(Re)creating community: Experiences of Older Women Forcibly Relocated During Apartheid

A Scoping Review of Psychological Sense of Community among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Psychological sense of community (PSOC) is an important construct for health and well-being outcomes for community-dwelling older adults. Drawing on the Ecological Theory of Aging and the Age-Friendly Cities (AFC) framework, this scoping review explored how PSOC has been used in research with community-dwelling older adults. This study examined antecedents, correlates, and outcomes of PSOC, with a focus on relevance to theory and practice. Databases were searched between 1986 and 2021 for peer-reviewed journal articles. Searches identified 582 unique articles, and 28 were included in the final sample. Three primary themes emerged in the synthesis: relevance to the AFC framework, PSOC as a predictor of health and well-being outcomes, and the role of PSOC in relocation. Findings from this review show that PSOC serves as a mechanism that links the social and physical AFC environments with health and well-being outcomes. This review also presents mechanisms for how features of the environment relate to PSOC. These findings demonstrate the role of PSOC as a resource to improve person-environment fit. Results from this review can be used to guide future research and inform theory, policy, and practice.

Setting priorities for ageing research in Africa: A systematic mapping review of 512 studies from sub-Saharan Africa

Background

In 2040, the older population's growth rate in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will be faster than those experienced by developed nations since 1950. In preparation for this growth, the National Institute on Aging commissioned the National Academies' Committee on Population to organize a workshop on advancing aging research in Africa. This meeting provided a platform for discussing some areas requiring improvement in aging research in SSA regions. We believed that conducting a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles to set priorities for aging research in SSA is warranted. Therefore, this article is the first in a Four-Part series that summaries the types and trends of peer-reviewed studies in SSA.

Methods

This systematic mapping review followed the Search-Appraisal-Synthesis-Analysis Framework. We systematically searched multiple databases from inception till February 2021 and included peer-reviewed articles conducted with/for older adults residing in SSA. Conventional content analysis was employed to categorize studies into subject-related areas.

Results

We included 512 studies (quantitative = 426, qualitative = 71 and mixed-method = 15). Studies were conducted in 32 countries. Quantitative studies included were observational studies: cross-sectional (n = 250, 59%), longitudinal (n = 126, 30%), and case-control (n = 12, 3%); and experimental studies: pre-post design (n = 4, 1%), randomized control trial (RCT, n = 12, 3%); and not reported (n = 21, 5%). Fifteen qualitative studies did not state their study design; where stated, study design ranged from descriptive (n = 14, 20%), ethnography (n = 12, 17%), grounded theory (n = 7, 10%), narrative (n = 5, 7%), phenomenology (n = 10, 14%), interpretative exploratory (n = 4, 6%), case studies (n = 4, 6%). Of the 15 mixed-method studies, seven did not state their mixed-method design. Where stated, design includes concurrent (n = 1), convergent (n = 1), cross-sectional (n = 3), informative (n = 1), sequential exploratory (n = 1) and retrospective (n = 2). Studies were classified into 30 (for quantitative studies) and seven (for qualitative and mixed-method) subject-related areas. HIV/AIDs-related and non-communicable diseases-related studies were the most predominant subject-related areas. No studies explored the transdisciplinary co-production of interventions.

Conclusions

There are glaring gaps in ageing research in SSA, especially mixed-methods and RCTs. A large number of studies focused on HIV/AIDs and non-communicable disease-related studies. National and international funding agencies should set up priority funding competitions for transdisciplinary collaborations in ageing research.

Setting priorities for ageing research in Africa: A systematic mapping review of 512 studies from sub-Saharan Africa

BACKGROUND

In 2040, the older population's growth rate in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will be faster than those experienced by developed nations since 1950. In preparation for this growth, the National Institute on Aging commissioned the National Academies' Committee on Population to organize a workshop on advancing aging research in Africa. This meeting provided a platform for discussing some areas requiring improvement in aging research in SSA regions. We believed that conducting a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles to set priorities for aging research in SSA is warranted. Therefore, this article is the first in a Four-Part series that summaries the types and trends of peer-reviewed studies in SSA.

METHODS

This systematic mapping review followed the Search-Appraisal-Synthesis-Analysis Framework. We systematically searched multiple databases from inception till February 2021 and included peer-reviewed articles conducted with/for older adults residing in SSA. Conventional content analysis was employed to categorize studies into subject-related areas.

RESULTS

We included 512 studies (quantitative = 426, qualitative = 71 and mixed-method = 15). Studies were conducted in 32 countries. Quantitative studies included were observational studies: cross-sectional (n = 250, 59%), longitudinal (n = 126, 30%), and case-control (n = 12, 3%); and experimental studies: pre-post design (n = 4, 1%), randomized control trial (RCT, n = 12, 3%); and not reported (n = 21, 5%). Fifteen qualitative studies did not state their study design; where stated, study design ranged from descriptive (n = 14, 20%), ethnography (n = 12, 17%), grounded theory (n = 7, 10%), narrative (n = 5, 7%), phenomenology (n = 10, 14%), interpretative exploratory (n = 4, 6%), case studies (n = 4, 6%). Of the 15 mixed-method studies, seven did not state their mixed-method design. Where stated, design includes concurrent (n = 1), convergent (n = 1), cross-sectional (n = 3), informative (n = 1), sequential exploratory (n = 1) and retrospective (n = 2). Studies were classified into 30 (for quantitative studies) and seven (for qualitative and mixed-method) subject-related areas. HIV/AIDs-related and non-communicable diseases-related studies were the most predominant subject-related areas. No studies explored the transdisciplinary co-production of interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

There are glaring gaps in ageing research in SSA, especially mixed-methods and RCTs. A large number of studies focused on HIV/AIDs and non-communicable disease-related studies. National and international funding agencies should set up priority funding competitions for transdisciplinary collaborations in ageing research.

Loneliness of older black South African women subjected to forcible relocation

Background: A cohort of older black South African women, forcibly relocated during apartheid, has grown old in these places. Even after 50 years, residents in a rural township expressed no connection to place and ruptured intergenerational relations. Their sense of community was based almost exclusively on their links with others who shared their history of relocation.

Objective: This article seeks to understand loneliness of a group of older women who have been rendered vulnerable by longstanding exclusion from community, services and material resources. We use loneliness as a metric for exclusion from social relations.

Methods: Sixteen Setswana-speaking women in Ikageng, a township in North West Province of South Africa (age 61–73), participated in the Mmogo-method® and open-ended interviews. Textual data were analyzed using thematic analysis, visual data analysis of elements and symbolic representations of loneliness.

Results: Loneliness is a powerfully unpleasant experience of not being able to interact with other people in general, or more specifically as a result of the loss of particular people (including spouses, parents and children) and isolation provoked by the impact of relational interactions and group dynamics. Loneliness was mitigated by socializing and gathering for traditional activities, performing spiritual rituals, and keeping busy individually or with others, thus reinforcing a core theme that any social interaction alleviates loneliness.

Conclusions: Even though loneliness is powerfully unpleasant, it is an expression of the importance of social interactions formed in a particular context. In the face of longstanding societal exclusion and disconnection from community, social connections are central to identity and to survival.

A Capabilities Approach to Unequal Trajectories of Healthy Aging: The Importance of the Environment

Objectives: We aimed to examine the relationships of older people’s standard of living and perceived quality of housing and neighborhoods, with different physical, mental, and social well-being trajectories over time. Method: Longitudinal data from 2,483 New Zealanders (55-70 years of age in 2006) surveyed biennially for 10 years were analyzed using latent profile growth analysis and MANOVA. Results: Five health trajectories were revealed: robust health, average good health, declining physical health, limitations in mental health and social well-being, or vulnerable health. Trajectory group membership was significantly related to economic standard of living, satisfaction with housing, quality of neighborhood, and social cohesion of neighborhood. Discussion: The findings support a focus on environmental resources to explain inequalities in health. Future research could focus on developing the basis of these associations. Policies to offset such inequalities would focus on social and physical environmental support for the maintenance of social, mental, and physical health in older age.

Intergenerational Care Perceptions of Older Women and Middle Adolescents in a Resource-Constrained Community in South Africa

This study describes intergenerational care perceptions in a resource-challenged community. Ten women (aged 60+) and eight middle adolescents (3 boys and 5 girls) participated in the Mmogo-method®, a visual data-collection method. Textual data were analysed thematically, and visual data by applying Roos and Redelinghuys (2016) proposed steps. Both groups provided physical and instrumental care to the other. Older women cared for adolescents by teaching and disciplining them, while the adolescents cared for them by obtaining an education and by showing respect. Older women felt being cared for when adolescents helped them, obeyed and complied with instructions and discipline, while the youngsters expressed it when their basic needs were addressed and school attendance was enabled. Older women's expressions of caring about were vague, while the younger people detected, act and elicited reactions from the elders. The adopted care approach informed care perceptions. Joint intergenerational activities are proposed to discover care currencies and contributions of generational members.

Older people’s experiences of giving and receiving empathy in relation to middle adolescents in rural South Africa

Viewed in the context of an older-growing population, pressure on health-care and social (family and community) resources, and a perceived changed intergenerational ‘care contract’, relationships are often the only avenue open to address the care needs of both older and younger generations in economically deprived environments. This study explored how empathy manifested in the care experiences of older people (8 women and 1 man, aged between 60 and 85 years) in relation to middle adolescents (aged 16 years and younger). Empathy is proposed as an essential quality that can benefit care in any relationship, and indications of this were obtained by applying the Mmogo-method®, a projective visual data collection method. Textual data were analysed thematically, and visual data were analysed using Roos and Redelinghuys’ method of analysis. Findings indicated that older people viewed the relational interactions from a self-centred perspective and in a linear manner, referred to mid-adolescents in judgemental terms, and expressed conditional acceptance of these younger people. The findings indicated the antithesis (the opposite) of empathy, with the implication that older people might not give or elicit empathy in relation to younger people, particularly when the latter reach independence and exercise their autonomy. A lack of giving and receiving empathy holds serious implications for the future care needs of older people.

Features of home and neighbourhood and the liveability of older South Africans

While older people live in developing countries, little is known about the relative importance of features of their communities in influencing their liveability. We examine components of home and neighbourhood among older South Africans. Linear regression analyses revealed that features of home (basic amenities, household composition, financial status and safety) and neighbourhood (ability to shop for groceries, participate in organizations and feel safe from crime) are significantly associated with life satisfaction. Approaches to liveability that are person-centred and also set within contexts beyond home and neighbourhood are needed to address boundaries between home and neighbourhood; incorporate personal resources into liveability models and import broader environmental contexts such as health and social policy.