The aim was to describe and explore the food-related work and eating habits of older community-dwelling women, with Parkinson’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis or stroke or without these diseases. The major focus is on health perceptions, eating habits and meal support. A theoretical framework based on cultural and health theories was adopted. A total of 91 women between 64 and 88 years were visited in their homes, a food survey was performed consisting of a 24h recall and an estimated three-day food diary was introduced. Seventy-two of the women also took part in qualitative interviews with an ethnographic approach. Approximately one week later, another 24h recall was carried out at a second visit, or for the non-disabled women by telephone. The analyses revealed that many women were influenced by the prevailing health message and tried to eat a healthy diet. It was also important to them to enjoy their preferred foods, but this gave some women a bad conscience, while others perceived their usual foods as wholesome to eat. Health promotion for older women needs to incorporate the women’s own cultural context, their perceptions of food-related health, and their wish to adhere to their usual habits. Women with disease, frailty and who had become alone reported simplified food-related work and poor eating habits. However, management of these duties was highly valued, and women strove to cook by themselves as long as possible when disability became a threat. This resulted in a trend towards less nourishing cooked meals for women with disabilities. Thus, many women with these diseases living at home need support with their meals. This has to be planned in collaboration with the woman and build on her cultural values. The help must be performed with respect for the woman’s sense of order, be given sufficient time, and acknowledge her self-determination.

Thesis (M.N.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, School of Nursing, 2001. / Typescript. Bibliography: leaves 88-97.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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À ce jour, peu d’intérêt a été porté à l’exploration des expériences et réalités spécifiques au sous-groupe et sous-culture des femmes âgées vivant seules dans la pauvreté. Dans ce contexte, le but de cette étude était d’explorer et d’analyser l’expérience de vieillir au quotidien de femmes âgées montréalaises vivant seules à domicile dans un contexte de précarité économique. La théorie de l’universalité et de la diversité du soin de Madeleine Leininger a été l'assise théorique de cette étude et une approche qualitative avec devis de type mini-ethnographie a été retenue pour répondre au but de l’étude. Sept femmes âgées de 65 ans et plus, vivant seules à domicile dans un contexte de précarité économique, ont été recrutées pour participer à l’étude. Une approche «boule de neige» a été sélectionnée pour effectuer le recrutement des participantes qui s’est réalisé avec l’aide de deux ressources communautaires de Montréal. La collecte de données a été effectuée auprès de ces femmes par l’entremise d’entrevues individuelles semi-dirigées, d’un court questionnaire sociodémographique ainsi que par la tenue d'un journal de terrain. L’analyse qualitative de contenu s’est basée sur les quatre étapes du guide d'analyse des données de Leininger, soit : l'analyse des données brutes, le regroupement de celles-ci en patterns récurrents, l’émergence des sous-thèmes et thèmes ainsi que la formulation des résultats de recherche sous forme d’énoncés théoriques ou de recommandations. Les résultats de cette étude renseignent sur l’expérience de vieillir au quotidien de ces femmes par rapport à six facteurs culturels de leur structure sociale soit l’environnement, les valeurs culturelles, le mode de vie, les relations humaines, le facteur économique et l’ethnohistoire de même que par rapport à leur expérience de santé/maladie et vieillissement et à leur relation avec le système de soins. Les résultats en lien avec les facteurs culturels permettent de conclure que cette expérience de vieillir s’ancre principalement dans l’environnement intime du domicile de ces femmes, se concrétise en des sentiments de liberté, d’indépendance et de contrôle, s’enrichit dans le don de soi, se délimite à l’intérieur d’un réseau social appauvri et s’épanouit dans une vision positive de la vie et le refus d’un statut de pauvreté et de dépendance. Quant aux résultats relatifs aux dimensions de l’expérience humaine et du système de soins, ils révèlent que l’expérience de vieillir de ces femmes s’inscrit dans une volonté de préserver la fonctionnalité de leur corps, de conserver leur autonomie et de se positionner comme l’experte sur leur santé dans leur rapport avec les soins professionnels reçus. Les résultats révèlent aussi des indices de leur autodétermination, de leur résilience, de leur pouvoir d’agir et du sens qu’elles donnent à la vie dans les différents aspects de leur expérience de vieillir. Finalement, les résultats de la présente étude soutiennent des recommandations cliniques promouvant des approches de soins infirmiers culturellement cohérentes et empreintes d’empowerment auprès de ces femmes. / Little attention has been given to the investigation of experiences and specific realities of the sub-group and sub-culture of aging women living in poverty. In this context, the objective of this research was to explore and analyze the daily experiences of women growing old and living alone at home in poverty. To reach this objective, the theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality of Madeleine Leininger was used as the theoretical foundation while a qualitative approach and an ethnonursing method were retained. The sample was collected by a “snowball” strategy in two community groups located on the Montreal territory. A total of seven women aged 65 years and over, living alone at home in poverty were recruited. Individual semi-directed interviews were conducted with each woman completed by a short socio-demographic questionnaire and field notes. The qualitative content analysis was structured according to the four steps of the data analysis guide proposed by Leininger. These steps are: (1) the raw data analysis, (2) the grouping of these in re-occurring patterns, (3) the emergence of subthemes and themes and (4) the formulation of the study results in the form of theoretical expressions or recommendations. Results from this research explains the daily aging experience of women according to six cultural factors of their social structure, namely: (1) environment, (2) cultural values, (3) lifestyle, (4) human relations, (5) economic factor and (6) ethnohistory; as well as in relation to their health/illness and aging experience, and their relation with the healthcare system. Results related to the cultural factors underline that the aging experience: (1) is settled mainly in the intimate home environment of these women, (2) provides a sense of liberty, control and independence, (3) is enriched by giving to others, (4) is bounded inside a small and weak social network and (5) blossomed through a positive vision of life and the refusal to be considered as poor and dependent. Results related to the human experience and healthcare system dimensions, reveal that the aging experience is embedded in a desire to maintain the body functionalities, to stay independent and to act as experts of its own health in relation with professional care received. The daily experience of growing old for these women relies on their autodetermination, their resilience and on the meaning they give to life. These results support clinical recommendations promoting nursing care that is based on an empowerment approach which is culturally coherent with the culture of these women.

The objectives of this research project were to (1) explore perceptions and experiences related to body dissatisfaction, aging, and the use of body work practices among baby boomer and older women; and (2) explore healthy eating attitudes and barriers, food choice influences, dieting behaviours, and food product usage/attitudes among these women. Fourteen focus groups with baby boomer and older women were conducted in urban and rural areas of Manitoba (n=137). Participants also completed a questionnaire and height and weight measurements. Body image, aging and food were intimately connected in women’s lives. Feelings about the body were closely connected to the experience of aging and perceptions of the body influenced food choices and attitudes. This thesis adds value to the existing literature by exploring the connections between aging, food, and the body, from the perspectives of baby boomer and older women.

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore which inner conceptions about the abused older women the professional social workers had and how they experienced the enconter of an abused old woman in an intimate partner relation. The theoretical background is social construction by Berger and Luckmann. This theory was uset to analyze the transcribed interviews. This study is based on nine interviews with five professionals in social services, three volunteers from the voluntary sector and one social worker who worked in a community based support group for abused older women. The result of this study shows that older women were often abused, by a relative they were dependent on, in their home. The participants describe emotions of insecurity and frustration in their efforts to help the older women. They also described difficulties in creating confidence with the women. The conclusion is that the abused older women don´t always get the support of interventions from the social service agencies.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2008. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 46-05, page: 2670. Adviser: Stephanie L. McFall. Includes bibliographical references.

Australian rural women are stereotypically perceived as stoic, self-reliant, and used to handling adversity. Since this iconic portrayal of resilience is traditionally (and contemporaneously) located in the harsh countryside, it is surprising that there are few articles examining this environment, person, and resilience nexus. This thesis addresses this omission by exploring the development of resilience in two cohorts of single, older women, living on their own in rural Australia. Accordingly, an ethnographic study was conducted in a small Australian town in 2012. Documentary evidence, participant observation, and interviews captured the separate and intersecting environment and person related contributors to resilience, mediated and moderated through situational relations over time. The results revealed the persistence and reinforcement of rural historical cultural stereotypes about older women, and the systematic exclusion of younger women retirees who chose to move to the town but did not fit these embedded cultural norms. When confronted with a societal attitude that socially constrains their social identity and role, and boxes them in, the older old women pragmatically accepted their situation, and successfully adapted to their new circumstances. For them, resilience is a reactive response to regain and maintain equilibrium in their lives. Conversely, the late middle-aged retirees were boxed out from actively participating and contributing to the community; for these women, resilience is equated to resignation and endurance. And as there is a symbiotic relationship between a town and its residents, this community represents a constraining force, both in terms of its stalled response to sociodemographic and structural change, and its passive indifference to the older women as exemplars of resilience. In effect, the community exerts an oppressive, dampening effect on the women's agentic resiliency; thus contradicting the prevailing literature where resilience is widely portrayed as a positive and active agentic concept.

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