Changes and events over life course: a comparative study between groups of older adults

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: to identify the changes which had occurred over the last year in the life of older adults, as well as the values attributed to these changes. METHOD: this is a multicentric, cross-sectional study, of the inquiry type, undertaken in three cities of the Brazilian Northeast, investigating two distinct groups of older adults. RESULTS: among the 236 older adults interviewed, it was observed that 30.0% reported health as the main change in their life course in the last year, this category being the most significant response among the older adults aged between 80 and 84 years old (37.7%). Changes in the family were mentioned by 11.5% of the older adults; death (9.6%) and alterations in routine activities (9.6%). In relation to the value attributed to these changes, it was ascertained that for 64.7% of the older adults aged between 65 and 69 years old, these changes were positive. In the older group, 49.4% of the older adults believe that their changes were related to losses. CONCLUSION: the knowledge of the changes mentioned, the value attributed to these changes, and the self-evaluation of health provide information which assists in formulating actions which are more specific to the real needs of these age groups. They also provide the health professionals with a better understanding of how some experiences are experienced in the life trajectories of these older adults.

Identification and description of individual lifestyles as characteristics of life activity

“…This made it possible to define the components extracted and identify those that describe individual lifestyles and life activity of the study sample. Consistently with the ideas that values are linked with behavior (Bardi & Schwartz, 2003) and that they may change in the course of life (Inglehart & Baker, 2000;Schwartz, 2012), I suggest that lifestyle practices are also susceptible to change (Tytarenko, 2014;Silva et al, 2015). It should therefore be noted that the defined lifestyles are generalized and refer to the general orientation and organization of an individual's life activity and life practices, which is transformed in the course of individual life.…”

“…Overall, the findings of the present study shed more light on the typology of lifestyles, providing more perspective on how life practices may be organized based on individual values (Larson et al, 2006;Malyna, 2009). Proving the idea that individual values serve as the ground for individual lifestyle construction, the findings offer more perspective on the mechanisms of the formation and change of individual lifestyle (Maree & Twigge, 2015;Silva et al, 2015) and further research into this topic should be conducted.…”

Qualidade de vida do idoso ribeirinho da Amazônia

“…; Lira, S.C.S. ; Qualidade de vida do idoso ribeirinho da Amazônia uma qualidade de vida reduzida 14,15,16 por apresentar mais limitações com comprometimentos físicos, como sarcopenia 15 , psicológicos, tornando-os susceptíveis à depressão 7,16 , mudança no papel social 17 , ou mesmo fatores extrínsecos como as desigualdades sociais 14 que interferem na percepção da saúde dos mesmos. Nesta pesquisa as alterações à saúde surgiram em todos os idosos, independente do ambiente onde vivem, dado este, ratificado pela SS equivalente.…”

Exploring Recent Adverse and Positive Life Events: A Qualitative Study Among Lonely Older Adults

“…The qualitative data were transcribed verbatim and both deductive and inductive thematic analyses were conducted (Vaismoradi et al 2013). For the deductive analysis, four main labels derived from previous research focusing on life events were applied in advance of the development of the code manual (Cappeliez et al 2008;Silva et al 2015;Fredriksen-Goldsen et al 2017): participants' recent life events concerning health; their living situation; their social network; and financial changes. The inductive analyses aimed to find new categories, themes, and…”

“…Finally, current life course research examines (recent) life events from a quantitative perspective (Silva et al 2015).…”