Gregory F. Sanders

Youth's Attitudes Toward the Elderly:

This paper examines the attitudes of 35 male and 122 female college students toward six target groups of elderly individuals: males and females aged 65-74, 75-99 and 100 or older. A twenty-item semantic differential scale was used. Findings support the conclusion that the elderly are perceived as a heterogeneous group with age being an important discriminator, and with gender being less potent but, nevertheless, important. Older target groups were perceived less favorably than younger target groups, but actual values of attitude scores indicate that the least favorable means were in a neutral affect range rather than the more extreme negative range of possible scores. Finally, the effects of several characteristics of respondents on attitudes toward the elderly were examined. Only modest differences were found, suggesting that perceived differences between target groups are widely shared. Implications are discussed.

The Resilience of Native American Elders

This article focuses on the lived experiences of resilience in eight Native American elders. Although resilience has not been conceptualized among this group, findings revealed five unique attributes. The study design fostered the culturally relevant use of story telling, which allowed the authentic voices of the elders to be heard. Resilience exists among these Native American elders, but it is uniquely enmeshed into the seamless fabric of their culture, worldview, and connectedness expressed as Oneness with all creation. This finding of a unified cosmology suggests an extension to Bronfenbrenners ecological theory to include the cosmosystem as a new systemic level.

Stepgrandparents and Grandparents: The View from Young Adults.

Young adult college students describe their relationship with either their stepgrandparent or grandparent. Between-group comparisons are made regarding amount of contact, satisfaction and importance of contact, social and personal roles, expected behaviors, family strengths, and parental influence. Grandchildren report having and desiring more contact, rate the relationships as more important, and report more involvement in social and personal roles, expected behaviors, and higher relationship strength than stepgrandchildren. The strength of the stepgrandchild-stepgrandparent relationship is more highly related to the respondents view of the (step)parent than the grandchild-grandparent relationship. The value of this information to the reconstituted family and the need for further research is discussed.

Mental Health Services for Older Adults in Rural Areas: An Ecological Systems Approach

Groups of North Dakota professionals from health and aging services participated in a focus group study of mental health needs and barriers to service among older adults. Data were collected from 13 focus groups that included human service providers, public health nurses, out-reach workers, and advisory groups who discuss mental health and aging issues in a number of ecological systems contexts. Lack of knowledgeable care providers, funding cutbacks, accessibility of services, and ageism were frequently cited barriers to mental health services for older adults in rural areas. Focus groups also discussed the needs of older adults including information on services, how to access services, the need for service providers in rural areas, and routine assessments by physicians. Participants suggested that the main needs of providers were education, more services, and changes or flexibility in the types of services.

The significance of stepgrandparents.

Research on reconstituted families has ignored the stepgrandchild-stepgrandparent relationship. This relationship was examined through an exploratory study of the quantity of interaction, satisfaction with this interaction, stepgrandchildrens perception of the stepgrandparent role, the appropriate behaviors stepgrandchildren expect of stepgrandparents, and relationship strengths. The results indicated that 1) stepgrandchildren maintain contact with their stepgrandparent beyond high school; 2) currently, the majority of the respondents wanted more contact with their stepgrandparents; 3) almost half of the stepgrandchildren rated the relationship with their stepgrandparent as important; 4) they perceived the relationship as both a personal and a social role; 5) they expected few behaviors from their stepgrandparent; and 6) the relationship strengths were rated neither high nor low. Some factors which were important to the stepgrandchild-stepgrandparent relationship included: satisfaction with the parents remarriage, the importance of the relationship with the stepparent, and the respondents age when he/she became a stepchild.

Life Satisfaction and Family Strengths of Older Couples

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between family interaction quality of married elderly and their offspring and life satisfaction of older persons. Information was obtained by means of mailed questionnaires completed by both spouses of 68 married, retired couples living in Georgia and North Carolina who were identified through churches, senior centers, and congregate housing units and through personal contacts. For the total sample, health status was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction followed by certain family strengths factors and job prestige, respectively. Males and females differed concerning which variables contributed most to explaining variance in life satisfaction. Variance in life satisfaction of males was best explained by job prestige, family strengths, and financial help given. Variance in life satisfaction of women was best explained by their perception of their health, family strengths, and job prestige.

Resilience and stereotyping: the experiences of Native American elders.

Purpose: The lived experiences of Native American elders regarding the effects of stereotypes on resilience were examined. Method: This qualitative study emphasized culturally compatible methods of traditional storytelling and featured interpretive analysis. Results: Themes revealed were the following: (a) having the ability to successfully bridge cultures fostered resilience and inspired self-confidence, (b) a strong sense of identity was a core element of resilience, (c) being responsible and accountable inspired a sense of pride, (d) educational attainment and employment fostered resilience, and (e) cultural resilience was a key component when confronting stereotypes. Although stereotyping has had profound effects, these first Americans have taken the best of both worlds and successfully integrated them to live successful, well-adjusted lives. Discussion: These findings suggest that disparities in mental and physical health could be addressed by building on the unique foundation of cultural resilience embodied by these Native elders.

Change and Continuity Experiences of Midwestern Snowbirds

This qualitative study examined lifestyles of older adults who migrate south in the winter. Interviews were conducted with 25 older adults (aged 60+) from the upper Midwest. Analyses revealed the following themes, including (a) snowbirds were flexible and adaptable to change, (b) there was continuity in personality, activity, and lifestyle, (c) friendships were established and maintained, (d) lifestyles were diverse, (e) health and safety considerations affected lifestyle, (f) internal and external forces shaped the snowbird experience, and (g) seasonal migration was developmental. Seasonal migration had a major impact in promoting quality of life and providing added meaning to the lives of these older adults. This study lent support for the concept of seasonal migration as an alternative to permanent migration (e.g., Smith & House, 2006), as well as McHugh and Mings’ (1996) circular life-course trajectory and place attachment. The snowbird experience can be explained as involving developmental change and continuity, family resiliency and connectedness, and successful aging.

Quality of grandparent-grandchild relationship in Asian-Indian immigrant families.

A sample of 112 Asian-Indian Immigrant grandchildren, age 10–16 years, from different parts of the United States completed survey questionnaires regarding the quality of relationship with their grandparents in India. The study explored the factors that affected the quality of relationship between two different generations living at considerable geographical distance and in different cultures. Findings indicated that role importance, amount of contact, and health of the grandparent uniquely contributed to the relationship quality. Results also indicated acculturation was not a significant predictor of relationship quality, although it was a significant predictor of role importance. Limitations to the study relative to acculturation scores and sampling are discussed and further research should address these limitations and the grandparent-parent relationship. Implications include adopting a tri-generational perspective in future studies and practice.

Strategies Used by Communication Partners of Aphasic Speakers

This article explores the experiences of communication partners of individuals with aphasia. The social model of aphasia intervention provided a useful framework when addressing the impact of the aphasic persons environment on the success of communication attempts. The communication partners perceived strategies such as maintaining a routine, using multiple communication modalities, and using targeted questions as helpful. Behaviors of the communication partners were considered just as important to establishing effective communication, including active listening, patience, and a genuine desire to perceive the message of the aphasic individual. Implications for practical applications and future research are outlined.