TITLE:
A description of resilience for Norwegian home-living chronically ill oldest older persons
AUTHORS:
Aud Moe, Knut Ekker, Ingela Enmarker
KEYWORDS:
Chronically Ill; Cross-Sectional; Oldest Older Persons; Resilience
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.3 No.2,
June
3,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Background: Despite worsening health
the chronically ill oldest older persons have expressed feelings of inner
strength, which can be understood as resilience. The objective was to describe
and compare the characteristics of
resilience in two different age groups of chronically ill oldest older
persons living at home and who needed help
from home nursing care. Design:
Cross-sectional design was used to describe and compare the resilience qualities between the two age
groups. Methods: The
inclusion criteria were 80 years or older, living at home with chronic disease, receiving
help from home nursing care, and with the capacity to be interviewed. A sample of 120 oldest older women (n = 79) and men (n = 41) separated in two age groups, aged 80- 89 and
90+ years, participated in the study. Resilience characteristics were measured by Resilience
Scale. Results: The whole group of oldest older people was vulnerable in
relation to the characteristics of perseverance, self-reliance, and
existential aloneness. Despite reduced physical health they
reported a meaningful life, and equanimity.
Even if there were no significant differences between the age groups among the
oldest older persons in the characteristics of Resilience Scale (RS), in the
characteristic of meaning there was a tendency of interaction between age and
how much help from home nursing care the participants received. Conclusions:
It is important to focus on the individual aging and the risk of developing
illness and disabilities rather than focusing on chronologic age. Possessing
meaning in life and equanimity may be strengths to meet challenges through
illness and growing older.