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Aging and Resilience: Older Women’s Responses to Change and Adversity

Author

Listed:
  • Cari L. Gulbrandsen

    (Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada)

  • Christine Walsh

    (Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada)

Abstract

The primary objective of the qualitative study was to describe women’s resilience in older adulthood according to older women’s interpretations of their experiences and the contexts of their lives. Intersectionality and critical feminist gerontology served as theoretical frameworks for examining, interpreting and highlighted the dynamic nature of intersecting identities and the interrelationships between identity and contextual factors. Constructivist grounded theory methodology was used to identify themes that represent older women’s subjective interpretations of their experiences with adversity and to construct definitions of resilience based on their experiences. The aspects of identity that women in the study associated with their experiences of adversity and their resilience were age, physical and mental health, marital status and income. Women in the study emphasized how subjective interpretations influenced the meaning they associated with events, circumstances, or changes that accompanied aging and their understanding of the role of identities in those experiences.

Suggested Citation

  • Cari L. Gulbrandsen & Christine Walsh, 2015. "Aging and Resilience: Older Women’s Responses to Change and Adversity," Societies, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:5:y:2015:i:4:p:760-777:d:58972
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Benjamin Cornwell, 2011. "Independence Through Social Networks: Bridging Potential Among Older Women and Men," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 66(6), pages 782-794.
    2. Tiina-Mari Lyyra & Riitta-Liisa Heikkinen, 2006. "Perceived Social Support and Mortality in Older People," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(3), pages 147-152.
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