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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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'Keeping going'
— chronic joint pain in older people who describe their health as good | | Author(s) | Jane C Richardson, Janet C Grime, Bie Nio Ong |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 34, no 8, September 2014 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, September 2014 |
| Pages | pp 1380-1396 |
| Source | journals.cambridge.org/aso |
| Keywords | Arthritis ; Pain ; Good Health ; Longitudinal surveys ; Qualitative Studies. |
| Annotation | It is common for people with chronic conditions to report their health as good, although models of healthy ageing do not account for this. The concept of successful ageing focuses on overcoming problems, in contrast to the concept of resilience which can acknowledge vulnerability. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the main cause of joint pain in older people, but research in this area has tended to focus on OA as an illness. Consequently, this research aimed to explore OA from the perspective of wellness. The authors undertook a longitudinal qualitative study to explore 'wellness and resilience' in a group of older people who reported chronic joint pain and considered themselves healthy. They interviewed 27 people and followed them up with monthly diary sheets. The participants could respond by answering the questions on the contact sheet, or could ask for further contact with the researcher. This article focuses on how resilience relates to how people consider themselves to be well. Participants' experience of the adversity of their pain varied, and was influenced by context and meaning. Participants described 'keeping going' in body, mind and everyday life. Flexibility and pragmatism were key aspects of keeping going. The findings support a broader version of resilience that incorporates vulnerabilities. In the context of health care, the authors suggest that treating the frail body should not come at the expense of undermining an older person's sense of a resilient self. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-150604006 A |
| Classmark | CLA: CT7: CD: 3J: 3DP |
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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