Nuanced Perspectives
A Critical Analysis of Western Disease Constructs
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rayne Stroebel
This presentation explores the impact of colonialization on the peoples of South Africa, and how it shaped knowledge formation, in order to understand ageing and memory loss in an indigenous population. The experience of ageing of people living in informal settlements is likely to be affected by a number of factors, some of which older people may have little or no control over - poverty, disease, [hunger] food insecurity, a low education level, marginalisation - social exclusion, and lifelong hardship are likely to impact on the way they experience ageing. These influences may be a direct result of their displacement and dispossession given South Africa’s unique history. It is proposed that while ageing is universal, the way in which it is experienced will differ depending on the lived experience of individuals across the globe. Living is a complex, multi-facetted interaction between people and their environment. An assumption that disease is experienced similarly across the globe needs interrogation. The ‘export’ of disease models to remote parts of the world for the purpose of categorising people and validating Western research and data projections is a subject of contemporary academic discourse that must be considered in new light. Dementia as a Western, biomedical disease construct cannot and should not be exported to the rest of the world unless there is a much deeper understanding of its manifestation in different cultures.
The Influence of Social Exclusion and Integration on Trauma Reactions in Older Adults
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mark Olson
The relationship between social exclusion and post-traumatic stress reactions is a particularly timely issue, warranting greater attention in the trauma literature. Research with military veterans and refugee groups indicates that the social marginalization resulting from racial and ethnic discrimination can exacerbate post-traumatic stress symptoms. This suggests an increased potential for emergent or recurrent trauma reactions in these populations, as previous research has documented older adults’ unique risk for social exclusion as a consequence of ageism. The issue takes on greater relevance due to the unprecedented increase in the older adult population worldwide. Healthcare and social service providers can play a critical role in mitigating the psychosocial factors associated with ageism that may exacerbate trauma reactions.
Who Will Say Kaddish for Me? - Social Exclusion of Older LGBT People: Findings of an Israeli Developmental Group Process
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Raphael Eppler Hattab
The need to address the dimension of aging in LGBTQ's social change processes has become evident only in recent years. Older LGBT people have been largely excluded from queer liberation movements over the years. However, the discourse on the implications of this exclusion remains quite limited. As a starting point, it can be argued that older LGBT people in most societies are exposed to a double stereotyping. They realize in their old age that they have to contend not only with stereotypes and prejudices towards them as LGBT, but also with the negative social construction of old age, rooted severely and profoundly within the gay community. To deepen the understanding of the unique reality and needs of older LGBT people, a three-year, group-oriented developmental process was conducted, in which gay men aged 60 to 75 participated. The special character of the lives of older gays, as emerged throughout this process, can be understood by looking at four main pivots: The family structure, isolation and loneliness; Understanding the historical context of LGBT identity; Aspects of coming out of the closet at an older age; Silencing of love and sexuality in the LGBT community at an older age. Addressing the wellbeing of older LGBT individuals on these issues requires bidirectional aging activism, which involves both empowering processes within LGBT communities, to promote their aging-friendliness – and taking part in the overall social change in relation to aging and old age.
Grandchildcare and Wellbeing: Gendered Differences Among Grandparents Providing Childcare
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Isabelle Notter
Grandparents throughout the world are increasingly providing childcare for their grandchildren. Research has shown mixed results regarding the mental and physiological health effects of grandchildcare: health benefits or detriments are relative, dependent upon grandparents’ age, health status, race, and socioeconomic status. Gender differences in health and grandchildcare remain understudied and have relied predominantly on non-representative or cross-sectional data. Further, research has shown that vibrant and expansive social and kin networks improve these same health outcomes in older adults, and yet little research has investigated the combination of these networks and transfers. I expand this literature by using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS 2002-2012) to examine the longitudinal effects of grandchildcare on mental and physiological health conditions by gender in the United States. To test role strain or role enhancement theory, I introduce social contact and relationships, such as social engagements with friends and other intergenerational contact, as moderators for grandchildcare. Preliminary findings show that grandfathers experience role strain, or worsening health outcomes and experiences, when coresiding with kin; and role enhancement, or health improvements, when living near kin. This is not the case for grandmothers, who experience role strain more often than role enhancement. This paper expands upon the longitudinal work addressing gendered differences in health in later life, and begins to disentangle the relationships between grandchildcare, intergenerational and social networks, and health in older adults.
