Preparing for Aging: Perspectives and Expectations of Appalachian Older Adults
Document Type
Poster Presentation
Keywords
Appalachian, expectations, aging, long-term planning, mentality, experience, self-efficacy
Biography
Hannah O'Shaughnessy is a undergraduate psychology major in her senior year at Marshall University. This semester, Hannah has been, and is currently, conducting research on the topic of "Aging in Appalachia" for her Capstone experience. Her primary interest throughout has been understanding personal and regional factors that prevent or encourage older adults to establish long-term arrangements which would likely allow them to maintain control and satisfaction in later life.
Major
Psychology
Advisor for this project
Dr. Penny Koontz
Abstract
Abstract
This research examines the perspectives Appalachian older adults have toward preparing for their own aging experience, and what factors encourage or discourage them from making decisions regarding their future wellbeing and living situations. Many older individuals in the Appalachian region face obstacles that prevent necessary long-term planning from occurring. These barriers include but are not limited to lack of knowledge, financial resources, a support system, accessibility, etc. Conversely, many elements have been shown to positively contribute to an adult's likelihood of creating plans for later life, some of which are personal experience with providing ongoing living assistance to an older family member or close friend, witnessing successful aging and receiving hopeful messages about aging, having an optimistic mindset throughout life, and refusal to speak negatively about the age of oneself or others in either a joking or serious manner. For this study, I developed a survey comprised of ten open-ended questions that will be administered orally to adults ages 60 and older. Data collection is ongoing. I hypothesize that the results of this study will show that being occupied with providing care for others, fear of the future, and lack of knowledge about long-term planning will be identified as deterrents of preparing to age well for adults in the Appalachian region. It is proposed that by discussing the long-term planning, understanding what success personally means, and creating a mental picture of a bright and purposeful future, older adults can look forward to aging with the same satisfaction experienced in any other phase of life previously lived.
Keywords: Appalachian, expectations, aging, long-term planning, mentality, experience, self-efficacy
Preparing for Aging: Perspectives and Expectations of Appalachian Older Adults
Abstract
This research examines the perspectives Appalachian older adults have toward preparing for their own aging experience, and what factors encourage or discourage them from making decisions regarding their future wellbeing and living situations. Many older individuals in the Appalachian region face obstacles that prevent necessary long-term planning from occurring. These barriers include but are not limited to lack of knowledge, financial resources, a support system, accessibility, etc. Conversely, many elements have been shown to positively contribute to an adult's likelihood of creating plans for later life, some of which are personal experience with providing ongoing living assistance to an older family member or close friend, witnessing successful aging and receiving hopeful messages about aging, having an optimistic mindset throughout life, and refusal to speak negatively about the age of oneself or others in either a joking or serious manner. For this study, I developed a survey comprised of ten open-ended questions that will be administered orally to adults ages 60 and older. Data collection is ongoing. I hypothesize that the results of this study will show that being occupied with providing care for others, fear of the future, and lack of knowledge about long-term planning will be identified as deterrents of preparing to age well for adults in the Appalachian region. It is proposed that by discussing the long-term planning, understanding what success personally means, and creating a mental picture of a bright and purposeful future, older adults can look forward to aging with the same satisfaction experienced in any other phase of life previously lived.
Keywords: Appalachian, expectations, aging, long-term planning, mentality, experience, self-efficacy
