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Living Long and Keeping Well: Elderly Canadians Account for Success in Aging*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Raewyn Bassett ,
Valérie Bourbonnais  and
Ian McDowell
Raewyn Bassett*
Affiliation:
School of Occupational Therapy, Dalhousie University
Valérie Bourbonnais
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa
Ian McDowell
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Raewyn Bassett, Ph.D., School of Occupational Therapy, Dalhousie University, Forrest Building, Room 215, 5869 University Avenue, Halifax NS B3H 3J5. ([email protected])
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Abstract

Senescence is a time of decline; yet many seniors remain active and engaged into very old age. How and why do some seniors live long and keep well? We report the responses to this question from a representative sample of 2,783 Canadian seniors.

Overall, seniors placed primary responsibility for their long lives on their own individual practices, citing keeping active and maintaining good nutrition as the major themes. Physical illness was less significant than the will to adapt to illness and avoid further physical decline as long as possible. Francophone and anglophone respondents differed in the frequency with which they mentioned many of the themes. Francophones focused on life quality and family, while anglophones focused on the self. Systematic gender differences were also identified. Many responses validate existing theories of successful aging, and indicate that Canadian seniors are well-informed, insightful participants in the process of growing old.

Résumé

La sénescence est un processus qui mène inévitablement à une période de déclin, mais en dépit de ce constat, plusieurs aînés demeurent actifs et engagés jusqu'à un âge avancé. Comment et pourquoi certains vivent longtemps et en santé? l'étude suivante présente un bilan des réponses à cette question en provenance d'un échantillon de 2783 aînés à travers le Canada.

En général, les aînés attribuent longue vie et santé à leurs propres pratiques individuelles telles que demeurer actif et maintenir une saine alimentation. La présence de maladie physique fut moins significative que la volonté de s'adapter à cette dernière, permettant ainsi d'éviter un déclin futur. Globalement, les réponses des francophones et des anglophones reflètent les mêmes thématiques à l'exception des fréquences auxquelles ils ont été mentionnés. Les francophones accordent de l'importance à la qualité de vie et aux liens familiaux, tandis que les anglophones mettent l'emphase sur le soi. l'ensemble de ces réponses corrobore les théories existantes liées à la notion de vieillir en santé et indique que les aînés canadiens sont bien informés et sont en mesure de fournir de judicieux conseils quant aux façons de vivre une longue vie saine.

Keywords

aginglongevitywell-beingsuccessful agingqualitative analysisvieillissementlongévitébien-êtrevieillissement sereinanalyse qualitative
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , Summer/Été 2007 , pp. 113 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2007

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Footnotes

*

We thank the anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved the quality of this paper. Core funding for Phase 3 of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging was obtained from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR grant # MOP-42530); additional funding was provided by Merck-Frosst Canada. The study was coordinated through the University of Ottawa and Health Canada.

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