Gendered Meanings of Care Work Within Late Life Marital Relationships

Author(s):  
Kate Davidson ◽  
Sara Arber ◽  
Jay Ginn

ABSTRACTMost care of older, ailing or disabled people within the home is carried out by a spouse. This paper examines late life marriage and the gendered consequences of caring for older married people in England. Qualitative interview data are analysed to contrast the sense of autonomy of older men and women while caring for a spouse and after widowhood. By encouraging older people to reflect retrospectively on the meaning of their caring roles, we illuminate the process of adjusting to transitions after long-term marriage. The research data indicate that gendered roles and expectations are crucial in understanding the mainly negative experience of older women as carers, in contrast to the more positive experience of older men.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Dmitriy V. Savchenko ◽  
◽  
Svetlana N. Tereshchuk ◽  

This article examines the issue of gender differences in attitudes towards life in older people. The study found that older women are more positive about life than men. To process the research results, such methods of mathematical statistics as the Spearman rank correlation coefficient and the Mann– Whitney difference criterion were used. Based on the results of the work carried out, recommendations were formulated for specialists working with the elderly.


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1802175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Baumert ◽  
Dominik Linz ◽  
Katie Stone ◽  
R. Doug McEvoy ◽  
Steve Cummings ◽  
...  

Respiratory frequency (fR) predicts in-hospital and short-term mortality in patients with a variety of pathophysiological conditions, but its predictive value for long-term cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the general population is unknown. Here, we investigated the relationship between mean nocturnal fR and mortality in community-dwelling older men and women.We measured mean nocturnal fR during sleep from overnight polysomnography in 2686 men participating in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS) Sleep study and 406 women participating in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) to investigate the relationship between mean nocturnal fR and long-term cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.166 (6.1%) men in the MrOS cohort (8.9±2.6 years’ follow-up) and 46 (11.2%) women in the SOF cohort (6.4±1.6 years’ follow-up) died from cardiovascular disease. All-cause mortality was 51.2% and 26.1% during 13.7±3.7 and 6.4±1.6 years’ follow-up in the MrOS Sleep study and the SOF cohorts, respectively. Multivariable Cox regression analysis adjusted for significant covariates demonstrated that fR dichotomised at 16 breaths·min−1 was independently associated with cardiovascular mortality (MrOS: hazard ratio (HR) 1.57, 95% CI 1.14–2.15; p=0.005; SOF: HR 2.58, 95% CI 1.41–4.76; p=0.002) and all-cause mortality (MrOS: HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.04–1.32; p=0.007; SOF: HR 1.50, 95% CI 1.02–2.20; p=0.04).In community-dwelling older men and women, polysomnography-derived mean nocturnal fR ≥16 breaths·min−1 is an independent predictor of long-term cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Whether nocturnal mean fR can be used as a risk marker warrants further prospective studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezhda Golovchanova ◽  
Christiana Owiredua ◽  
Katja Boersma ◽  
Henrik Andershed ◽  
Karin Hellfeldt

Presence of meaning in life is an important component of eudemonic wellbeing while aging. While subjective health and interpersonal relationships are among important sources of meaning for older adults, less research has explored the gender differences in the potential contribution of these sources to the presence of meaning in late life. The current study aims to examine the associations of frailty dimensions (daily activities, health problems, and psychosocial functioning) and social support with the presence of meaning in late life, and whether these associations differ for older men and women. The study employs the data from the 65+ and Safe Study – a cross-sectional survey of residents of senior apartments. The data were collected in 2019 in a mid-sized Swedish municipality (N=618; age range from 64 to 106years, 60.5% female). Results showed significant associations of health problems, psychosocial functioning, and social support with the presence of meaning in life. Further, the results demonstrated no statistically significant gender differences in the associations between frailty dimensions, social support, and presence of meaning. However, since the interaction between health problems and gender approached statistical significance, this association was further explored indicating a more detrimental role of health problems in relation to the presence of meaning in life among older men than among older women. Overall, the study highlights the importance of physical and psychosocial health and social support for the presence of meaning in life among older adults and warrants further research on possible gender differences in the relation between health problems and meaning in late life.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 1104-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Ryborg Jønsson ◽  
Susanne Reventlow ◽  
Ann Dorrit Guassora

AbstractObjectivesResearch on successful aging gives limited attention to the role of suffering from multiple chronic conditions (multimorbidity) in combination with notions of masculinity. We address this by bringing into focus how older men with multimorbidity within the Nordic Model welfare system relate to successful aging. The objective is to bring new insights into key elements of how masculinity, multimorbidity and cultural context create alternative individual versions of successful aging.MethodThe article draws on a long-term fieldwork (18 months) among older men (n=7), who were part of a larger study that also included older women. The fieldwork consisted of 28 interviews with participating men. These data were supplemented by 124 hr of informal chats and observations as well as 32 hr of clinical encounters with health services. Data analysis followed a thematic approach.ResultsAnalysis revealed that older men with multimorbidity understood core components of successful aging, yet did not closely follow them, and instead came up with alternative, gendered interpretations. This process involved three themes centered around independency of: (a) unaided successful aging, (b) vicarious successful aging, and (c) masculine successful aging.DiscussionOur study contributes to research on perceptions of successful aging with insights to the role of cultural context, gender and multimorbidity. Living with multimorbidity challenges the ability of the men to positively frame themselves as successfully aging older adults; however, they navigate this dilemma by constructing their own experiences in their own terms of independence.


Author(s):  
Torbjörn Bildtgård ◽  
Peter Öberg

To repartner in later life is increasingly common in large parts of the Western world. This book addresses the gap in knowledge about late life repartnering and provides a comprehensive map of the changing landscape of late life intimacy. The book examines the changing structural conditions of intimacy and ageing in late modernity. How do longer lives, changing norms and new technologies affect older people’s relationship careers, their attitudes to repartnering and the formation of new relationships? Which forms do these new unions take? What does a new intimate relationship offer older men and women and what are the consequences for social integration? What is the role and meaning of sex? By introducing a gains-perspective the book challenges stereotypes of old age as a period of loss and decline. It also challenges the image of older people as conservative, and instead present them as an avant-garde that often experiment with new ways of being together.


1996 ◽  
Vol 83 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1330-1330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Martin ◽  
Priscilla Davis ◽  
Jess Dancer

Five dyads of older men paired with older women were compared on the pragmatic variables of turn-taking and topicalization. Men talked longer and more often while women served to reinforce and maintain the conversational topics.


2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (12) ◽  
pp. 1554-1561 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. D. Toffanello ◽  
G. Sergi ◽  
N. Veronese ◽  
E. Perissinotto ◽  
S. Zambon ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Mehrabian ◽  
Jeffrey S. Blum

Age-related differences in three temperament (Trait Pleasure-displeasure, Trait Arousability, Trait-Dominance-submissiveness), and four personality (Achieving Tendency, Conformity, Shyness, Loneliness), scales were explored in three studies. Results, generally, were consistent with the hypothesis that scores on Trait Dominance and on trait measures that correlated positively with Trait Dominance (e.g., achievement) were lower for older persons. Achieving Tendency (assessed in Studies One and Three) was lower for older persons. Trait Dominance (assessed in 2 studies) was lower for older men and women in Study Two and lower for older women only in Study Three. In Study Three, two strong negative correlates of Trait Dominance (Conformity, Shyness) were higher for older women. Based on a consistent absence of age/Trait Pleasure relationships, no age-related differences in psychological adjustment-maladjustment were implied by the findings.


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