Shira Hantman

Recurrent trauma: Holocaust survivors cope with aging and cancer

BackgroundThe current study aims to determine whether elderly Holocaust survivors are affected differently from non-survivors by the adversity of aging and cancer.MethodHolocaust survivors and non-survivors suffering from cancer, were assessed tapping PTSD, psychiatric symptomatology, psychosocial adjustment to illness and coping with the aftermath of the Holocaust.ResultsFindings indicate a significant difference between survivors and non-survivors in post-traumatic symptoms and their intensity, survivors endorsing significantly more PTSD symptoms. Survivors were classified into 3 sub-groups, namely “Victims,” “Fighters,” and “Those who made it”. “Victims” reported the highest percentage of persons who met PTSD, psychiatric symptomatology and difficulty coping with the problems of old age.ConclusionsThe diversity of responses points to heterogeneity of long-term adaptation and adjustment among Holocaust survivors and similar response to subsequent adversity.

Sense of coherence and socio-demographic characteristics predicting posttraumatic stress symptoms and recovery in the aftermath of the Second Lebanon War

Abstract This study investigated the role of sense of coherence (SOC) as a mediator between demographic attributes of individuals (gender, age, economic situation, and exposure to traumatic events during the war) and two war outcomes (postwar stress symptoms and perceived posttraumatic recovery). The participants were 870 adults (ages ranged between 20 and 85), who were affected by the Second Lebanon War and were evacuated from their home town. They were administered the research questionnaire approximately one year after this war. Path analysis indicated the following: gender, age, economic situation, and exposure were significantly associated with level of symptoms as well as perceived recovery. However, three of these connections (age, economic, and exposure) were partially mediated by SOC which was linked with lower levels of stress symptoms and higher levels of perceived posttraumatic recovery. Unlike our hypothesis, exposure by age interaction was not significantly associated with SOC and the two war outcomes. Results supported the hypotheses that SOC mediates between demographic characteristics and negative (symptoms) as well as positive (perceived recovery) war outcomes.

Elderly People Coping With the Aftermath of War: Resilience Versus Vulnerability

OBJECTIVES The present study compares coping of elderly people and two younger groups 1 year after a war. Coping was determined by stress symptoms and posttraumatic recovery and two levels of resiliency. DESIGN AND SETTING Thirty-six streets (covering most of the city streets) were sampled randomly from the map of Kiryat Shemona (a town next to the Lebanese border) about a year after the end of the Second Lebanon War. PARTICIPANTS The sample constituted 870 adult residents of the town. Participants were divided into three age groups: elderly (age 65 years and older, N = 108), adults (age 46-64 years, N = 252) and young adults (age 20-45 years, N = 462). MEASUREMENTS 1) Stress symptoms measured by short version of Brief Symptom Inventory; 2) Individual resilience measured by Sense of Coherence Inventory; 3) Posttraumatic Recovery Inventory (PTR); and 4) Public Resilience Scale (included a scale for community and national resilience). RESULTS The results indicated 1) The elderly group reported significantly higher levels of stress symptoms and lower levels of PTR; 2) Females in the three age groups reported higher levels of stress symptoms and lower levels of PTR and individual resilience than males; 3) Individual and public resilience negatively predicted stress symptoms and positively predicted posttraumatic recovery across three age groups; and 4) Public resilience has a differential effect on stress symptoms in each of the three age groups but not on PTR. CONCLUSION Results question the division of older people into a vulnerable or inoculated group, indicating that the participants responded concurrently in a more vulnerable and a more resilient manner. Older people were characterized by higher levels of postwar stress symptoms, as well as a higher sense of coherence.

Sense of Danger and Family Support as Mediators of Adolescents' Distress and Recovery in the Aftermath of War

Posttraumatic stress and recovery were investigated among 820 adolescents living on the Israeli-Lebanese border 1 year after the Second Lebanon War of 2006. It was hypothesized that most adolescents would not report serious symptoms, whereas a minority would complain about high-level prolonged postwar symptoms. Another minority would indicate posttraumatic recovery. It was also hypothesized that associations of age, gender, and exposure to war distress with postwar stress symptoms as well as posttraumatic recovery would be mediated by family support and subjective sense of danger. Results generally supported these contentions.

Bringing Older Adults into the Classroom: The Sharing Community Model.

This article describes an innovative model for teaching gerontological social work that has been introduced into the social work methods curriculum in the Department of Social Work at a college in northern Israel. The basic concept of the model is to create an alternative learning environment by including older persons as full participants in the classroom. As experts on old age, they provide social work students with a hands-on learning experience intended to facilitate their understanding of aging. The changing needs of this growing population place a complex and pressing burden on the social systems that provide services to older adults, and on the families that care for them. To meet these needs, it is predicted that there will be a substantial increase in the demand for social workers in the field of gerontology. At present, there is a shortage of social workers who wish to work with this population as a result of negative perceptions and stereotypes relating to old age. This calls for a different approach to teaching gerontological social work, one that will adapt the study of aging to todays older population while addressing the misconceptions and anxieties of social work students.

Holocaust Survivors: Three Waves of Resilience Research

Three waves of resilience research have resulted in resilience-enhancing educational and therapeutic interventions. In the first wave of inquiry, researchers explored the traits and environmental characteristics that enabled people to overcome adversity. In the second wave, researchers investigated the processes related to stress and coping. In the third wave, studies examined how people grow and are transformed following adverse events, often leading to self-actualize, client creativity and spirituality. In this article the authors examined data from a study, “Forgiveness, Resiliency, and Survivorship among Holocaust Survivors” funded by the John Templeton Foundation (Greene, Armour, Hantman, Graham, & Sharabi, 2010). About 65% of the survivors scored on the high side for resilience traits. Of the survivors, 78% engaged in processes considered resilient and felt they were transcendent or had engaged in behaviors that help them grow and change over the years since the Holocaust, including leaving a legacy and contributing to the community.

Forgiveness in Late Life

This study expands the understanding of forgiveness among a sample of older adults in Israel by exploring the contributory roles of meaning in life; stressful life events; and socio economic variables such as gender, age, and religiosity as well as time and agent of hurt. A convenience sample of 225 older adults in Israel responded to the Enright Forgiveness Inventory and the Reker Meaning in Life Scale. An additional questionnaire contained demographic and other background information, including a list of traumatic life events. The results of our study support our assumption that meaning in life correlates with forgiveness on all its dimensions. Furthermore, women tend to forgive more than men, and there is a tendency to forgive family members more readily than nonfamily members, and people who are still alive, as opposed to those who have passed away.

Holocaust Survivor Typology and Forgiveness

This article examines the long-term coping patterns of aging Holocaust survivors and their relationship to attitudes toward forgiving in later stages of life. Survivors who reported increased ability to cope positively with past events in their lives were predicted to be more likely to be forgiving than those who reported difficulty in long-term coping. Three research instruments were used to examine this: the typology of survivors; the Life History Questionnaire, based on Eriksons eight stages of development; and the Enright Forgiveness Inventory. No significant differences were found between the three groups (clusters) of survivors and their attitudes towards forgiveness. It is suggested that by the time these survivors reached old age, issues relating to prior traumatic experiences had possibly been worked out.

Involving Older Adults as Co-researchers in Social Work Education

This article examines the contribution of older adults as co-researchers to the evaluation of a gerontological social work course. The evaluation was conducted at an Israeli college as part of a collaborative project with a United Kingdom university. Here, we follow the older adults who are service users through their transition to the role of co-researchers and reflect on their experiences in the process. Insights gained by the different stakeholders from the co-researching experience are discussed, and the growing interest in service-user contributions to social work education in various fields such as aging and disabilities is recognized.

Dare to Dream: New Venture Incubator for Older Adults

The purpose of this article is to describe a project that aims to foster active aging through entrepreneurial activities among older adults. The project establishes the feasibility of implementing an intervention program that assimilates the concept and capabilities of entrepreneurship among older adults and supports them while launching new ventures. A 12-meeting training program was provided to the selected participants followed by continuing support through a tailor-made incubator. The pilot experiment selected a group of retirees who sought work and had no previous entrepreneurial experience. Of the 22 participants in the intervention program, 15 (70%) actually started a microenterprise based on their previously formulated ideas and past work experience and encouraged by participation in the program. Fostering older adults’ entrepreneurial activities has value much further than fulfilling individual needs because it provides benefits to the welfare of the community as well as to the economy. The pilot experiment suggests that this type of intervention program is feasible and warrants further studies.