Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:04:32.565Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

five - ‘The slippery slope’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

Denise Tanner
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Get access

Summary

“I want to keep myself as fit and independent as I can but I mean at 82 I’m on the slippery slope.” (Harriet, interview 1)

Chapters Three and Four described and analysed practical strategies and cognitive ways of coping used by older people as they endeavour to manage changes and difficulties in their daily lives. This has conveyed a largely individualist view of ageing, with a predominant emphasis on personal strengths and coping styles. At the same time, particular beliefs and attitudes, which underpin coping efforts, are themselves heavily influenced by social and cultural constructions, as expressed, for example, in beliefs relating to individual responsibility and self-sufficiency. This chapter moves beyond the level of individual perspectives and behaviour to examine the resources and threats that respectively support or undermine older people's practical strategies (the ‘keeping going’ theme) and cognitive ways of coping (the ‘staying me’ theme). These are discussed at three levels: personal, social and community. Personal threats and resources considered include: health, finances, life experiences and perspectives. Social threats and resources are discussed in relation to the direct and indirect role played by social networks and dynamics within relationships. Community threats and resources are considered in terms of features of formal services that support or undermine coping and opportunities and obstacles within the wider community.

Although the previous chapters highlighted the predominance of ‘strengths’ talk within participants’ accounts – for example, the focus on keeping busy and the underplaying of difficulties – there was nevertheless a clear sense of present and perceived future threat contained in their accounts. ‘The ‘slippery slope’ conveys participants’ perceptions of their tenuous hold on ‘coping’ and the implied threat of a time when they would no longer be able to manage. This chapter examines some of the factors that seemed to support or undermine their efforts to retain their hold on ‘the ‘slippery slope’ of later life.

Personal threats and resources

Health and abilities

A key factor for participants, when giving an account of the nature and level of difficulties they experienced and their strategies for addressing them, was the state of their health. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that good health and the ability to carry out everyday tasks and routines are strongly associated with reported well-being and quality of life.

Type
Chapter
Information
Managing the Ageing Experience
Learning from Older People
, pp. 117 - 154
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • ‘The slippery slope’
  • Denise Tanner, University of Birmingham
  • Book: Managing the Ageing Experience
  • Online publication: 01 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.46692/9781847428981.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • ‘The slippery slope’
  • Denise Tanner, University of Birmingham
  • Book: Managing the Ageing Experience
  • Online publication: 01 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.46692/9781847428981.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • ‘The slippery slope’
  • Denise Tanner, University of Birmingham
  • Book: Managing the Ageing Experience
  • Online publication: 01 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.46692/9781847428981.007
Available formats
×