A Scoping Review of the Maternal Role at Older Age; Perceptions and Occupations

Abstract

Motherhood is a meaningful life role among adult women. Occupations within the maternal role of younger mothers have been well documented, but less is known regarding the maternal-role at older age. This review aimed to describe the occupations, activities, and perceptions that older women ascribe to their maternal role. In the future, this information may promote health and wellbeing of older women. A systematic search of peer reviewed articles, that included healthy, community-dwelling mothers, 60 years of age or older, was conducted. Maternal-role occupations and perceptions of older mothers were identified and classified according to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF). Fourteen articles, representing 3102 older mothers, were included. The identified occupations and activities within the maternal role were from two categories: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) (such as assistance with daily chores) and social participation (such as sharing holiday rituals). Three themes reflecting maternal-role perceptions were identified: providing support; relationship with children; and motherhood as a never-ending role. Maternal occupations were identified in only a few articles and from only two categories, IADL and social participation. These findings together with the perception that motherhood is a ‘never-ending’ role suggests that further research is needed to better characterize the maternal role of older women from an occupational perspective.

How do older women perceive the occupations and activities within their maternal role? Findings from an exploratory survey

“…The strong relatedness of ’assisting in IADL’, ’guidance’ and ’sharing’ to the maternal role supports previous research on motherhood of younger [ 28 , 38 ] and older mothers [ 32 ]. However, the relatedness of ’caring’, ’kinkeeping’ and ’generativity’ to the maternal role, indicated by the older participants, have not been previously identified as motherhood occupations.…”

“…This exploratory survey aimed to identify occupations and daily activities that older mothers ascribe to their maternal role at older age. The study followed a scoping review, that we conducted, of the occupations within the maternal role at older age, which highlighted the paucity of research on this important subject and helped formulate the questions and statements [ 32 ]. In this study, the older mothers rated a wide range of activities and occupations that are related to their maternal role, emphasizing that the maternal role is very significant also when the children are grown-up, are independent and have families of their own.…”

“…Occupations within the maternal role at older age-Participants were asked to rate the relatedness of each occupation to their maternal role using Likert scales (0-not related, 1-weakly related, 2-moderately related, 3-strongly related) and the frequency of their engagement in each of the occupations (never, at least once a year, at least one a month, at least once PLOS ONE a week). Since a standard tool for assessing maternal occupations of older women was not found, the questions were based on the scoping review of the maternal role at older age [32] as well as on relevant aging and motherhood literature [For example : 17, 37-39, 42]. The following occupations were included: passing on family legacy to the next generation, such as sharing life experience with younger family members (generativity); helping family members keep in touch with each another, for example, planning and organizing family get-togethers, celebrating holidays together (kinkeeping); assisting children with their daily chores, such as preparing meals and taking care of the grandchildren (assisting in IADL); providing concrete support or advice in various fields, for example, sharing recipes or household maintenance tips (guidance); sharing everyday occurrences and experiences with children (sharing); providing support such as listening and sharing experiences when children experience challenges (emotional support); being concerned regarding the wellbeing of children (caring); providing financial assistance, such as help with paying rent or college tuition (financial support).…”

“…Hibbs and Getzen [ 31 ] described that mothers continue to engage in mothering-related occupations, even when their children become independent adults and form their own immediate families. In a scoping review of the maternal role at older age, that we conducted, and included 14 articles [ 32 ], we also found that older mothers continued to provide various means of support to their adult children (instrumental and emotional among others) and also engaged in various social activities together with them. The older mother’s perceptions regarding their relationships with their adult children is an important topic that arose from the review.…”