Leisure-Related Predictors on a Sense of Purpose in Life among Older Adults with Cancer

Abstract Despite the growing use of retirement communities and ageing care facilities, little is known about how residing in retirement residences may impact aspects of older adult wellbeing. Living in these communities may hold particular influence on residents’ sense of purpose, if they feel limited in their opportunities for individual action, or could serve to promote purposefulness depending on the social connections available. The current study sought to explore contributing factors as well as barriers to purpose in older adults living in three continuing care retirement communities. Using brief semi-structured interviews, 18 older adults were asked to describe their purpose in life, community-related activities and any perceived challenges limiting their ability to pursue this purpose. Thematic analysis was used to examine themes common across interviews. Interviews presented a mixed picture of the nature of purposefulness in retirement facilities. Residents espoused several benefits of community living such as social and leisure opportunities, while also noting several obstacles to their purpose, including health concerns and the belief that purpose in life was not relevant for older adults. These findings provide insight into how older adults can derive a sense of purpose from activities within their retirement community and how facilities can better tailor programmes to promote purposefulness and support personally valued roles for residents.

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Perception of COVID-19 Restrictions on Daily Life among Japanese Older Adults: A Qualitative Focus Group Study

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare8040450 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 450

Author(s):

Risa Takashima ◽

Ryuta Onishi ◽

Kazuko Saeki ◽

Michiyo Hirano

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Focus Group ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Social Life ◽

Functional Decline ◽

Purpose In Life ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Focus Group Study ◽

Sense Of Purpose ◽

Social Risks

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed older adults to health and social risks. This study examined the perceptions of community-dwelling older adults regarding how COVID-19 restricted their daily lives. Six focus-group interviews were conducted with 24 participants (mean age, 78.2 ± 5.5 years) living in urban and rural areas in Japan. Then, a qualitative inductive content analysis was performed. Six themes were generated: “fear of infection and public, watchful eyes,” “consistency in daily personal life,” “pain from reducing my social life,” “readiness to endure a restricted life,” “awareness of positive changes in myself,” and “concern for a languishing society.” There was no change that would make their lives untenable, and they continued their daily personal lives at a minimum level. However, their social lives were reduced, which over the long term can lead to a lost sense of purpose in life. This was reported as an adverse factor in the development of other diseases and functional decline in previous studies. While there is no doubt that infection prevention is important, supporting older adults in engaging in activities that provide a sense of purpose in life could contribute to their present and future overall health including mental health.

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Sense of Purpose in Life Promotes Resilience to Memory Deficits Related to Depressive Symptomatology

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.982 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 255-255

Author(s):

Nathan Lewis ◽

Patrick Hill

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Mental Status ◽

Depressive Symptomatology ◽

Purpose In Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Memory Deficits ◽

Word Recall ◽

Older Adulthood ◽

Sense Of Purpose

Abstract Individuals higher in depressive symptoms commonly present with neuropsychological deficits including poorer memory performance. Sense of purpose in life, a component of psychological well-being, has been shown to promote resilience to cognitive impairment in older adulthood, but it is unclear whether it may also protect against cognitive deficits associated with higher depressive symptoms. This study examined whether purpose in life moderated the effect of depressive symptoms on cognitive functioning in a large longitudinal study of 4599 American older adults (Mage = 74.33 years, range = 65–104 years, 56.84% female) across a 12-year follow-up period. Depressive symptomatology was assessed at each wave using the 8-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Multilevel models assessed the influence of depressive symptoms and the interaction with sense of purpose in life on changes in word recall and mental status. Higher depressive symptoms were associated with poorer recall at baseline, but not rate of change over time. A negative interaction was observed between sense of purpose in life and depressive symptoms such that individuals higher in purpose experienced a less negative impact of depressive symptoms on word recall. No significant interaction of sense of purpose and depressive symptoms was observed on mental status. Having a sense of purpose in life may help protect older adults from memory deficits associated with higher depressive symptoms. The present findings underscore the potential for sense of purpose to promote cognitive reserve in older adulthood, allowing individuals to maintain cognitive performance in the face of accruing neuropsychological challenges.

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Sense of Purpose Following a Dementia Diagnostic Appointment: Comparing Self- and Other-Reports of Care Recipients and Care Partners

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703478 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew J. Wynn ◽

Catherine H. Ju ◽

Patrick L. Hill

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Purpose In Life ◽

Older Adulthood ◽

Self And Other ◽

Sense Of Purpose ◽

Care Recipients ◽

Care Partners ◽

Self Reports ◽

Before And After ◽

Future Work

Objective: Purpose in life tends to decline in older adulthood and it is thought that intact cognitive functioning is required for purposeful living. Thus, it is likely that individuals may perceive older adults who are experiencing cognitive declines associated with dementia as having a reduced sense of purpose. Biases such as these may influence how individuals, especially care partners, interact with those with dementia.Method: This study examined how sense of purpose changed following a dementia diagnostic appointment for both the person receiving a diagnosis and their care partner. This study also explored how each individual perceived the other member of the dyad’s sense of purpose. Older adults (47 care recipients and 75 care partners, 57% female; Mage = 68.5 years, SDage = 12.0 years) provided self- and other-report ratings of sense of purpose before and after their appointment at a specialized memory clinic.Results: Overall, both care recipients and care partners’ sense of purpose declined following a dementia diagnostic appointment [t(85) = 7.01, p < 0.001]. However, when comparing self-reports and other-reports of purpose, care partners reported that care recipients experienced a lower sense of purpose in life than the care recipients reported about themselves.Conclusions: Care recipients and partners reported less purpose in life following their dementia diagnostic appointment. Care partners may hold certain biases regarding sense of purpose toward care recipients. These findings can inform future work regarding how care recipients and care partners can plan purposeful lives following a dementia diagnosis.

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Sense of purpose in life and five health behaviors in older adults

Preventive Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106172 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 139 ◽

pp. 106172 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Eric S. Kim ◽

Koichiro Shiba ◽

Julia K. Boehm ◽

Laura D. Kubzansky

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Purpose In Life ◽

Sense Of Purpose

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Accelerated Decline in Sense of Purpose in Life Years Prior to Dementia Diagnosis

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.901 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 281-282

Author(s):

Nathan Lewis ◽

Jonathan Rush ◽

Patrick Hill

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Successful Aging ◽

Purpose In Life ◽

Dementia Diagnosis ◽

Major Life ◽

Sense Of Purpose ◽

Age Related ◽

Life Challenges ◽

Term Change ◽

Life Years

Abstract Research has pointed to sense of purpose in life as an important individual difference that promotes successful aging, predicting greater psychological wellbeing, physical functioning, and cognitive health in older adulthood. Despite such benefits, it is unclear how major life challenges such as the onset of cognitive impairment may impact the sense of purpose of older adults. Building on this, the present study examined long-term change in sense of purpose in a longitudinal sample of older adults who would later develop dementia. Data were from 341 participants without dementia at study intake who were subsequently diagnosed with dementia during the follow-up period (Mage = 81.92 years at intake, Mage = 89.19 years at diagnosis, 72.72% female). Participants completed annual assessments of purpose in life up to 17 years prior to dementia diagnosis (M = 6.99 assessments prior to diagnosis). Piecewise growth modeling examined change in sense of purpose in life with time structured as years to diagnosis. Results suggested a period of accelerated decline distinct from normative age-related change beginning around 5.60 years prior to dementia onset. Discussion will focus on two potential explanations: that perceiving declines in cognition may lead to diminished sense of purpose in life or that underlying changes in the brain may impact both cognition and sense of purpose resulting in concurrent decline over time.

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Sense of Purpose in Life Is Associated with Lower Risk of Incident Dementia: A Meta-Analysis

Journal of Alzheimer s Disease ◽

10.3233/jad-210364 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Angelina R. Sutin ◽

Damaris Aschwanden ◽

Martina Luchetti ◽

Yannick Stephan ◽

Antonio Terracciano

Keyword(s):

Lower Risk ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Random Effect ◽

Purpose In Life ◽

Population Based ◽

Primary Data ◽

Or Education ◽

Total N ◽

Sense Of Purpose ◽

Incident Dementia

Background: A sense of purpose in life has been associated with healthier cognitive outcomes across adulthood, including risk of dementia. The robustness and replicability of this association, however, has yet to be evaluated systematically. Objective: To test whether a greater sense of purpose in life is associated with lower risk of dementia in four population-based cohorts and combined with the published literature. Methods: Random-effect meta-analysis of prospective studies (individual participant data and from the published literature identified through a systematic review) that examined sense of purpose and risk of incident dementia. Results: In six samples followed up to 17 years (four primary data and two published; total N = 53,499; n = 5,862 incident dementia), greater sense of purpose in life was associated with lower dementia risk (HR = 0.77, 95%CI = 0.73–0.81, p < 0.001). The association was generally consistent across cohorts (I2 = 47%), remained significant controlling for clinical (e.g., depression) and behavioral (e.g., physical inactivity) risk factors, and was not moderated by age, gender, or education. Conclusion: Sense of purpose is a replicable and robust predictor of lower risk of incident dementia and is a promising target of intervention for cognitive health outcomes.

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