8 - Successful ageing amongst elderly women living independently in central areas Of Pretoria, South Africa
Corresponding Author(s) : Marlize Rabe
African Sociological Review,
Vol. 19 No. 2 (2015): African Sociological Review
Abstract
This qualitative study explores successful ageing among a group of old women who live in
the central areas of Pretoria in South Africa. It utilised the notion of successful ageing as a
theoretical construct to examine how the women adapt to the challenges of old age. The study
reveals that participants who had overcome difficult challenges in previous life stages by relying
on their own resources are the most likely to adjust comfortably to the challenges of old age as
well as the complexities encountered in the diverse central areas of Pretoria
Keywords
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- Alley, D.E., Putney, N.M., Rice, M. & Bengston, V.L., 2010, ‘The increasing use of theory in social gerontology: 1990-2004’, The Journals of Gerontology, Vol. 65B, No. 5, pp. 583-590.
- Alpaslan, A., 2011, ‘“Sunny side and/or shady side?”: The living conditions and resilience of elderly Sunnyside residents’, Acta Academica, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp.113-144.
- Apt, N.A., 2002, ‘Preface’, In S. Makoni & K. Stroeken (eds.), Ageing in Africa.
- Sociolinguistic and anthropological approaches (pp. ix-xii). Hampshire:Ashgate. Babbie, E., 2013, The practice of social research, 13th edition, Belmont, CA:Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning.
- Baltes, P.B. & Smith, J., 2003, ‘New frontier in the future of aging: From successful aging of the young old to the dilemmas of the fourth age’, Gerontology, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 123-135.
- Bengston, V.L., Putney, N.M. & Johnson, M.L., 2005, ‘The problem of theory in gerontology today’.
- In M.L. Johnson (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of age and ageing (pp. 3-20), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Blodgett, L.J., Boyer, W. & Turk, E., 2005, ‘“No thank you, not today”: Supporting ethical and professional relationships in large qualitative studies’, Forum: Qualitative Social Research, Vol.6, No. 3, Art 35.
- Bould,S.,Sanborn,B.& Reif,L.,1989,Eighty-five plus.The oldest old, Belmont:Wadsworth. Bowling, A. & Dieppe, P., 2005, ‘What is successful ageing and who should define it?’, British Medical Journal, Vol. 331, No. 7531, pp.1548–1551.
- Bryant, L.L., Corbett, K.K. & Kutner, J.S., 2001, ‘In their own words: a model of healthy aging’,Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 53, pp. 927-941.
- Department Of Social Development, Republic Of South Africa, 2006, Older Persons Act (Act no. 13 of 2006), Cape Town: Government Gazette.
- Department Of Social Development, Republic Of South Africa, 2010, Old Age Grant. Available online at http://www.dsd.gov.za/index.php?option=com_ content&task=view&id=106 [19/04/2010].
- Elder, G.H., 1978, ‘Family history and the life course’, In T.K. Hareven (ed.), Transitions, the family and the life course in historical perspective (pp. 17-64). New York:Academic Press.
- Ferreira, M., 2006, ‘The differential impact of social-pension income on household poverty alleviation in three South African ethnic groups’, Ageing and Society, Vol. 26, pp.337-354.
- Ferreira, M. & Rip, S., 1990, Social change in an area of Johannesburg: the case of elderly white residents, Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council, Co-operative research programme on ageing.
- Goldhaber, R & Donaldson, R., 2012a, ‘An ‘age-regation’ process as theoretical understanding of the gated retirement village’, Acta Academica, Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 1-23.
- Goldhaber, R & Donaldson, R., 2012b, ‘Alternative reflections on the elderly’s sense of place in a South African gated retirement village’, South African Review of Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp.64-80.
- Hung, L., Kempen, G.I.J.M. & De Vries, N.K., 2010, ‘Cross-cultural comparison between academic and lay views of healthy ageing: a literature review’, Ageing and Society, Vol. 30, No. 8, pp.1373-1391.
- Jackson, J.S., Brown, E., Antonucci, T.C. & Daatland, S.V., 2005, ‘Ethnic diversity in ageing,multicultural societies’, In M.L. Johnson (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of age and ageing (pp.476-481). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
- Kalache, A., Barreto, S.M. & Keller, I., 2005,‘Global ageing: The demographic revolution in all cultures and societies’, In M.L. Johnson (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of age and ageing (pp.30-46). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
- Katz, S., 2005, Cultural aging. Life course, lifestyle and senior worlds, Peter Borough, Ontario:Broadview Press.
- Kimuna, S.R. & Makiwane, M., 2007, ‘Older people as resources in South Africa: Mpumalangahouseholds’, Journal of Aging and Social Policy, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp.114.
- Mason, J., 2002, Qualitative researching, 2nd edition, London: Sage Publications.M., 1992, ‘Successful aging:
- A life course perspective on women’s multiple roles and health’, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 97, No. 6, pp. 1612-1638.
- Møller, V. & Ferreira, M., 1992, ‘Successful ageing in South Africa: opportunity structures and subjective well-being’, Southern African Journal of Gerontology, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 5-8.
- Neuman, W.L., 2003, Social Research Methods. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. 5th edition, Boston: Pearson Education.
- Pretoria Care for the Aged, 2009, Available online at http://www.carefortheaged.org.za/ about.html [20/04/2010].
- Rowe, J.W. & Kahn, R.L., 1987, ‘Human Aging: Usual and successful’ Science, Vol. 237, No. 4811, pp143-149.
- Rowe, J.W. & Kahn, R.L., 1997, ‘Successful aging’, The Gerontologist, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp.433-440.
- Rubinstein, R.L., Kilbride, J.C. & Nagy, S., 1992, Elders living alone. Frailty and the perception of choice, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
- Sandelowski, M., 1995, ‘Sample size in qualitative research’, Research in Nursing and Health, Vol.18, pp. 179-183.
- Schulz, R. & Heckhausen, J., 1996, ‘A life span model of successful aging’, American Psychologist,Vol. 51, No. 7, pp. 702-714.
- Silverman, D., 2001, Interpreting qualitative data. Methods for analysing talk, text and interaction, 2nd edition, London: Sage Publications.
- Statistics South Africa, 2005, Census 2001. Stages in the life cycle of South Africans. Report no 03-02-46 (2001), Pretoria: StatsSA.
- Statistics South Africa, 2012a, Census 2011. Census in brief. Report no 03-01-41, Pretoria:StatsSA.
- Statistics South Africa, 2012b, Census 2011. Municipal fact sheet, Pretoria: StatsSA.
- Van Der Burgh, C., Theunissen, D.J.M. & Ferreira, M., eds., 1983, White elderly persons living in the inner-city area of Pretoria: an exploratory study,. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.
- Van Der Burgh, C. & Herbst, D., 1984, Die lewensomstandighede van swart bejaardes in enkele blanke stedelike gebiede: ‘n Verkennende ondersoek [The life circumstances of black elderly in selected
- white urban areas: An explorative study], Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.
- Wagnild, G., 2003, ‘Resilience and successful ageing. Comparison among low and high income older adults’, Journal of Gerontological Nursing, Vol. 29, No. 12, pp. 42-49.
- United Nations, 2002, Report of the Second World Assembly on Ageing. New York: UN. World Development Report, 2007, Development and the next generation, Washington, World Bank.
References
Alley, D.E., Putney, N.M., Rice, M. & Bengston, V.L., 2010, ‘The increasing use of theory in social gerontology: 1990-2004’, The Journals of Gerontology, Vol. 65B, No. 5, pp. 583-590.
Alpaslan, A., 2011, ‘“Sunny side and/or shady side?”: The living conditions and resilience of elderly Sunnyside residents’, Acta Academica, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp.113-144.
Apt, N.A., 2002, ‘Preface’, In S. Makoni & K. Stroeken (eds.), Ageing in Africa.
Sociolinguistic and anthropological approaches (pp. ix-xii). Hampshire:Ashgate. Babbie, E., 2013, The practice of social research, 13th edition, Belmont, CA:Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning.
Baltes, P.B. & Smith, J., 2003, ‘New frontier in the future of aging: From successful aging of the young old to the dilemmas of the fourth age’, Gerontology, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 123-135.
Bengston, V.L., Putney, N.M. & Johnson, M.L., 2005, ‘The problem of theory in gerontology today’.
In M.L. Johnson (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of age and ageing (pp. 3-20), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Blodgett, L.J., Boyer, W. & Turk, E., 2005, ‘“No thank you, not today”: Supporting ethical and professional relationships in large qualitative studies’, Forum: Qualitative Social Research, Vol.6, No. 3, Art 35.
Bould,S.,Sanborn,B.& Reif,L.,1989,Eighty-five plus.The oldest old, Belmont:Wadsworth. Bowling, A. & Dieppe, P., 2005, ‘What is successful ageing and who should define it?’, British Medical Journal, Vol. 331, No. 7531, pp.1548–1551.
Bryant, L.L., Corbett, K.K. & Kutner, J.S., 2001, ‘In their own words: a model of healthy aging’,Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 53, pp. 927-941.
Department Of Social Development, Republic Of South Africa, 2006, Older Persons Act (Act no. 13 of 2006), Cape Town: Government Gazette.
Department Of Social Development, Republic Of South Africa, 2010, Old Age Grant. Available online at http://www.dsd.gov.za/index.php?option=com_ content&task=view&id=106 [19/04/2010].
Elder, G.H., 1978, ‘Family history and the life course’, In T.K. Hareven (ed.), Transitions, the family and the life course in historical perspective (pp. 17-64). New York:Academic Press.
Ferreira, M., 2006, ‘The differential impact of social-pension income on household poverty alleviation in three South African ethnic groups’, Ageing and Society, Vol. 26, pp.337-354.
Ferreira, M. & Rip, S., 1990, Social change in an area of Johannesburg: the case of elderly white residents, Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council, Co-operative research programme on ageing.
Goldhaber, R & Donaldson, R., 2012a, ‘An ‘age-regation’ process as theoretical understanding of the gated retirement village’, Acta Academica, Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 1-23.
Goldhaber, R & Donaldson, R., 2012b, ‘Alternative reflections on the elderly’s sense of place in a South African gated retirement village’, South African Review of Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp.64-80.
Hung, L., Kempen, G.I.J.M. & De Vries, N.K., 2010, ‘Cross-cultural comparison between academic and lay views of healthy ageing: a literature review’, Ageing and Society, Vol. 30, No. 8, pp.1373-1391.
Jackson, J.S., Brown, E., Antonucci, T.C. & Daatland, S.V., 2005, ‘Ethnic diversity in ageing,multicultural societies’, In M.L. Johnson (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of age and ageing (pp.476-481). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Kalache, A., Barreto, S.M. & Keller, I., 2005,‘Global ageing: The demographic revolution in all cultures and societies’, In M.L. Johnson (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of age and ageing (pp.30-46). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Katz, S., 2005, Cultural aging. Life course, lifestyle and senior worlds, Peter Borough, Ontario:Broadview Press.
Kimuna, S.R. & Makiwane, M., 2007, ‘Older people as resources in South Africa: Mpumalangahouseholds’, Journal of Aging and Social Policy, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp.114.
Mason, J., 2002, Qualitative researching, 2nd edition, London: Sage Publications.M., 1992, ‘Successful aging:
A life course perspective on women’s multiple roles and health’, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 97, No. 6, pp. 1612-1638.
Møller, V. & Ferreira, M., 1992, ‘Successful ageing in South Africa: opportunity structures and subjective well-being’, Southern African Journal of Gerontology, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 5-8.
Neuman, W.L., 2003, Social Research Methods. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. 5th edition, Boston: Pearson Education.
Pretoria Care for the Aged, 2009, Available online at http://www.carefortheaged.org.za/ about.html [20/04/2010].
Rowe, J.W. & Kahn, R.L., 1987, ‘Human Aging: Usual and successful’ Science, Vol. 237, No. 4811, pp143-149.
Rowe, J.W. & Kahn, R.L., 1997, ‘Successful aging’, The Gerontologist, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp.433-440.
Rubinstein, R.L., Kilbride, J.C. & Nagy, S., 1992, Elders living alone. Frailty and the perception of choice, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Sandelowski, M., 1995, ‘Sample size in qualitative research’, Research in Nursing and Health, Vol.18, pp. 179-183.
Schulz, R. & Heckhausen, J., 1996, ‘A life span model of successful aging’, American Psychologist,Vol. 51, No. 7, pp. 702-714.
Silverman, D., 2001, Interpreting qualitative data. Methods for analysing talk, text and interaction, 2nd edition, London: Sage Publications.
Statistics South Africa, 2005, Census 2001. Stages in the life cycle of South Africans. Report no 03-02-46 (2001), Pretoria: StatsSA.
Statistics South Africa, 2012a, Census 2011. Census in brief. Report no 03-01-41, Pretoria:StatsSA.
Statistics South Africa, 2012b, Census 2011. Municipal fact sheet, Pretoria: StatsSA.
Van Der Burgh, C., Theunissen, D.J.M. & Ferreira, M., eds., 1983, White elderly persons living in the inner-city area of Pretoria: an exploratory study,. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.
Van Der Burgh, C. & Herbst, D., 1984, Die lewensomstandighede van swart bejaardes in enkele blanke stedelike gebiede: ‘n Verkennende ondersoek [The life circumstances of black elderly in selected
white urban areas: An explorative study], Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.
Wagnild, G., 2003, ‘Resilience and successful ageing. Comparison among low and high income older adults’, Journal of Gerontological Nursing, Vol. 29, No. 12, pp. 42-49.
United Nations, 2002, Report of the Second World Assembly on Ageing. New York: UN. World Development Report, 2007, Development and the next generation, Washington, World Bank.