2018
Authors
Janine Wiles, Philippa Miskelly, Oneroa Stewart, Ngaire Kerse, Anna Rolleston, Merryn Gott
Abstract
In this paper we reflect on discussions with people of advanced age in Āotearoa New Zealand, and draw on theoretical frameworks of resilience and place in old age, to explore insights about the ways older people maintain quality of life and health.
People in advanced age saw themselves as challenged, rather than threatened, by adversities, and positioned themselves as able to draw on a lifetime of experience and resourcefulness and collaborations with supporters to deal with challenges. Key strategies include downplaying illness and resisting biomedical discourses of complexity, positioning embodied selves as having agency, and creative adaptation in the face of loss.
People in advanced age exhibit resilience, maintaining wellbeing, autonomy and good physical and mental quality of life even while living with challenges such as functional decline and multi-morbidities. These findings have significance for supporters of older people, emphasising the need to move away from a narrow focus on problems to working together WITH people in advanced age to offer a more holistic approach that encourages and enhances adaptation and flexibility, rather than rigid and counterproductive coping patterns.
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