CUNY City College of New York Gerontology Health Discussion

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Chapter 10: Social Support Video: https://youtu.be/ptIecdCZ3dg in paragraph one of your answer, compare it to the lecture slides in paragraph 2 and tell a personal story in paragraph 3. Chapter 11: Work and Reiirement Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_hEaii2xTI&t=2s in the first paragraph, summarize link, in the second refer to specific slides and in the third tell a personal story. Chapter 12: Psychopathologies https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=It+Can+Happen+to+Anyone%3A+Alcohol+and +Medication+Among+Older+Adults Please answer the questions in the three paragraph format -- summarize the outside material for your group, compare to this week's slides and tell a personal story. Chapter 13: Healthy Environments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CVl3pfDBNo&t=849s Please summarize the video in paragraph 1, in paragraph 2 compare outside material to the slides and in paragraph 3, tell a story. Chapter 10 Social Support Chapter Overview • Schwarzkopf tells us that we are helping ourselves when we help another— • In this chapter we will examine the help, the social support, we give and receive from those closest to us. • We will examine the importance of social relationships with family members and friends and the effects of this social support on our ability to carry on and reach the top. • We will examine in this chapter but first let’s look generally at the importance of social relationships and support. 2 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Social Support • Think about the relationships you have had with people in your life. • You’ve had relationships with parents and/or guardians; perhaps with siblings; perhaps with grandparents and other relatives; with teachers and other students; with supervisors and coworkers; with friends. • What are some common factors across these relationships? How are they different? Did they all offer social support when you were in need and did you offer such support to them as well? • These are the types of questions that researchers have asked and we will examine their answers as we progress through this chapter. • As we do this, we will follow the lead of Mary Levitt (2000) and use social support as our unifying theme. 3 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Social Support (2) • Social support refers to assistance received from other persons who are close to us; it is assistance received from or given to those in our social network. • Our social network is that group of friends and family who are close to us. Social support and social networks are, thus, fundamentally connected. • Human beings are social creatures and it appears that an important part of being social is the support we give and receive from others. 4 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Instrumental and Emotional Support • Support typically is divided into two general types: instrumental and emotional. • Instrumental support usually is help with specific tasks, such as shopping, transportation, repairs, or housework. • Emotional support is help that is intended to lift our spirits, relieve our sadness, or comfort us in time of need. Some researchers also discuss informational support, which is knowledge provided to us by people in our network. • When support is needed, friends are more likely to give emotional forms of assistance while family members are more likely to give instrumental forms of assistance (Antonucci, 1990). Spouses tend to provide both types of assistance. 5 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Measuring Social Support • To measure social support and the social network providing this support in adulthood, researchers have used a number of different techniques including the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (Cohen et al., 1985), the Lubben Social Network Scale (Lubben, 1988), and the hierarchical mapping technique using the concentric circle diagram shown in Figure 10-1 (Kahn & Antonucci, 1980). • As you can see, the center circle in this diagram is labeled you and it is surrounded by three other circles in which the respondent places people they know. • In the inner circle, closest to you, are those who you could not live without and with whom you share confidential information. • In the next circle are those who are also very close to you but not quite as close as the person or persons in the inner circle. In the last circle are people you like and are friendly with but who are not as close to you as those in 6 the two inner circles. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Figure 10.1 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 7 Assessing your Social Networks 1. Are there people who reassure you when you are feeling uncertain about something? 2. Are there people who make you feel respected? 3. Are there people who would make sure that you were cared for if you were ill? 4. Are there people you talk to when you are upset, nervous, or depressed? 5. Are there people who you talk to about your health? 6. Are there people who you talk to about your family? 7. Are there people you confide in about things that are important to you? 8 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Measuring Social Support (2) • Using these measures, researchers have found that most people place close to 20 people in their network with half or more of these being in the outermost circle. • Those placed in the inner circles tend to remain there when examined longitudinally although over time, older adults do lose some of their network members, especially those in the outer circle (Antonucci, 2001). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 9 Measuring Social Support (3) • This consistency in social networks over time has been taken as support for the convoy model of social support that says that a network is dynamic and its members move together through life, watching out for and supporting each other (Kahn & Antonucci, 1980). • Think for a minute about who is in your network, who has been there for more than a few years, and who is relatively new. • You will probably find that those in the inner circle have been there for a while whereas some in the outer circle are new. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 10 Gender Differences in Social Support • When the networks of men and women are compared, women typically have larger • • • • networks with more family members than men do (Antonucci & Akiyama, 1991). This difference is largely due to the fact that women place more people in their inner circle while men and women are close to the same in their outer circle. Both men and women tend to place their spouse in their inner circle but women also tend to place others there like a sister and/or a best friend. Men more likely place siblings in the second rather than inner circle (Antonucci & Akiyama, 1997). Women are more likely to maintain close, confiding relationships with people other than their spouses while men are more likely to confide only in their spouses. 11 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Gay and Lesbian Social Support • The support networks of gay and lesbian couples tend to be about the same as the convoys of heterosexual couples with the exception that their convoys contain more gay or lesbian people or people with an awareness of the individual’s orientation. • Awareness of the individual’s gay or lesbian orientation is regarded as the single most important factor in the individual’s overall satisfaction with the support received (Grossman et al., 2000). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 12 Race Ethnicity and Social Support • Race and ethnicity have been examined in relation to social support revealing considerable commonality across groups. • Differences stem more from customs that affect relationships than from group membership, per se. • Those holding to traditional customs tend to have similar social support networks that differ slightly from others. • Older Chinese Americans rely primarily on their children for support, especially their daughters (Antonucci, 2001). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 13 Race Ethnicity and Social Support (2) • The role of family, friends, and church as support providers is very important in the African American elderly community. More relatives are in African American networks than networks of whites, but being married predicts this more than race. • Race emerges as a difference because fewer African American elders are married. Hispanic American elders tend to have a lot of people in their networks including nuclear and extended family members. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 14 Social support is family but also church and activity groups Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 15 SES Education and Social Networks • Some work has examined social networks as a function of age, gender, education, and SES level and found that those with higher levels of education tend to have larger overall networks but not larger inner circles. • Women with higher SES have a higher proportion of friends in their networks than do those with lower SES while men with higher SES have networks that are more likely to contain people at some geographic distance. • Inner circles were, however, unaffected by age, education, or SES level (Ajrouch et al., 2005). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 16 Health and Social Networks • While these factors do not produce major differences in the inner circles of social networks, there are large individual differences. • Some people have bigger networks with more close family and friends that they can rely on during times of need while others have much smaller networks and much less social support. • As discussed in Chapter 5, those who have strong ties to family and friends generally live longer than those without such ties. • Over 80 studies have examined the relationship between social support and health and found that relationship to be strong and positive. Those with strong support have healthier cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune systems. • Strong social support seems to slow down some aspects of biological aging (Urchino et al., 1996). Those who express high levels of satisfaction with their networks also have high levels of psychological well-being (Antonucci et al., 1997; Newsom & Schulz, 1996). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 17 Age and Social Support • As we grow older, our need for social support is likely to increase. • Older adults are more likely than younger adults to experience some disability due to chronic conditions like arthritis or advanced stages of illnesses like cancer. Researchers have examined social support for older adults with such clear needs. • In one study, older adults who had experienced a loss of vision and who were entering rehabilitation services were interviewed three times over an 18-month interval about their networks of family and friends and the support they received. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 18 Age and Social Support (2) • Participation in rehabilitation was associated with a larger network of friends perhaps because participants made new friends while at rehabilitation. • Those with increased disability had strong support from family networks. Family members help those in need. • Results also showed a decrease in the size of both family and friendship networks over this time period but it is not clear whether these decreases might be due to the individual striving to maintain independence, an increased difficulty in maintaining ties to less-close network members, or from network members not wanting to deal with an impaired friend or family member (Reinhardt et al., 2003). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 19 Social Support and Cognitive Function • Perceived social support also is related to cognition and an examination of cognition, emotional support, and the frequency of contact with network members found that, over a 12-year period, those who perceived the most emotional support and had the most frequent contact with network members showed the least decline in cognitive function (Holtzman et al., 2004). • A related study found good maintenance of cognitive function over a 7-year period for those with the strongest family ties and who perceived themselves as being valued members of their families (Béland et al., 2005). • Clearly, perceived social support plays a very important role in the functioning and health of adults and several views of how this support operates have been advanced. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 20 Social Support and Social Factors • Social factors include the buffering of stress provided by family and friends. • Stress is easier to handle when you have an ally who can share and mitigate your stress. • Someone who can tell us how they solved a similar problem or perhaps just empathize with us can reduce the stress we feel. • We saw earlier (Chapter 5) how damaging stress can be and so social factors operating through stress reduction can produce great benefits. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 21 Social Support and Psychological Factors • Psychological factors refer to the positive emotions and sense of control that friends and family can engender. • Contact with those in a social network is most often in the context of good times as family members visit on holidays or friends accompany us to concerts. • They make us feel good and discourage negative emotions (Cohen & Herbert, 1996). We saw earlier how a positive outlook can play a major role in health and longevity. • When people support you, you also may get the message that you are a worthwhile and competent person; you may perceive yourself as having more control over your life and we know that a good sense of control can result in more effort to maintain health and well-being (Antonucci, 2001; Krause, 2001). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 22 Social Support and Behavioral Factors • Behavioral factors refer to healthy and unhealthy behaviors and habits that are influenced by social support. Smoking, driving recklessly, and drinking to excess (or doing all three at the same time) clearly are unhealthy behaviors while exercising and watching your nutrition are healthy. • Friends and family may nag us to quit the unhealthy behaviors and start or maintain the healthy ones. Of course, it is possible for a particular social network to do quite the opposite. Perhaps because of that, work has found good support for social and psychological factors but less for behavioral factors (Urchino et al., 1996). • In sum, humans need strong social relations with others. Social relations provide social support and are related strongly to physical and psychological health and longevity. Spouses, children, parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends are our most valuable asset. Think about how each of these types of people has provided you or your loved ones with social support across the lifespan. We will now examine these different supportive social relations in greater detail. 23 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Family Relationships • Family relationships have received more attention from researchers than any other type of relationship. • This makes sense because most of the relationship types that we experience in our lives are those with various family members and such relationships usually are quite long lasting. • We have a set of caregivers, most typically one or two parents; we may have one or more siblings; we have extended families in our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws; we usually marry and have one or more children; and, most of us eventually become grandparents. • In this section we examine the major types of family relationships including marriage, divorce, sexual relations, elder abuse, siblings, and grandparenting. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 24 Marriage • Marriage. Marriage is a legal union and has been defined by many courts as that of a man and woman as husband and wife. • Of all relationships, marriage has been studied the most. Most people (95%) get married at least once. Although many marriages last, almost 50 percent end in divorce. Divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage. • The divorce rate was at its highest in 1980 but has gone down since then. In 1980, close to 60 percent of marriages ended in divorce while in present times about 45 percent are expected to end in divorce (Whitbourne, 2001). • Usually, divorce happens within the first 3 years of the marriage; men are usually in their early 30s and women in their late 20s at the time of this first divorce (Clarke, 1995). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 25 Figure 10.2 People are happiest at the beginning and end of married life Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 26 Why do some Marriages last? • One factor is marital satisfaction. • Marital satisfaction is usually measured by asking individuals to rate their overall satisfaction with a number of different aspects of their marriage. Figure 10-2 illustrates what has become known as the curvilinear pattern of marital satisfaction for couples who have remained married. The early years of the marriage, during young adulthood, generally are quite high in marital satisfaction; this seems reasonable. If satisfaction were not high the marriage might never have taken place or could end in divorce soon after the marriage. • Marital satisfaction often declines with the birth of the first child. This also seems reasonable. That very high level of satisfaction during those early years could only change in one direction. Typically satisfaction is lower for couples who have settled into a routine and who are raising a family. These couples, particularly those with children, often face increased financial obligations and fewer interactions with each other. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 27 Why do some Marriages last? (2) • Marital satisfaction is usually high again when the last child has left home and husband and wife have more time together. This frequent pattern has been found in a large number of studies (Miller et al., 1997). • The next most frequent pattern is one of relatively high marital satisfaction at all ages, with no decline in middle age (Anderson et al., 1983; Atchley, 2000). • In a survey of over 3000 married adults over the age of 50, 85 percent reported being satisfied and happy with their marriage (Brecher, 1984). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 28 Factors affecting a successful Marriage • Older couples, who have been married for a longer period of time than middle-aged couples, show higher levels of affection and lower levels of disagreement even when discussing topics on which they disagree. • For older couples, children and grandchildren are a major source of pleasure while for middleaged couples, children are often a problem area. • Older couples seemed to approach their problems with more humor and affection for one another and negative emotions were rare in these discussions (Carstensen et al., 1995; Levenson et al., 1993). • Although these comparisons are cross-sectional, they suggest that older couples may have learned more effective ways of dealing with life’s problems as discussed in Chapter 9. Couples also seem to become more like one another in their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors as their years together increase (Davey & Szinovacz, 2004). 29 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Factors affecting a successful Marriage (2) • Researchers also have interviewed middle-aged couples who have been married for at least 15 years and older couples who have been married for at least 45 years (Lauer & Lauer, 1985; Lauer et al., 1990). • When asked what factors contribute to their long-lasting relationship, husbands and wives and middle-aged and older couples generally agreed. The most frequently named reason was “my spouse is my best friend,” followed by “I like my spouse as a person,” “marriage is sacred,” “we agree on aims and goals,” and “my spouse has grown more interesting.” • Older couples also added humor as an important contributor to their long-lasting marriages. Couples said they laughed together every day, kissed each other daily, and confided in one another. 30 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Marital Strain • One study examined marital strain for 1000 husbands and wives over an 8-year period. • Over this time period, strain increased but was nearly the same for men and women under 30 but greater for women than men after age 40. • Although middle-aged men showed increases in strain over time, no increase was observed for men over 60 (Umberson & Williams, 2005). • At all older ages, women reported more strain than men. Some of this increased strain is due to the change in roles that can occur when one person becomes disabled or ill and the other becomes their caregiver. Wives are more likely than husbands to become caregivers • We also know that marital quality is associated with physical and psychological health. In comparisons of satisfied and dissatisfied couples, researchers have found that satisfied couples have much higher levels of physical and psychological health. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 31 Marital Strain (2) • Marital dissatisfaction leads to lower levels of health rather than low levels of health leading to dissatisfaction and this is particularly true for women (Robles & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2003). • A recent study examined self-reported health and marital strain for husbands and wives and found that health decreased as strain increased, particularly for older adults (Umberson et al., 2006). It is believed that marital strain produces stress which, if continued over a long period of time, results in ill health (see Chapter 5). If women show more strain, then they are likely to have more stress-related health problems. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 32 Marital Strain may result in Abuse • Domestic elder abuse is the hardest to detect and prevent. Currently six types of abuse are generally agreed upon. • • • • • Physical abuse includes inflicting pain or injury or depriving a basic need. Sexual abuse includes nonconsensual sexual contact of any kind. Emotional or psychological abuse is the infliction of emotional anguish or distress. Financial or material exploitation involves funds, property, and assets. Neglect is the loss of food, shelter, health care, or protection and is the most common type in domestic settings. Self-neglect is any act by the elder him- or herself that threatens health or safety. • Finally abandonment is the desertion of an elder by anyone who has assumed responsibility for care. 33 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 May not be a spouse but a caregiver Gay and Lesbian Unions • Such couples report the highest levels of social support from those family and friends who are aware of their sexual orientation (Grossman et al., 2000). Of course not all gay and lesbian older couples have remained in hiding and those who have been open have had to develop strong coping strategies. • This strength seems to have been useful not just for dealing with discrimination against homosexuals but also for meeting late-life challenges (Quam & Whitford, 1992). • It is possible that older homosexual couples are, in many ways, stronger than older heterosexual couples. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 34 Marriage equality becomes the law of the land • On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land. • Two questions stood before the high court: Does the 14th Amendment require states to license a marriage between two people of the same sex, and does that same amendment require a state to recognize legally valid same-sex marriages performed elsewhere? • The court ruled that the answer to both questions is “yes,” clearing the way for gay and lesbian couples to marry in all 50 states. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 35 Cohabitation • Not in your book, for seniors on Social Security, it may not make financial sense to marry. • One study compared younger and older adults who were cohabiting to see if cohabitation was different for different age/cohort groups. Nearly 1000 adults were surveyed. • Older cohabiting adults reported higher quality relationships. They spent more time with their partners, argued less frequently, believed they were treated fairly, and were far less likely to report that the relationship would end. • Younger couples were more concerned about compatibility and tended to view their cohabitation as a step toward marriage while older couples tended to view it as an alternative to marriage (King & Scott, 2005). It is expected that as baby boomers grow older, the number and proportion of cohabiting older adults will continue to increase but the age differences may remain. • What do you think? Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 36 Divorce • Between 40 and 50 percent of marriages end in divorce and, although that is high, the divorce rate has gone down since the early 1980s when it was close to 60 percent. • Divorce is 30 percent more likely for low-income couples, 24 percent more likely for those who marry young, 14 percent more likely for those who are less religious, 13 percent more likely for those with a lower level of education, and 9 percent more likely for those who cohabit before marrying (Centers for Disease Control, 2002). • This latter finding often surprises people but research suggests that those who cohabit are different in important ways from those who do not. Cohabiters tend to have more liberal attitudes toward the roles of men and women, have more negative attitudes about marriage, and to be more accepting of divorce (Seltzer, 2000). It is not cohabiting that produces divorce; it is that cohabiters tend to be people more accepting of divorce. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 37 Factors contributing to Divorce • Poor communication, basic unhappiness, and incompatibility are named most frequently. • Children rarely are mentioned as a problem. • There are also some gender differences because men are more likely to blame their own abuse of alcohol or drugs while women are more likely to blame emotional and/or physical abuse or their husband’s infidelity (Cleek & Pearson, 1985; South & Lloyd, 1995). • Lack of communication may have led to a person’s divorce but later they found out about their spouse’s infidelity. Now they name them both as causes. 38 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Remarriage. • Many more men remarry than women and one reason for this is that, as you know, for middle-aged and older adults there are many more women than men. • For women, the probability of remarriage is highest for white Americans (58% remarry within 5 years), than for Hispanic (44%) or African-American women (32%) (Centers for Disease Control, 2002). • Young divorcees also are more likely to remarry than are older divorcees (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1997). As you know, older divorcees frequently turn to cohabitation as an alternative to remarriage. • A second reason for men being more likely to remarry is that men seem to experience greater loneliness and a greater need for companionship following a divorce than do women (Chipperfield & Havens, 2001). • In one major study, over 3000 married, divorced, remarried, cohabiting, widowed, and never-married men and women were compared on measures of loneliness. Those who were married or cohabiting showed the lowest levels of loneliness. • People in their first marriage were less lonely than those who were remarried. Men without a partner were more lonely than women without a partner. Those who never married were less lonely than those who once had a partner but no longer did (Peters & Liefbroer, 1997). A more recent study looked at life strain for divorced, widowed, and never-married older adults and found greater strain for those who had been married at one time (divorced and widowed) than for those who never married (Pudrovska et al., 2006). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 39 Sexual Relations • Sexual relations are not mentioned frequently as a factor in longlasting marriages or as a problem that led to divorce. • Nevertheless, sex is an important part of life for most younger people but not for very many older people. Did you believe that last statement? • Although it is a common belief that once you are old you are no longer sexually active, it simply is not true. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 40 Sexual Activity • Sexual activities almost always are examined by use of a survey and ordinarily quite a large number of people respond. • At the same time, responders are more likely to answer some questions than others. • Questions about frequency of activity, intercourse, and satisfaction are more likely to be answered than are questions about masturbation or oral sex, particularly by older cohorts. • Sexual activity is usually an important part of marriage and cohabitation and many would say an important part of life. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 41 Factors affecting decline in Sexual Activity • The loss of peripheral nerve cells reduces sensitivity in the genital areas and can make it more difficult for older adults to become aroused (Berger et al., 1994). • Reduced blood flow to the penis is another factor for older men. This makes it difficult to obtain and maintain an erection (Rieske & Holstege, 1996); this problem is far more likely for smokers. • Most of the pharmaceuticals that are designed to increase performance for older men work by increasing blood flow. • Older men with erectile dysfunction do not, however, report a lowering of their self-esteem or any feelings of being sexually deprived (Schiavi, 1999). • For women, the thinning of the vaginal wall that frequently occurs after menopause and a reduction in lubrication with advanced age can lead to pain during intercourse and lower sexual activity. • Drugs like Viagra have helped men stay sexually active 42 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Sexual Activity and Disease • Sexual activity also is influenced by health and the medications used to treat health problems. • One study of over 1000 men between the ages of 40 and 70 found that men with diabetes, heart disease, and/or hypertension had the greatest difficulties and that the prescribed medication was often at fault (Goldstein & Hatzichristou, 1994). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 43 Sexual Activity and Disease (2) • Women with multiple sclerosis have great difficulty in achieving orgasms in part due to medication. • Even some of the medications used to treat less life-threatening disorders like arthritis, insomnia, and sinusitis can influence sexual responsiveness and lead to lowered levels of activity. • Psychiatric medications also have been implicated as a contributor to sexual dysfunction in both men and women (Segraves & Segraves, 1995). • Drugs like Viagra are contraindicated when a man has heart disease Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 44 Siblings • Siblings are usually the longest social relationship that individuals have. • Your older siblings have known you since you were born and your younger siblings have known you since their birth (or shortly thereafter). • Siblings, like parents, are not a social relationship that we choose. Having siblings is beyond our control. Like them or not, they are still our siblings. Most people have at least one sibling and close to 80 percent of older adults have at least one living brother or sister. • When asked how close they felt to the sibling(s) that they see most often, most older adults report being close or very close while a small minority, only 5 percent, report not being close at all (Atchley, 2000; Bedford, 1996). Close relationships can be of several different kinds and researchers have attempted to characterize these different kinds of close and not-so-close sibling relationships. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 45 Types of Siblings • Intimate Strong feelings of love and trust; may regard each other as best friends; have frequent contact (through visits, letters, e-mail, phone); provide support and whenever it is needed without being asked. • Congenial Feelings of love and trust; may regard each other as good friends; contact is less frequent; feel closer to their spouse or children; provide support if asked; get along well with one another. • Loyal Relationship based on beliefs about family ties and responsibilities that siblings have to be a good brother or sister; may not have much contact except at traditional family gatherings. • Apathetic Rarely contact or even think about each other; no strong positive or negative emotions about each other; it is as if they have no sibling(s) • Hostile Feelings of resentment, anger, and occasionally envy toward each other; no intentional contact and effort to avoid each other; usually a result of some specific event (battle over an inheritance, feeling less loved by a parent, and so on). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 46 Parents and Children • Over the last 20 years, more adult children have continued to live with their parents or returned to their parents’ home after residing elsewhere for some brief period of time. • For example, an adult might return to a parents’ home following a divorce. One national survey found that 30 percent of parents had an adult child between the ages of 22 and 24 living with them, 19 percent had a child between the ages of 25 and 29, and 10 percent had a child 30 years of age or older (Hamner & Turner, 1996). • Two-parent homes are more likely to have an adult child living with them than are homes with only one parent or homes in which a remarriage has taken place. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 47 Parents and Children (2) • Usually occurs because of a crisis involving a parent’s health and the need for care. These relationships typically are handled quite well but sometimes deteriorate because the child did not fully understand the demands of caregiving, conflicts between caregiving and employment, or a need for professional caregiving that arises as the health of the parent grows worse (Brack-bill & Kitch, 1991). • The amount of contact between parents and adult children who do not live together varies as a function of number of adult children, proximity, and affection. Parents with only one adult child do not have contact as frequently as parents with more than one adult child but still 75 percent have contact at least once a week with their one child (Uhlenberg & Cooney, 1990). • Parents and children who feel strong affection for each other maintain contact even at great distance and most parents and children report strong positive feelings. Parents remain concerned about their child’s welfare regardless of that child’s age. Having a child with serious problems is a major cause of parent depression (Pillemer & Suitor, 1991). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 48 Grandchildren • Everyone has or has had a grandparent and most adults will become grandparents. • Using data from the NSFH, it is estimated that 67 percent of adults who have children of childbearing age are grandparents and by the time their children are 40, close to 95 percent will be grandparents. • Most grandparents have more than one grandchild and the average number is between five and six (Kivnick & Sinclair, 1996; Szinovacz, 1998). • Eons ago, when life expectancy was very short, you might guess that grandparents were rare because not many people lived long enough to become grandparents. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 49 Grandchildren (2) • Some anthropological evidence shows that, about 30,000 years ago, there was a great increase in the number of older adults probably due to a change in culture and, perhaps, domestication. • The value of grandparents was recognized and it is believed that these older adults took care of, fed, and taught their grandchildren, allowing parents to have more children, colonize new territories, and devote childrearing time to the development of new forms of hunting, farming, and civilizing the world (Caspari & Lee, 2006; O’Connell et al., 1999). • Grandparents may have been a major force in the development of human civilization and still are highly valued family members today. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 50 The Role of Grandparents • Typical roles include providing children and grandchildren with information about family history, keeping track of family members, • serving as mediators when conflicts arise between parents and children or siblings, and even filling in as custodial parents for their grandchildren when parents are unable to fill that role themselves (Atchley, 2000). This latter role can be quite difficult for grandparents and some recent work has found much higher levels of family strain and lower health scores for custodial grandmothers. • These grandmothers perceived far lower levels of family functioning than did noncustodial grandmothers and usually for good reason (Musil et al., 2006). Box 10-2 takes a closer look at the issues and problems for grandparents and grandchildren in these custodial situations. • Grandparents generally are older adults and older adults, especially older women, are often portrayed negatively in the media (see Chapter 1). Children typically have a very negative view of older adults (Haught et al., 1999; Lichtenstein et al., 2003). When, however, young children are asked about their own grandparents, they view them very positively, especially when contact is frequent (Creasey & Kaliher, 1994). 51 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 African-American Grandparents • African American grandparents are more likely than white American grandparents to be involved with their grandchildren and to spend more time with them (Strom et al., 1996). • Even very old (85 and older) African American grandparents spend considerable time with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren and report significant emotional benefits and pride in their role as grandparents (Barer, 2001). My mother raised my niece because my sis-in-law and brother worked. I think this is more of an economic than racial issue. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 52 Custodial Grandparents Box 10-2 • Custodial grandparents refer to those grandparents who are raising their grandchildren for short (a couple of weeks) to long (until the children are grown) periods of time because the children’s parents are unable or unwilling to do so. • Parents may have died, been involved in substance abuse, been imprisoned, been disabled, been ill, have severe psychological or financial difficulties, or neglected the child (Sands & Goldberg-Glen, 2000). It is estimated that there are about 1.5 million custodial grandparents at any one time (Simmons & Dye, 2003). • About 12 percent of African American grandparents and about 4 percent of white American grandparents have had this experience (Thomas et al., 2000). Grandmothers who are younger and who never completed high school are the most frequent custodial grandparents (Minkler & Fuller-Thomson, 2000). A number of studies have looked at the effects this situation has on grandparents and grandchildren. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 53 Custodial Grandparents Box 10-2 (2) • One study found lower health and more strain for custodial grandmothers (Musil et al., 2006). • Other studies also have found more health problems, higher levels of depression, and greater stress (perhaps a cause for those health problems) for custodial grandparents (Goodman, 2003; Minkler et al., 1997; Musil & Ahmad, 2002). These difficulties are even greater for the many older adults experiencing a chronic disorder or serious health problem of their ow • In one study, custodial grandparents suffering from arthritis perceived themselves as having greater difficulty raising grandchildren and, as a result, felt high levels of anger, frustration, guilt, and depression (Barlow et al., 1999). Grandparents also often have difficulty in managing the behavior of grandchildren, particularly adolescents, and the problems seem to be worldwide. A recent study conducted in Kenya found the same types of problems for custodial grandparents there as in the United States (Ice et al., 2006). These difficulties are not always the same for grandmothers compared to grandfathers. 54 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Custodial Grandparents Box 10-2 (3) • One interesting study found that grandmothers showed more depression when the grandchildren first moved into the home while grandfathers showed more when they moved out. • It is thought that grandfathers may be less involved with the actual custodial care (feeding, clothing, disciplining) but benefit from the companionship they receive and being viewed as a wise elder. • When the grandchildren leave, they lose these benefits (Szinovacz et al., 1999). Grandchildren in these situations are more likely to have some behavioral, emotional, school-related, or neurological problems than those living with their parents (Hayslip et al., 1998). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 55 Friends • Friendships are voluntary. • Unlike sibling, parent, or grandparent relationships into which you are born or adopted, one selects friends. Friendships are reciprocal. Each person gives as well as receives. • When a friend needs help, a friend is ready to help. Self-disclosure is a characteristic of friendships. • Friends share secrets that they would not share with other people; they know each other’s likes and dislikes, they confide in one another. It is the mutual nature of this self-disclosure that is most important. • We are not close friends if you know everything about me and I know nothing about you. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 56 Male and Female Friends • Women are more likely than men to have more than one close friend in whom they confide; men are more likely to confide only in their best friend, their spouse. Equality is another characteristic. • Men friends are more likely than women friends to do things together (Cavanaugh, 1998). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 57 Friends tend to be like each other • Thinking about some of the people you regard as friends, you might try the scale in Table 10-2 that measures these characteristics. • Did you notice that the scale includes a few other common characteristics, such as physical appearance and intelligence? • Close friends tend to be close to each other in these characteristics too. • See table 10-2 in book Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 58 Socioemotional Selectivity Theory • Holds that older people develop an increased attention to emotional factors in their relationships due to an awareness that their time may be limited. • Carstensen suggests that older people reduce the total number of people in their lives who do not provide emotional closeness and focus more on those who do. • Their increased attention to emotional factors may be part of the reason that older married couples show less negative and more positive emotions when discussing a disagreeable topic or why older adults more often turn to emotion management coping strategies when dealing with an emotional situation (see Chapter 9). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 59 Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (2) • In one study, young, middle-aged, and older adults were asked who they would rather be with if they had a half hour open and could spend it with the person they chose or if they were moving across the country with no accompanying family or friends. • They were allowed to choose from a member of their immediate family or a person they recently met and who appeared to have a lot in common with them or an author of a book they had read. • All aged adults selected a family member in the situation where they were moving across country but, as expected by socioemotional theory, only older adults selected a family member when they had a half hour to spare (Fredrickson & Carstensen, 1990). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 60 Older Adults more likely to lose Friends • Because older adults lose friends more often than younger adults, some work has examined the coping and making of new friends for these individuals. • In one longitudinal study, older adults were interviewed in 1979 and again in 1995 when the youngest person still in the study was 81. Over that 16-year interval, many lost close friends. Most (70 percent), however, still had good friends and were quite satisfied. Ten percent had good friends and wanted still more. • One interesting finding was that the new friends selected by these older adults were as likely to be different gender as same gender. Young adult friendships are usually among men or among women but older adult friendships are frequently mixed gender. Another 15 percent had no good friends and did not wish for any. Only 5 percent had no good friends but wished they did. • Older adults like this or those who have good friends but wish they had more can benefit from programs that teach specific skills, practice those skills in role-playing sessions, and emphasize pragmatic factors. Such programs have been shown to be quite effective in reducing loneliness and increasing the friendships of older women (Stevens et al., 2006). 61 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Religion • In this section we will look at religion, which for our purposes refers to a community of individuals who share common beliefs and participate together in faith-based common activities or rituals. • All religions provide social links, and frequently social support, to their members that would otherwise not be available. • Religion is the public and social side of theological belief systems and is different from spirituality. • Spirituality is the private, emotional, and/or intellectual connection that one makes to an accepted higher power. • People who are members of a religion may or may not be spiritual and people with spirituality may or may not be members of a religion. Most of the research conducted in this area is relatively new and has focused more on religion than on spirituality. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 62 Religion and Aging • A common belief is that older adults are more religious and more spiritual than younger adults. • In support of this, a number of cross-sectional surveys have found higher attendance at religious gatherings for older adults (Krause, 1997). • When people have been asked whether they believe in a higher power, about two-thirds of those between 15 and 34 answered yes while 87 percent of those 55 and older answered yes (Jacobs & Worcester, 1990). • These differences could, however, be associated with cohort rather than age. Older adults grew up in times when religion was a more central part of life. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 63 Religion and Aging (2) • One longitudinal study followed a large group of adults for 20 years and found that attendance at services was higher for older adults between the ages of 60 and 75 but declined past the age of 75. • One might guess that this decline could be due, in part, to increased illness or disability for those older adults but, in fact, many who became ill or disabled increased their attendance while others with no apparent disability attended less often than they had in the past (Atchley, 1999). • It is not clear whether this decrease in attendance was accompanied by a decrease or perhaps an increase in spirituality. Religion and spirituality, as with intelligence and personality traits, may be other cases where we find both age and cohort differences. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 64 The Benefits of Religion and Spirituality • .In a review of over 200 prior studies and three national surveys, Jeffrey Levin found that religion was strongly and positively related to health and that a large number of health problems were less frequent among adults who reported more religious involvement (1994; 1998). • In one longitudinal study, those who attended religious services during the early years of the study had far fewer and less serious disabilities 12 years later (Idler & Kasl, 1997a; 1997b). Psychological well-being and life satisfaction also have been associated with religion (Johnson, 1995). In this case, however, the association is U shaped. • Those with higher involvement in religion and those with no involvement in religion tend to have higher levels of psychological well-being than those with moderate levels (Krause, 1995). Finally, religion also is related to mortality. In one study, 2023 California residents, ages 55 and older, were asked about their attendance at religious services. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 65 The Benefits of Religion and Spirituality (2) • As in other studies, attendance was higher for women than men and lowest for the youngest (middle age) and oldest (old-old) adults in the sample. Over the next 5 years, mortality data were collected by continual reading of obituary notices in newspapers and attempts to contact participants for later interviews. • The death rates were highest for those who had earlier reported no attendance at religious services and lowest for those who had reported weekly attendance (Oman & Reed, 1998). In a direct comparison of the benefits associated with religion and with spirituality, one longitudinal study interviewed adults when they were in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and late 60s. • Higher levels of religion were strongly associated with more positive relationships with other people, wellbeing derived from such positive relationships, and generativity. As you recall, generativity refers to the feelings associated with providing something of value to the next generation(s). • Higher levels of spirituality were strongly associated with personal growth, being involved in creative or learning tasks, and wisdom. Perhaps very spiritual people develop more insight into human life and become experts. You will remember that wisdom can be thought of as expertise at life (Wink & Dillon, 2003). 66 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Factors underlying the relationships between religion and spirituality & health, well-being, wisdom, & mortality • One factor is the set of rules or demands made by some organized religions on their members. • One religion may prohibit behaviors such as drinking alcohol, using drugs, smoking, extramarital sex, and other behaviors that may be dangerous. The demands of Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Mormon, Seventh Day Adventists, and several other religions are such that many unhealthy behaviors are unacceptable. • A reason for better health for religious people may be that they are less likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 67 Factors underlying the relationships between religion … (2) • A second factor may be relaxation from a form of meditation, particularly in the face of stress. • Meditation is known to reduce blood pressure and decrease heart rate (Holmes, 1987). The meditation practiced by highly spiritual people may involve reading religious writing, listening to religious programs, and reciting prayers as one might recite a mantra. • In one study of 1300 older adults, more than half reported reading the Bible, one-third listened to or watched religious programs, and 60 percent reported praying every day (Koenig, 1995). • Highly spiritual people may have a very effective technique for ameliorating stress. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 68 Factors underlying the relationships between religion … (3) • A third factor is the social support coming from a religious community beyond that provided by family and friends. • Members of religious communities may offer instrumental and/or emotional support to one another at times of need whereas such support might come only from family and friends for those who are not part of a religious community. • In one survey of African Americans, researchers found that 60 percent reported receiving support from members of their religion; 80 percent also received support from a good friend and 50 percent from family (Taylor & Chatters, 1986). • It has been suggested that the support actually received from a religious community is very much like the support received from family and friends but may be more likely perceived as social support because most religions advocate concern and care for others (Krause, 2001). Recall the earlier discussion of how it is the perception of social support that is important. 69 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 Religion and Network Expansion • Another form of social support occurs as religions offer opportunities to form new friendships and to, thus, expand social networks. • Gatherings for religious services, for festivals, and for other sponsored events also offer opportunities for network expansion. • My mother looks forward to the Greek Orthodox summer festivals for the food and the dancing – she is 87 (and Catholic) Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 70 Religion and a Positive Outlook • Finally, some have suggested that religion or spirituality may be beneficial because they provide hope and a more positive outlook for those in the religious community and/or those who believe in a higher power. • These individuals may be able to place their problems in a broader context of human suffering and salvation and be more happy with their lives. • Some work has found a strong positive relationship between religiosity and happiness while other work has not (Lewis & Cruise, 2006). • Religion and spirituality are associated with a number of benefits and appear to operate through several different factors but even in studies where many of these factors have been controlled for (size of social support network, healthy behaviors, drinking, smoking), researchers have still obtained lower mortality rates for religious people especially women (Koenig et al., 1999; Strawbridge et al., 1997). Perhaps meditation/relaxation and positive outlooks account for the association or perhaps there are other factors that have not yet been systematically investigated. What do you think these other factors might be? Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 71 Isolation and Loneliness • Although a common misperception of older adults is that they are isolated and lonely you now know better. • The social networks of older adults are quite strong and more focused on those who are emotionally closest and in their inner circles. • Older adults, like all other adults, derive social support from their relationships and often from religious communities as well. • In an early examination of loneliness, researchers looked at 15 different studies that had investigated levels of loneliness for older adults. These studies showed that about 10 percent reported being very or often lonely, 20 percent lonely sometimes, and 70 percent rarely or never lonely. • For each hour spent alone, younger adults reported more loneliness than older adults (Malatesta & Kalnok, 1984; Wenger et al., 1996). Griselda Chapa, ScD, Gerontology 101 72 Chapter 11 Work and Retirement Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 1 This week • We will discuss the new face of retirement • Beginning with preretirement, we look at work and current options post COVID-19 • We finish looking at retirement options Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 2 Workers are now Older • The average age of the American worker has increased over the last several years and will undoubtedly continue to increase as older, still working baby boomers, age. • In 1996, the average worker was 38 years old and in 2006 that average was close to 41. 3 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Vera Rubin, Astronomer July 23, 1928-Dec. 25, 2016 Women are now Working in Fields that were associated with Men • Older cohorts of women were not employed in many jobs that were regarded as the domain of men. • Rubin discovered the existence of dark matter, the strange glue that holds our universe together. Her contribution is regarded as one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century — work many feel should have been awarded a Nobel Prize. 4 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Older Workers and Age Discrimination The frequent and persistent negative view of aging and older adults and negative stereotypes about older adults discussed earlier have influenced the evaluation of older workers by management, supervisors, coworkers, and even older workers themselves. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 5 Beliefs about Older Workers It is thought that older workers are more likely to be hurt on the job, get sick and be absent, perform at a lower level, be more forgetful and unable to learn new procedures, and cost far more than they are worth to the employer (Wegman, 1999). Many believe older minds and bodies simply do not work as well anymore. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 6 Job Performance and Older Workers Many people expect a negative relationship between age and job performance; that is, they expect older adults to perform at a lower level in the workplace because they are more likely to have reduced strength, reduced sensory abilities, respond slower, and have reduced working memory capacity. 7 • Some expect older adults to perform at a higher level because they have more experience and knowledge. • A major meta-analysis performed on the results Age and Job Performance from 96 different studies with over 38,000 workers, ranging in age from 17 to over 60, and employed in a large variety of jobs, found no overall relationship between age and job performance except for very young workers. • Is age and job performance unrelated? The answer is that it depends on the skills involved in performing the job and the benefits of job experience. 8 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Job Performance The relationship between worker age and performance is not simple. The answers to questions regarding the decline of skills and the benefits of experience are not often simply yes or no. There are variations in how much the relevant skills decline and in how much benefit is derived from experience. These variations depend on specific jobs and the people who fill them. 9 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Job Performance and Skill Set • Hearing is a skill that plays an important role in many jobs but is far more important for a teacher than for an accountant. • Long-term experience is probably of more benefit to a judge than to a dentist. 10 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Research on Specific Job Skills Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology • Because of variations such as these, researchers have spent some time looking at very specific jobs. • One such study examined the performance of fishers in Okinawa and hunters in Papua, New Guinea. • Fishing and hunting are jobs that depend on good sensory skills, speed, muscle strength, and stamina and all of these skills tend to decline with age. 11 Hunters and Fishers 01 02 03 04 At the same time, the experienced fisher and hunter is likely to know far more about the prey, its habits and habitat, and other important factors involved in fishing and hunting. Results showed that, on average, young fishers tended to make more money from their catch than old fishers but the most productive fisher was also the oldest at age 52. For hunters, those who were young and unmarried were the least successful even though they spent the most time at it. The most successful hunters were older and married (Ohtsuka, 1997). 12 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Are older workers able to learn and remember new procedures as well as younger workers? • We all know that changes in software occur continually and that even grocery stores rearrange where items are to be found. • Perhaps older adults have more difficulty than younger adults in adjusting to changes in procedures at work. • They may be harder to train. • Management generally believes this, but the research suggests that training differences depend more on factors other than age. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 13 Learning New Procedures At the very outset, older workers often are reluctant to participate in training for fear that they will be unable to learn the new procedures or will not perform as well as younger trainees. Some desire separate training groups because of these fears while others do not want to be treated as some special group that needs extra care. 14 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Training 1 2 3 Once in training, older adults are sometimes slower, need more assistance, and make more mistakes when learning new computer skills than do younger adults (Charness & Bosman, 1992). Other work, however, has not found age differences in training (Garfein et al., 1988) and older workers perform better when certain training procedures are used. In teaching computer skills, the most effective techniques for younger and especially older learners are those that reduce the demands on working memory by modeling the new procedures and providing menus (Kelly et al., 1994). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 4 Older workers also learn to perform computer tasks quicker and perform better when specific goals are set during training. 5 Goal setting is beneficial for a wide range of workers and students too (Hollis-Sawyer & Sterns, 1999). Once trained, older workers perform as well as younger workers when they return to their jobs. 15 Job Satisfaction -- Are older workers less satisfied? • Most older workers do look forward to retirement (Atchley, 1999) but are, at the same time, generally more satisfied with their jobs than are younger workers (Bernal et al., 1998; White & Spector, 1987). • It may be that young workers have much higher expectations about their jobs than do older workers and when those expectations are not met, they feel dissatisfied. 16 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Job Satisfaction may be affected by Cohort 01 02 03 Older workers know from experience not to expect so much and so are more satisfied with much less— or it could be a cohort, rather than age difference. Younger cohort workers have had more experience with computers, cell phones, remote control, and other aspects of modern technology that may not always be present in the workplace. Older cohort workers may be satisfied with much less because they have had much less over the course of their lives. . Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 17 Finding your Niche It could be that older workers have had decades to find the right niche for themselves and tend to have jobs that are comfortable and interesting for them and that they do well. Younger workers, particularly those at an entry level, have not yet found their place. As a result, they are less satisfied. I found my niche the first time I stood in front of a class of young adults Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 18 Protection from Age Dscrimination • In 1967, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was passed to protect workers 40 years of age and older from discrimination in hiring, training, dismissal, pay, promotions, retirement (amendment passed in 1986), and benefits (passed in 1990). • The law applied to any place of employment with 20 or more employees. Such companies cannot refuse to hire or get rid of workers simply because they’re old. • In the early 1980s, there was a three-fold increase in the number of cases filed under ADEA and more than 5000 older workers were awarded close to $25 million (Atchley, 1996). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 19 • In the early 1990s, the number of cases continued to increase but the number of prosecutions declined, and many cases were settled out of court (Atchley, 2000). • More recently, the number of cases declined, and Proving Discrimination some recent court decisions have made it more difficult for older workers to demonstrate discrimination (Hannson et al., 1997; Ormsbee, 2001). • Older workers are less willing to file a case when the odds of winning seem so low (Nicholson, 2000). • Companies can afford to spend a lot of time and money to win while older workers have far less of each. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 20 Age Discrimination Still Happens • Age discrimination occurs in spite of the law, but it is difficult to determine its frequency. • Older workers are more likely to be dismissed than younger workers, to have more difficulty finding a job once they have lost one, and to begin again at a significantly lower salary than comparable younger workers (Atchley, 2000; Barlett & Steele, 1992; Rix, 2004). • Job loss for older workers is particularly high for women and minorities (Flippen & Tienda, 2000). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 21 Job Loss and Depression • When older workers are dismissed from their jobs, many begin consuming alcohol but typically not in excess (Gallo et al., 2001). • One recent study found that older workers who lost their jobs, especially those with limited assets, developed depression and were still depressed 6 years after losing their jobs (Gallo et al., 2006). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 22 Barriers to Employment 01 02 03 Companies not wishing to hire older workers can argue, however, that is was not the age of the applicant that made a difference but the outdated job search, resumé, and interview skills that cost the candidate the job. Older workers may take longer to find a job because they are generally less willing than younger workers to relocate and, thus, do not apply for jobs that would require a move. A lower starting salary often is attributed to outdated work skills—which may often be the case especially for older workers not given training opportunities in their prior job. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 23 Transitions to Retirement A common belief is that most adults work at a job until age 65 and then retire. In fact, most workers do not fit this pattern. Quite a large number, anywhere between 42 and 78 percent, work at a different job or the same type of job for a different employer before retirement and after leaving their longest held job. These other jobs, bridge jobs, serve as a transition to full retirement. They particularly are sought by farm and nonfarm laborers who may need to find a less physically demanding job with the declines in muscle strength and sense organs that can occur in old age. These transition jobs also are sought by those who have been fired but who have not yet given up the search for a new job. The most likely workers to continue in a career job until retirement are professionals, although nearly half of them also find other employment before retiring (Cahill et al., 2006). 24 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Bridge Job • Bridge jobs, often part-time work, frequently are lower pay and lower status jobs than the individual’s longest held job. • On average, individuals work at a bridge job for about 5 years before retiring. • In one survey, 21 percent of older men and 54 percent of older women employed full-time, expressed a desire to work part-time if such work were available. • Over 50 percent of workers who have left their longest held job are employed part time; this trend is especially true for older women workers (Quinn & Kozy, 1996). • 57 percent of professionals who have been employed in a bridge job before full retirement say that they enjoyed that job more than their career job even though the pay was lower (Ruhm, 1991). Starbucks provides health insurance for part-time workers 25 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Part-time Bridge Work can be a Transition to Retirement Part-time bridge job can ease older adults into retirement. Companies rarely offer such a transition to their older full-time employees instead they attempt to get rid of them altogether through early retirement incentives. From the company’s point of view, it is expensive to allow older full-time workers to become part-time workers and still continue with full benefits. 26 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Retirement Retirement refers to a self-determined or voluntary withdrawal from work. If one is unable to find a new job after being downsized, becomes discouraged, and quits searching, that counts as retirement because quitting is selfdetermined. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Being fired or downsized is not retirement because it is not voluntary. Such a retirement would, of course, be an unhappy one while most retirements are more pleasant. 27 Chancellor Otto von Bismarck of Germany first established 65 as the retirement age late in the nineteenth century by supplying a pension for people over that age. The History of Retirement Not many adults lived to be age 65 in the late nineteenth century so the cost of providing pensions was low. Before the twentieth century in the United States, retirement was rare and short because there were no government financial supports for retired people and people did not live as long. In 1900, the average number of years spent in retirement was 1.2 and retired people were typically supported by their families. People usually retired because they could no longer work. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 28 The U.S, Social Security Act was passed in 1935, it designated 65 as the age of retirement. Social Security intended retirement to lower the number of people looking for work during the years around the Great Depression in the 1930s (Atchley, 2000). Social Security created jobs for younger workers by vacating positions previously held by older workers. Unemployment has become less of a problem and retirement has come to be an expected event in the lives of most workers and, generally, people look forward to it. It is a chance to share in the nation’s wealth that you helped to create. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 29 Who Retires and Why? • About 84 percent of men retire by age 65 (Novak, 2006). • People who like their work and who are dedicated to their careers are likely to put off retirement. Such people most often are professionals. • Social pressure from family and/or friends is another factor. • If your spouse retires, he or she may put pressure on you to also retire so that you can spend more time together. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 30 Retirement, finances and depression • Some people cannot afford to retire (Parnes & Sommers, 1994). • This is the case for many low-income workers who are frequently women and/or minorities. • These older workers also are more likely to be dismissed from their jobs and to have a difficult time finding another job. • In one longitudinal examination of retirement, researchers found that those who still had financial responsibility for their children were far less likely to retire. 31 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Forced Retirement and Depression Forced retirement leads to depression. For women, the depression worsens as their husbands become more disabled. Older men and women who saw their children infrequently went in opposite directions with respect to retirement. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Some who selected retirement had fewer depressive symptoms when they provided care for a spouse (Szinovacz & Davey, 2004). Women in this situation tended to remain working while men tended to retire in order to spend more time with their children (Szinovacz & De Viney, 2000). 32 Retirement, Disability and Health • If you become disabled, you may be forced to retire. • This is far more likely for minorities because they are more likely to work as laborers and laborers have the highest rates of disability (Iams, 1986; Taylor & Doverspike, 2003). ( and remember, in places like MS., diabetic minorities are likely to become amputees) Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 33 Skilled Labor and Disability Risk Studies of coal miners, plumbers, and construction workers have found very high levels of disability for those who work in wet conditions, use vibrating equipment, carry heavy loads, and are exposed to certain chemicals (aspartate transaminase) (Arndt et al., 1998; Calmels et al., 1998). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 34 Common Disabilities The most common disabilities among other older workers are circulatory disorders, bone diseases like osteoporosis, and mental dysfunction (McCoy & Weems, 1989). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 35 Health Conditions Leading to Retirement • For men, cancer, diabetes, and heart attacks are the most frequent and serious health problems leading to early retirement while for women, hypertension is the leading health-related cause for early retirement (Colsher et al., 1988). • Health problems account for 60 percent of retirements that occur before the individual is truly ready to retire (Ozawa & Law, 1992). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 36 The ill health that leads to retirement is frequently not the ill health of the worker but of a parent or spouse. Retirement and the Health of a Relative Becoming a caregiver for a spouse, and retiring as a result, is far more likely for women than men because older men are more likely to need such care (remember, wives are usually younger than husbands) and women of that older cohort are typically less likely to have careers (Savishinsky, 2000). Older men who need to care for a sick wife are also likely to retire (Szinovacz & De Viney, 2000) Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 37 Middle-aged adults are far more likely to be caring for a parent than a spouse and to continue working. A large proportion of women and nearly a quarter of men find themselves in this situation at one time or another and, some work suggests that the stress is greater for women. This situation is far more difficult for low-income workers who are unable to afford a visiting nurse or an adult day care center and who may lose their jobs by spending time caring for an ailing parent (Halpern, 2005). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Retirement and Caregiving 38 When Do Most People Retire? • Although 65 was the established retirement age, people today retire much earlier. • This trend toward earlier retirement has been occurring since 1970 in Germany, Japan, and Sweden, as well as the United States (Gendell, 1998). • Only 24 percent of women and 44 percent of men still work full time after age 62, which is the lowest age at which one can receive Social Security benefits (Woodbury, 1999). • After age 65, these percentages drop to 9 percent of women and 16 percent of men (Parnes & Sommers, 1994). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 39 Retirement Age in the U.S. Most people over age 62 get Social Security benefits and 75 percent of new recipients every year retire before 65 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1992; U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, 1992). Because average life expectancy is now over 75, people who retire around age 60 can expect to spend about 15 years in retirement, or 20 percent of their life. A person who lives to be 100 may spend 40 years in retirement, or 40 percent of their life. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 40 • The first phase of retirement is referred to as preretirement and has two components, remote and near. Phases of Retirement -Preretirement • People in the remote phase are still a long way from retiring but have begun to lay plans. • People may, for example, 1. look for a place of employment that has a better pension plan, 2. invest money for the future, 3. or spend a vacation checking out possible retirement locations 41 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Phases of Retirement – the Honeymoon • The second phase is the honeymoon. • Immediately after retirement, many retirees experience an elevated mood. • You don’t have go to work and may feel truly free for the first time in a long time. • You can set your alarm clock to get up for work and when it goes off, press the button, chuckle, and return to sleep. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 42 The Honeymoon Ends This type of honeymoon phase ordinarily ends when one becomes restless and needs more to do while the more active type of honeymoon ends as people realize they don’t have enough money to travel the world and/or they seek a more structured environment (Atchley, 1982). A study of retired women professionals found that, after some time, they needed to reestablish some order in their lives and were most satisfied when they remained active and were able to use the skills they had previously used at work (Price, 2003). 43 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology The 3rd Phase is the Retirement Routine. • The honeymoon is over and the initial flurry of activity calms down or the rest and relaxation becomes more active. • It takes some time to find the right routine and initially retirees or couples will make several modifications but eventually settle into a regular schedule. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 44 Disenchantment • A fourth phase, experienced only by some, is disenchantment, which may come before or after a routine has been reached. • One’s plans may be dashed if one becomes disabled or loses a spouse or if available funds are insufficient to finance all the activities dreamed of in the years preceding retirement. • In one longitudinal study, over 300 people were followed from 1975 to 1995 and not one experienced a disenchantment phase following retirement (Atchley, 1999). 45 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Termination This occurs when the individual returns to work which is, as you know, difficult because jobs for older workers are hard to find. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology When a retiree returns to work, this is often referred to as revolving retirement because most will retire again later. The return to work may have been prompted by disenchantment or by the need for additional funds. It is estimated that about 13 percent of retirees terminate their retirements at least once (Francese, 2004). 46 Popular Places to Retire in the U.S. The following are among those thought to be the best places to retire in the U.S. Bloomington, IN. This is a small friendly community with Indiana University offering cultural events nearly every night. The town is surrounded by gentle hills and many homes are reasonably priced. Columbia, MO. Four universities are located here and offer ample culture and sports. The city is big enough to offer many of the opportunities of larger cities without a high crime rate. Holland, MI. This small town is located on an inland lake with beaches. In the winter both sidewalks and streets are heated to melt snow. Hot Springs, AK. This small town is in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains and numerous recreational opportunities, including a real hot spring, are available. Prescott, AZ. A small town near the Prescott National Forest with innumerable hiking trails and six golf courses. Punta Gorda, FL. Sandy beaches and year-long warm climate make this town attractive. More than one-third of the population is 65 and older. 47 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Popular Places to Retire in the U.S. (2) St. Simon Island, GA. This town is filled with local artists and sandy beaches. There is, of course, some risk of hurricanes. University Triangle, NC. Three major universities are located here and offer many cultural and sporting events and part-time job opportunities. Walla Walla, WA. This small town attracts a number of retired wine connoisseurs and urban refugees. Three nearby colleges provide educational opportunities in this peaceful community. Williamsburg, VA. This eighteenth-century colonial town allows one to savor history before heading to one of 15 twenty-first-century golf courses. Many other places also welcome retirees. Some of the best are Gardnerville Ranchos, NV; Crossville, TN; Del Rio, TX; Georgetown, SC; Ocean Pines, MD; Brookings, OR; Silver City, NM; and Seaford, DE. Sources: John Howells (1998). Consumers Digest; www.bizjournals.com/specials/pages/63.html; and http://money.cnn.com/2000/06/09/senior_living/q_retire_places/. Accessed September 10, 2007. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 48 Retirement in Botswana and Zimbawe • In Botswana, the typical physical changes of aging seem to occur earlier and are more obvious. • Most work is hard labor which takes a toll on workers sooner than the lessdemanding jobs frequently found in other parts of the world. • Adults retire when they can no longer work but generally remain active in their families. • In Zimbabwe, many older adults are very poor and must live in special housing provided by church groups. This housing can be very restrictive or function more like a coop. 49 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Ireland • In Clifden, Ireland, adults are generally selfemployed or work at farming or fishing. • Here people never really retire; they simply work less as they grow older and begin to receive a pension to assist them in meeting their needs. 50 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology Hong Kong • In Hong Kong, a retired person is an older person who is unable to find or continue steady work and many older adults are unable to find any work at all. • Pensions are small and most retired adults must rely on their children for housing and support. • Community homes for older adults in Hong Kong often are crowded and older residents sometimes cease writing to relatives believing it would be better to be thought of as dead than as a resident of one of these old age homes (Holmes & Holmes, 1995). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 51 Other countries • Another study examined retirement in Chile, the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, and Thailand (Kaiser, 1993). • Older adults in all of these countries still were actively involved in domestic activities. • The most frequently named domestic activity in Chile and Sri Lanka was household cleaning while in the Dominican Republic it was food preparation and in Thailand it was childcare. • The most frequently reported source of retirement income was a pension in Chile; retired adults in the other three countries named their children as their primary source of income. • In all four countries, retired adults listed finances as their major problem and health was a close second. Their concerns are similar to retired adults in the United States. 52 Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology • Those who have good income after retirement have better financial adjustment to retirement than those with poor income. • Income during retirement is traditionally described as a three-legged stool. Financial Adjustment • One leg stands for income from Social Security, one for retirement pensions, and one for personal savings and assets (Gale, 1997). • Economists and financial planners say that an individual’s preretirement standard of living can be maintained after retirement as long as the three-legged stool replaces at least 60 percent of preretirement income (Atchley, 1997). Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 53 •After retirement, less income is needed to maintain the same standard that the person had while working. •With more leisure time, the retiree can perform tasks that Less Income others may have been paid to do in the past; there are fewer people living at home and needing support; expenses are lower (there is no longer a need to maintain a wardrobe for work); often the mortgage is paid off; there are no payroll taxes; and income tax is lower (Gale, 1997). •In cases where medical expenses, housing, or transportation costs may be higher than normal, one may need 70 to 80 percent (or more) of preretirement income to maintain the same standard of living. Griselda Chapa, ScD Introduction to Gerontology 54 Chapter 13 Healthy/Helpful Environments: Places and People How Spaces Become Places or How We Fit in • The right environment is the one in which we feel comfortable—but what exactly does that mean? We are comfortable when we fit with our surroundings. • Powell Lawton and his colleagues at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center proposed an explanation of this fit (Lawton, 1980; Nahemow, 1997). • Their theory of person–environment congruence, called the ecological theory of aging, explains fit in terms of a how a person operates in any given environment. • The theory holds that the ability to complete a task is a result of the congruence between what the environment demands of us (which they call environmental press or demand) and the capabilities of the person attempting the task (which they call competence or person capability). • For example, if you have to sit in a hard metal chair for a 3-hour lecture thus requiring you to sit in a certain posture and pay attention, and your back, legs, and brain allow you to do that then you fit this environment, or have person– environment congruence. The important part of Lawton’s theory is the “fit” between the person and the environment; neither one alone predicts how comfortable people are or how well they complete daily tasks. If an environment is not all challenging, we give up or get bored. 2 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Types of Person–Environment Congruence • We operate in environments on a number of levels, so we can fit or not fit on as many levels (Weisman et al., 1997; Rubenstein & Parmelee, 1992). • These include fitting in with other people (social congruence), being able to move around or work in a given space (physical congruence), and feelings about a place and your identity in that space (psychological congruence). • We go through life choosing environments that fit on all these levels or change environments to adapt to our competencies. As you read the next section, think about how well you fit into the various environments in which you have lived 3 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Social Congruence • Social relationships and the importance of social support were discussed in Chapter 10. • Social congruence refers to many of the issues discussed there. We are comfortable in environments that allow us the right level of access to people with whom we share good interactions. • Many people in old age choose their living arrangements based on where their friends or family are and how easily they will be able to facilitate their social interactions. • Some people fit in many social environments; they like all kinds of people. Those who are more social and outgoing might be considered higher in social competence and have a wider range of environmental adaptation. • Others who prefer to be alone, who don’t make friends easily, are shy, or have hearing or other disabilities may have more trouble adapting to new social environments. 4 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Psychological Congruence • Researchers have examined the many ways in which we turn spaces that we occupy into places to which we are attached. • Think about the places in your life that hold special meaning for you. Some may be specific buildings, such as the house in which you grew up or your high school. • Others may be geographic locations or terrain such as the beach, the mountains, or the vacant lot where you played ball with your friends. When a space that we have lived in becomes a place, part of our identity is defined there. Events occurred there that help define who you are now (Rubenstein & Parmelee, 1992). • You have memories of places that make up your personal history and for many of us, the objects in these places have further given us a sense of well-being. Think about your stuffed animal or trophy on a shelf or other reminders of important events in your life. • Those items make up your attachment to a place. The longer you live in a place, the more experiences you have there and the more attached you get to that place. For many older people, living in the same house for 30, 40, 50, or more years is not uncommon. • Our feelings toward, or psychological congruence to our home, can be very strong as we age. Our attachment to old places remains with us as we add the new spaces we occupy. Attachment to place may be more important in old age than 5 any other time in our life. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Physical Congruence • The most research and writing on person–environment congruence is in the area of the physical, or what is often called the built, environment. • For example, the contribution of light available and your vision ability, predicts completion of reading tasks. • Work in aging, and specifically in human factors and aging, has focused on the declining physical strength and stamina in advanced age and how that results in a mismatch with an environment made for younger, stronger people. • It is important to know that the physical environment can play a very important role in well-being and remaining independent in old age. If you have difficulty getting around due to arthritis in your knees and hips, everyday tasks are affected. • Cooking, cleaning, and shopping can be difficult because they require a good deal of standing and walking. Furthermore, you may have difficulty getting out and interacting with friends and family, which can isolate you and significantly affect your well-being. • Depression may result and further jeopardize your ability to remain in your own home. The physical environment impacts us in significant ways. Fitting into an environment that matches our capabilities and allows us to complete our everyday tasks is important at every age. 6 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Fitting into our environments • These different ways that we fit into environments are not separate but rather often overlap. • For example, how well we maneuver around the house can affect the way we feel about it and the way we feel about our house can affect whether we invite friends over. • Looking to the larger environment, how we feel about our neighborhood, how well we can get around, and how many friends live nearby can all interact to allow us to fit or not fit in that environment. • In an interesting study of 8222 persons 70 years and older living in urban neighborhoods across the United States, stability and not social economic status was the most important factor in how well people continued to function in their homes. • However, contrary to what you might think, it was not more stable but less-stable neighborhoods that were associated with better health and cognitive and physical function. The authors (Aneshenel et al., 2007) were surprised by the findings and not sure how to interpret the data. Do you have any idea what can explain these surprising results? Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology 7 Where We Live in Old Age • Older people choose from a variety of housing options, although at any age, finances most often limit those options. • The majority of older persons in the community (77%) live in single-family homes. • As people need more help, they are most often cared for in their own homes or move in with a relative or friend. • Many other options are available such as senior apartments, assisted living facilities, retirement communities, and continuing care retirement communities (CCRC). CCRCs have emerged as extremely popular options for those who can afford them. CCRCs provide a range of housing options from independent living to assisted living to nursing care. • An individual can move to another level of care if needed. CCRCs also offer an array of entertainment, recreational, and educational opportunities. They also require long-term contracts and have high monthly rents and substantial entrance fees. 8 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Nursing Homes • According to the 2000 U.S. census, of the almost 35 million people age 65 and over, approximately 33.5 million (95.7%) live in the community and 1.5 million (about 4.3%) live in nursing homes (Census Bureau, 2001). • As noted in Chapter 1, the number of older persons (particularly those over 85) in the population is growing, those most likely to need some type of long-term care. • A concern had been that the population is growing much faster than the supply of nursing home beds. • In fact, the number of nursing home beds has dropped over the last 10 to 15 years; however, the need for beds also has dropped. 9 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Nursing home occupancy rates have fallen • suggesting that more older persons are opting to stay home and receive services there or in other types of housing like assisted-living facilities. • You may already be asking yourself: Where do people who live in assisted living or retirement communities fit in? It is an interesting question with a vague answer. • In most surveys, nursing home residents include just that, people living in skilled nursing facilities. All other specialized senior housing usually is grouped into the community dwelling category. • However, some housing residences for older persons include a skilled nursing home within a continuum of services. It is unclear whether people in these nursing homes are included only in one category (and which one) or are sometimes doubly counted. • Furthermore, people living in assisted living seem to be counted in the noninstitutionalized category, but that is not the case in every study or report. Because of this confusion, the numbers of residents in various housing options is simply an estimate. What is important is that most elderly people are not in institutions but rather are living independently or semi-independently in the community. 10 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Noninstitutionalized elders • Data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2005) indicate the majority (66%) of older noninstitutionalized elders live in a family setting. • About 81% of older men and 60% of older women live with their families. This includes individuals living with a spouse (71% of older men and 41% of older women) and those living with children, siblings, or other relatives (7% of older men, 17% of older women). • About 28% or 10.5 million people over 65 (three quarters of whom are women; 64% are non-Hispanic white) live alone. Regarding race, non-Hispanic whites and blacks had the highest proportion of people living alone, around 40%. • The number or people living alone varies significantly by geographic region as well, with Hawaii having the lowest proportion of elders living alone (18%) and Washington, D.C., having the highest rate (36%). • The gender differences in those living alone are great, representing 47% of older women and 30% of older men. • An interesting point is the shift over the last 10 to 15 years with more men and fewer women living alone. • The census bureau reported that about one half of women over 75 years of age in the United States are widows and the majority live alone (2005). The trend is for more people to continue living alone into advanced age. In fact, the fastest growing group of elders living alone are those 85 years and over. What do you think are the implications of this trend for families in particular and for society as a whole? Where do older people live in other countries and other cultures? Box 13-1 presents a cross-cultural glimpse at where people live around the world 11 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Cross-Cultural comparisons • There are a number of countries in which coresidence or extended family living is still the norm. This is most frequently seen in less-modernized or developing countries, such as those in South and Central America, Africa, and in many rural areas of Europe and Asia (Brink, 1998). • A combination of traditional cultural family values and economic necessity seem to drive the continuation of this time-old practice. • In Korea, 82% of older adults live with their adult children, citing the responsibility of younger members to take care of elders as the reason why (Kim, 1998). • In India, the extended family is the predominant housing arrangement for elders. Indian sons consider it a duty to take care of their parents and an extreme embarrassment to allow their parents to be sent to nursing homes (Arai, 1998). Aykan and Wolf (2000) suggest that in Turkey, economic well-being is the primary driving force allowing elders to live separately from their adult children. 12 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Homeownership • Another way to look at where older people live is to examine who owns their home and who rents. • This is important when you talk about renovations, modifications, or are considering a move. • If you own your home, you can build up equity; the money that you paid into your home over the years can provide you with capital to move or to make major modifications. • These are important issues to consider as you plan for old age. 13 Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology Homeownership (2) • In 2003, there were 22.7 million households headed by older persons (U.S. Census, 2005). Of these, 75% were owners. • The median income of homeowners was double the median income of renters. • 50% of homes owned by older persons in 1997 were built before 1960 and 6% of these homes had significant physical problems. • Older homes continue to have repair and maintenance needs compared to younger homes. On a positive note, about 77% of older homeowners in 1997 owned their homes free and clear. Griselda Chapa, ScD, Intro to Gerontology 14 Choosing Where to Live • In many surveys, older respondents report the desire to remain in their homes as long as they possibly can, preferably until death. • In Chapter 11, we saw that only 5% of people choose to move from their homes after retirement. This has been referred to as aging in place and reflects attachment to a place and the comfort or fit they have in these homes. • Fogel (1992) pointed out that many elderly stay in their homes despite deteriorating neighborhoods, economic hardships, and health-related declines. He suggested that the elderly remain in their homes because of the benefits associated with staying at home, particularly psychological benefits. • They like ...
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