Peter G. Coleman

The Cambridge handbook of age and ageing

The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing, first published in 2005, is a guide to the body of knowledge, theory, policy and practice relevant to age researchers and gerontologists around the world. It contains almost 80 original chapters, commissioned and written by the worlds leading gerontologists from 16 countries and 5 continents. The broad focus of the book is on the behavioural and social sciences but it also includes important contributions from the biological and medical sciences. It provides comprehensive, accessible and authoritative accounts of all the key topics in the field ranging from theories of ageing, to demography, physical aspects of ageing, mental processes and ageing, nursing and health care for older people, the social context of ageing, cross cultural perspectives, relationships, quality of life, gender, and financial and policy provision. This handbook will be a must-have resource for all researchers, students and professionals with an interest in age and ageing.

Measuring Reminiscence Characteristics from Conversation as Adaptive Features of Old Age

A methodological study is reported into measuring reminiscing characteristics (including life reviewing) from spontaneous conversation, in elderly people living in sheltered housing in London. The reliability and stability of these measures were well demonstrated. Further statistical analyses were carried out to test the hypotheses e.g., that reminiscing is an adaptive feature of old age in the presence of severe life change, life reviewing in the presence of low past life satisfaction. No significant evidence was found for the role of simple reminiscence itself, but “life reviewing” appeared as an adaptive response when accompanied by dissatisfaction with past life. The relevance of these results to Butlers theory of the life review (1963) and to future studies of the concept is discussed, and also the possibility of using similar forms of content analyses of spontaneous conversation.

Nostalgic memories in dementia ― a case study

The literature indicates that some moderately to severely demented elderly people can still recall their emotionally subjective past. Emotion and cognition have a relationship that can be clearly seen in the recall of nostalgic memories. This article outlines a case study that illustrates how emotional autobiographical memories of past events can be stimulated through the individual use of reminiscence and counseling skills. The authors suggest that there are possible therapeutic effects attached to this approach and that this is an area worthy of further investigation.

Self-Esteem and its Sources: Stability and Change in Later Life

Stability and change in self-esteem and its reported sources were investigated in a sample of older people re-interviewed 10 and 13 years after initial study. Most indicated a continuing high to medium-high level of self-esteem, and apart from an increase in mention of interest activities their pattern of illustrations also remained consistent. Variables in the initial study which predicted a maintained high level of self-esteem included number of hobbies, number of types of outings, self perceived activity level, and mention of people other than family members as sources of self-esteem. The usefulness of collecting data on expressed sources is exemplified in two case histories. Consideration is given to the implications of these findings for conceptualising identity processes in later life.

The sound of death rattle I: are relatives distressed by hearing this sound?

Background: Death rattle is the noisy, rattling breathing that occurs in many dying patients. Health professionals intervene because the sound is said to distress attendant relatives. We found no formal study to confirm or refute relatives’ distress, so we decided to ask the relatives. Method: Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 27 bereaved relatives to investigate their experience of terminal care and what their response had been to the sound of death rattle if this had occurred. Interview transcripts were subjected to thematic content analysis. Results: We found that almost half of the 12 relatives who had heard the sound of death rattle had been distressed by it. The others were either neutral about the sound or found it a helpful signal of impending death. Conclusion: We confirmed that some relatives do find it distressing to hear the sound of death rattle. However, our expectation that relatives are universally disturbed by this sound was unfounded. There is no justification for a ‘blanket’ approach to therapeutic intervention when death rattle occurs. A better understanding is required of how relatives make sense of the sound of death rattle.

Uses of reminiscence: functions and benefits.

Reminiscence has become an increasingly popular approach to promoting older peoples mental health. This is a recent phenomenon. Thirty to forty years ago reminiscence was more likely to be associa...

The sound of death rattle II: how do relatives interpret the sound?

Background: In an earlier study, we found that some bereaved relatives (five out of 12 interviewed) found it distressing to hear the sound of death rattle, but the remainder did not. In this paper, we report a second study in which we explored how a different group of relatives interpreted the sound of death rattle when they heard it. Method: We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 25 bereaved relatives using the principles of grounded theory. Results: Seventeen of the 25 bereaved relatives interviewed had heard the sound of death rattle. Ten relatives were distressed by the sound, but seven were not. Some relatives regarded the sound of death rattle as a useful warning sign that death was imminent. Their interpretation of the sound was influenced by the patient’s appearance, being less concerned if the patient was not obviously disturbed. Relatives were distressed when they thought that the sound of death rattle indicated that the patient might be drowning or choking. These concerns were reinforced by seeing fluid dribble from the dying patient’s mouth. Conclusion: This study confirms the previous finding that not all relatives are distressed by the sound of death rattle. It also demonstrates that relatives interpret the sound in a variety of ways, some matter of fact and some distressing. We suggest that effective communication is helpful in uncovering relatives’ interpretation of death rattle and dispelling unwarranted fears.

The influence of religious coping on the mental health of disabled Iranian war veterans

This study examined the contribution of religious coping alongside physical function, personal meaning, and social support on the mental health of Iranian veterans. In particular, it was hypothesized that religiosity in a Muslim sample would show associations with well-being independently of other psychological and social variables. A sample of disabled war veterans of the Iran–Iraq was studied (N = 78). Results showed that when physical function, social support, and personal meaning were controlled, religious coping had a significant contribution on mental health indicators including general mental health and PTSD above and beyond other predictors. Of the other predictors investigated only social support make an independent significant contribution to the mental health of veterans. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that participants used positive religious coping strategies more frequently than negative religious coping strategies in coping with their physical disability problems and traumatic experiences

Mental health of elderly Asians in Britain: a comparison of Hindus from nuclear and extended families of differing cultural identities

Objective. To compare the psychological adjustment of grandmothers from nuclear and extended families within British Hindu communities, and to investigate the influence of cultural identity.

Self and Identity in Advanced Old Age: Validation of Theory Through Longitudinal Case Analysis

Case studies drawn from a 20-year longitudinal study of aging were examined for the support they provide to two theoretical viewpoints on the self in later life: one focusing on management of self-esteem, the other on development of identity as story. The five cases selected for scrutiny represented diverse trajectories of self-esteem. They furnished ample illustrations of certain key aspects of both theories, including assimilative processes of coping, depression related to absence of accommodation, maintenance of life story themes, and life review processes. They did not, however, give strong support to the dichotomy, drawn within both theoretical models, between younger and older old age. Examples of accommodation, disengagement, and self-transcendence, hypothesized to typify advanced old age, were relatively few in number and emerged only toward the very end of life. It is argued that examination of prototypical cases provides a useful approach to validating and developing theory. A conclusion drawn from this study is that more analysis should be carried out on the lives of persons who exemplify the theoretically ideal characteristics of advanced old age.