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Aging Well: Observations From the Women's Health Initiative Study
UMass Chan Affiliations
Prevention Research CenterDepartment of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2016-03-01Keywords
Effective agingOptimal aging
Optimism
Positive aging
Resilience
Successful aging
Well-being
Geriatrics
Women's Health
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
BACKGROUND: As the proportion of the population aged 80 and over accelerates, so does the value of understanding the processes of aging well. The purposes of this article are to: (a) review contemporary theoretical and conceptual perspectives on aging well, (b) describe indicators of aging well that reflect key concepts and perspectives as assessed in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and (c) characterize the status of aging among women aged 80 and older using data obtained from WHI participants at the WHI Extension 2 follow-up. METHODS: Data from the Lifestyle Questionnaire, which was administered from 2011 to 2012 during the WHI Follow-up Study (Extension 2), were analyzed to provide a profile of the WHI cohort with respect to aging well. RESULTS: Data revealed substantial diversity in the cohort with respect to the various measures of aging well. Although many reported physical functioning levels consistent with disability, most rated their health as good or better. Most reported moderately high levels of resilience, self-control, and self-mastery but lower levels of environmental mastery. Finally, the cohort reported high levels of optimal aging as reflected by their high levels of emotional well-being and moderately high levels of life satisfaction and social support, but more modest levels of personal growth and purpose in life. CONCLUSIONS: The wide range of some dimensions of aging well suggest that further examination of predictors of positive coping and resilience in the face of aging-related disability could identify opportunities to support and facilitate aging well among U.S. women.Source
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2016 Mar;71 Suppl 1:S3-S12. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glv054. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1093/gerona/glv054Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/28936PubMed ID
26858322Notes
Full author list omitted for brevity. For full list of authors see article.
Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/gerona/glv054