of Women’s Aging

The first section of the book examines issues related to aging women’s health on psychological, physical, cognitive, and social bases. In order to ensure positive aging for women from a societal perspective, it is vital to understand the factors that precipitate and impact a woman’s aging trajectory over time. The purpose of this section of the book is to introduce many foundational research ideas and practical issues related to women’s aging from a diversity perspective. A cross-cultural and individual-differences examination of aging women’s issues is important in order to identify both “universal” and unique experiences of aging. Across chapters in this section, person-environment “fit” issues are discussed in different ways as they relate to women’s positively aging over time.

Chapter 1

Older Women and Their Mental Health Needs

Abstract

Chapter 1 examines the ongoing mental health needs of women as they age. It should not be assumed that men and women are exactly the same in terms of factors determining positive mental health. Because of the diverse issues that women may inherently bring or encounter across the life span, the nonnormative aspect of development has meaningful ramifications for women’s resultant positive aging. For example, the role-related experience of being an elder caregiver of a parent or spouse across many decades of a woman’s life can certainly affect her mental, physical, and cognitive health. It is sometimes thought that the role of elder caregiver is solely negative but it can certainly be an equally challenging “growth experience” for women which stimulates both the mental and physical engagement of their environment on a daily basis. The general aim of this section is to discuss positive aging factors which can then be incorporated into supportive interventions for aging women, assisting in their achievement of positive aging outcomes within the context of their genetic, cultural, and physical environment.

Keywords

Harmonious aging; mental health; later-life role transition; social power and empowerment; mind-body connection; role of culture

Global Fact: Unipolar depression is projected to be the second leading cause of global disability burden by the year 2020, and aging women are twice as likely to report this condition.

—World Health Organization (n.d.)

Across everyone’s life span, people are faced with a variety of life situations which require adaptive coping reactions and a healthy mental attitude. The process of getting older is one of those significant life situations to be positively adapted over an extended time period. An understanding of realistic aging processes is a vital factor underlying effective personal adaptation. Before reading this chapter further, please take the Facts of Aging quiz in Appendix A to assess your knowledge about aging-related facts and associated adjustment issues. What did you learn? Apply what you learned from taking the quiz to the proceeding discussion of aging women’s mental health and psychological adjustment.

What factors underlie positive aging attitudes and adaptation? Myint et al. (2011) suggested that many life events significantly impact an older adult’s ability to successfully adapt and achieve positive quality-of-life outcomes. Being both actively engaged in daily activities and open to new experiences (eg, learning new information or skills) are two examples of conducive events promoting positive and adaptive responses to aging-related changes. Aging can be a challenging experience for most people, especially within certain living circumstances (eg, community-dwelling older adults; Akincigil et al., 2011).

Aging research started to turn its attention to issues of positive aging and adjustment from a woman’s perspective over 30 years ago (eg, Levy, 1981). Whether older women are truly different than their male counterparts in terms of mental health characteristics, as well as predictive factors, needs further examination (eg, Pachana, McLaughlin, Leung, Byrne, & Dobson, 2012). It is interesting to note that although older men and women are very similar in many ways, their patterns of mental health diagnoses show some differences within different cultures (eg, South Korean culture; Lee & Lee, 2011) and life situations (eg, stressful role responsibilities; Darling, Coccia, & Senatore, 2012).

Is it possible that older women are inherently different in aging-related attitudes or coping reactions? Or, is this perception more an outcome of “double jeopardy” bias regarding stereotyped perceptions of women (eg, emotionality) and their aging (eg, decrement and loss)? This concept of “double jeopardy” (eg, Hollis-Sawyer & Cuevas, 2013) is important to explore because this stereotype may have a significant influence on women’s positive aging potential. In certain cultures and societies, older women may be at a social disadvantage in terms of financial viability, social power, and associated support resources. Exploring this idea from a positive aging perspective, women who are empowered and supported in their social roles will be better able to cope and proliferate when faced with aging.

Financial resources are important for women’s later-life adaptation and personal growth. The concept of “feminization of poverty” speaks toward this issue (Minkler & Stone, 1985), emphasizing the need for society to better understand lifespan issues of workforce participation, participation interruptions (eg, caregiving role demands), and an associated gender disparity in earned income (eg, wage gap and pension acquisition) significantly impacting women’s social status and living situations over a life span.

Women and Harmonious Aging

Positive aging as applied to mental health is analogous to Liang and Luo’s (2012) examination of the concept of “harmonious” aging. Brennan et al. (2012) emphasized the idea that there needs to be an examination of positive mental health perspectives to better understand and identify coping factors that assist in later-life adjustment. Grafova, McGonagle, and Stafford (2006) suggested that there is a very important link between older adults’ feelings of positive well-being and their associated functional status in conducting activities of daily living.

The delicate “balance” between mental health and functional status is a vital issue to examine with women who are faced with balancing many roles and responsibilities across a life span (Byles, Gallienne, Blyth, & Banks, 2012). The impact of the caregiver role within a woman’s life cannot be understated because of its broad range of role demands and responsibilities within the family system. Further, being a caregiver can have a significant impact upon an aging person’s mental and physical health (Hoffman, Lee, & Mendez-Luck, 2012; Neysmith, & Reitsma-Street, 2009; Nordtug, Krokstad, & Holen, 2011). Financial and other support resources may be depleted over time for older women who have been caregivers over many decades of their lives.

Aging Women’s Resources and Mental Health

Lack of resources and lack of support may lead to older women developing feelings of depression. Not surprisingly, there is a linkage between depression and being admitted to nursing homes (eg, Miller, Pinet-Peralta, & Elder, 2012). To combat this possible aging trajectory for women, it is important for societies to offer substantially more programs and services to support and supplement the caregiving needs of women across a life span. Chu, Huynh, and Areán (2012) purported that therapeutic interventions need to be grounded in an understanding of cultural beliefs and values (eg, older adults in China). Tailoring community programs and mental health services for aging women to be culturally relevant would only assist in their effectiveness and long-term benefits for all involved.

Quotes from Famous, Positively Aging Women

Old age is not a disease – it is strength and survivorship, triumph over all kinds of vicissitudes and disappointments, trials and illnesses.

—Maggie Kuhn, Activist

If we are strong, and have faith in life and its richness of surprises, and hold the rudder steadily in our hands. I am sure we will sail into quiet and pleasant waters for our old age.

—Freya Stark, Writer

Only through these efforts within communities can positive change for women in terms of mental health adjustment be achieved. For communities to change, there must be broader cultural changes. Cultures which may not have conveyed the social value of women and their roles must consciously shift their focus to consciously value and support aging women’s efforts and contributions within family systems in the broader society.

Women’s Later-Life Role Transiti...