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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Configurations of informal social support among older lesbians | | Author(s) | Colleen Anne Richard, Alison Hamilton Brown |
| Journal title | Journal of Women & Aging, vol 18, no 4, 2006 |
| Pages | pp 49-66 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Older women ; Sexual orientation ; Informal care ; Philosophy ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Limited research has been conducted on the needs and concerns of older lesbians in the American population. The authors present findings from a qualitative study of 25 older (age 55+) lesbians' experiences of and perspectives on ageing with a focus on their discussions of social support. They found that ageing lesbians may be less likely to access formal social services due to perceptions of bias within the services and a potential lack of connection with those who do use services. However, participants were creative about formulating informal networks of support. Four heuristic categories of informal social support (empowered, secure, independent and precarious) were developed to characterise ways in which participants configured their support systems. Social support within each category was conceptualised both in terms of intentionality and degree of connectedness. Having a partner did not necessarily equate with a strong sense of social support. Further research needs to be conducted to better characterise and respond to older lesbians as they age. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-070413228 A |
| Classmark | BD: ES6: P6: 4DP: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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