Analysis Of Disengagement And Activity Theories Of Gerontology To Explain Individuals' Changing Resources Over The Life Course

Introduction

In order to explain individuals’ changing resources over the life course from the social sciences theory perspectives, this essay will start by discussing concepts of theory and individuals’ changing resources (economic well-being, physical well–being and emotional well-being) and life course. Then, two theories; disengagement and activity theories will be discussed in relation to individuals’ changing resources in life trajectories, because both theories discussed successful ageing though with opposite concepts. Both qualitative and quantitative evidence will be used to explain the most convincing theory of ageing.

Definition of key concepts

Changing Resources

Changing resources here refer to older people recourses that change throughout the life course trajectories of the older people such as economic well-being, physical well-being and emotional well-being.

Theories of Ageing

Theory can be described as a standard to have explicit picture of the world – a lens through which we account for the world that regulates the way we would design interventions to change problematic aspects of the world. Theories direct the questions we ask and the study we design, theories provide explanations to “why” and “how” in what we find in the collected data.

Individuals’ Changing Resources

The individual changing recourses in context of this essay include economic well-being with resources such as (income, housing, access to consumer goods, wealth, investments, and savings), physical well- being with resources like health status and emotional well-being with social resources. Among the older people, economic resources such as savings, pensions and property are owned through inheritance or as a result of employment and, in older age, help to determine the material quality of life. Because ‘the life course is experienced not in a vacuum, but in societies that are continually changing’ (Riley 1983, p. 1). There is a dynamic interaction between the individual life course, the social structure, economic relations and social policy that determines the material conditions of later life. According to Burholt and Windle (2006) financial security among older people without any worries about money, contributes immensely to their general well-being and happiness. For older people 65 years and above in particular, the ability to live the rest of their life in absolute financial security, with regular income to meet both their immediate needs (for example, for food, warmth, the maintenance of social networks and to be able to access any health or care needs) as well their longer-term needs (for example, provision for future needs in housing and care) is an important factor in promoting both independence and inclusion.

Income

The well-being of older people depend solely on the availability of the income they received, therefore, “a constrained income places significant restrictions on older people’s ability to enjoy their later life”.

In gross income among the pensioners, there was significant difference in income of all pensioners between 2014 and 2015. The income of couple pensioners was more than the income of single pensioners. Looking at variation in gross income between 1994-5 and 2014-5. The income recorded for pensioners in 2014-5 was higher than income recorded for pensioners in 1994-5.

Life Course

As a concept, a life course is defined as 'a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time' (Giele and Elder 1998, p. 22). “Life course is a dynamic and process-based approach to understand ageing by examining how human lives are socially organised and evolve over time” These events and roles do not necessarily proceed in a given sequence, but rather constitute the sum total of the person's actual experience. Thus the concept of life course implies age-differentiated social phenomena distinct from uniform life-cycle stages and the life span.

Social Resources

Social resources can be described according to Donenfeld (1940) as an organized associations, institutions, and attitudes, both public and private, which society has developed to satisfy its physical, psychological, economical, and social needs. Avlund et al. (2004) added that social resources reflect numerous aspects of an individual’s social environment such as marital status, living arrangements, actual social contact, perceived loneliness, social engagement and instrumental support. Family, and especially wife or husband and adult children, are a central source of support to older people (Waite & Gallagher 2000), research has reveals that marriage has a protective influence on physical and psychological well-being of older people. Furthermore, social networks and levels of social engagement, are said to be associated with health but vary by marital status. Marriage from several evidences has been label as a major basis for support and integrates people into wider social networks (Waite & Gallagher 2000). Similarly, Waite & Gallagher (2000) added that marriage has a protective effect on health and evidence demonstrates that older never-married adults have poorer physical health and increased risk of mortality (Waite & Gallagher 2000). It is likely that this is a consequence of the lack of support provided by a spouse and perhaps the absence of the associated social network. Research also shows that daily social interactions are associated with daily well-being. Almeida (2005) argued that of all the daily stressors that individual’s experience, negative social interactions are the most frequently associated with poor well-being. This essay will focus on social resources as it is the anchor for all other resources and successful ageing.

Disengagement theory

Disengagement was the first explicit social theory that was concerned with ageing and was originally formulated in Growing Old by Cumming and Henry (1961). This theory postulates that, “independent of other factors such as poor health or poverty, ageing involves a gradual but inevitable withdrawal or disengagement from interaction between the individual and her/his social context and that this process is mutually beneficial” (Victor 2005, p. 18). Therefore it would be seen as essential, because it promotes a smooth transfer of power from the old to the young. From this point of view, retirement is seen as a means by which organisations can determine levels of employee turnover, gives the individual a `graceful' exit from the pressures of employment and creates employment opportunities for younger workers (Victor 2005). Hence disengagement, as illustrated by retirement, is a mechanism for ensuring equilibrium within society and the transition of social power across generations. By disengaging from activity, either employment or social, individuals prepare themselves for death. At the same time, society also prepares the individual for the later phases of life, by withdrawing the pressure to interact and facilitating the entry of younger cohorts into the social world and the disruption caused by the death of the individual is minimised. Disengagement therefore implies a triple loss for the individual: a loss of roles, a restriction of social contacts and relationships and a reduced commitment to social mores and values. Successful ageing, from the viewpoint of disengagement theory, implies a reduction in activity levels and a decrease in involvement, until the individual withdraws from all previous activities and becomes preoccupied with the ultimate withdrawal of death (Victor 2005). Central to this theory is the assumption that both the individual and the wider society benefit from the process. The mutual withdrawal of the individual and society from each other is presented as a necessary condition for both successful ageing and the orderly continuation of society. However, older people, like other groups within the population, use strategies of substitution and compensation to offset for losses of role. The widowed may remarry, or older people may replace a widespread and loose-knit pattern of interaction with more intense, locally based networks. Indeed the veracity of disengagement theory is further compromised because of the involuntary nature of many disengagements, such as mandatory retirement and the failure for disengagement to be demonstrated universally (for example there are some societies where social roles increase in later life). However, Daatland (2002) has suggested that disengagement theory was an important stage in the development of gerontology because it identified old age as distinct and important phase of life and because it was an essentially multidisciplinary perspective. Several commentators argue that disengagement theory has had profound negative impact upon older people because of its influence within social and health policy formulation. Victor (2005) argues that disengagement theory has been used to avoid confronting and dealing with the issue of older people's marginality in American society and to condone indifference towards the problems of older people. Estes (2001) consider that the popularity of disengagement theory has had a marked influence upon the formulation of policy for older people in the United States. They argue that this concept of old age prescribes either no policy response to ageing or interventions that achieve the separation of the older person from society.

There is dearth literature on disengagement theory to explain individuals’ changing resources over the life course. However, Rebecca et al. (2002) on “the effect of widowhood on older adults' social participation: an evaluation of activity, disengagement, and continuity theories” will be used to discuss theory in relation to social resources. The authors raised hypothesis based on disengagement theory that “widowed persons and controls will slowly disengage from social activities as they age, widowed persons will exhibit lower levels of social participation when compared with similarly aged married persons because the experience of losing a spouse serves as a striking reminder of one's own mortality and how disruptive death can be for survivors”. The authors used data from hanging Lives of Older Couples study (CLOC) with inclusion criteria limited to non-institutionalised English-speaking married couples in which the husband was at least 65 years old. 1,532 individuals of the sampled through stratification by age completed a baseline interview, yielding a 68% response rate. Data collected were analysed based on a sample of 297 older adults (217 women and 80 men) who participated in both the baseline and Wave 1 interviews. The analytic sample included 210 widowed persons and 87 non-widowed controls. Multivariate analysis was used to determine the effect of widowhood on Social Participation. The result reveals that widowhood significantly predicted informal social participation levels, but not formal social participation levels. The finding from study reveals that widowed individuals do not so significant declines in social participation following the deaths of their spouses, as hypothesized. Therefore, there is no convincing empirical details to support for the disengagement hypothesis. Rebecca et al. used control group and with baseline data to reduce selection bias, another strength of this article is that the authors used the data from CLOC which include two separate multi-item measures of social engagement (formal and informal social participation) to reduced bias of comparing results of analyses based on very different types of social participation. However, the procedure for sampling and data collection were not clearly explained, also the sample size for the study was small to generalised the findings.

Activity theory

Activity Theory states that successful aging occurs when older people remain active and involve in social Interactions (Edwards 2011). The activity theory was maintained on the assumption that older people remain socially and psychologically fit, if they stay active (McGarry, Clissett, Porock and Walker 2013). The activity theory sees engagement as essential for older people to maintain a person’s life satisfaction and positive self-concept. It is concerned with the maintenance of equilibrium within society with the focus which was diametrically opposed to the notion of disengagement theory (Victor 2005). It was developed by Havighurst (1963) with the perspective to maintain normal and successful ageing that involves preserving, for as long as possible, the attitudes and activities of middle age. To compensate for the activities and roles that the individual surrenders with ageing, substitutes must be found, after retirement from paid employment the retiree must find other roles, such as voluntary work, to compensate for this loss. It is assumed that any type of activity can be substituted for the lost role. There are two central assumptions of activity theory according to Victor (2005), first, that self-esteem and life satisfaction are positively related to social involvement and high involvement with social networks that is people with high levels of activity and integration are more satisfied. Second, role losses such as widowhood or retirement are negatively related with life satisfaction and such losses need to be compensated for by the substitution of compensatory activities. Nilsson et al. (2015) also added that Activity theory assumption is the best way to adjust to changing situations which come along with older age by participating in voluntary and leisurely activities that encourage different types of social interaction. Considering life course trend, evidence from the literature established that fact that individual changing resources in life course is better maintained among older people who are actively engaged in one activity or the other. In the study conducted by Tabet. (2016) 'Activity Participation and Older Adults Well-Being” concluded that active participation of older people can provide: (a) opportunities for self-identification, (b) an outlet to build social networks, (c) an occasion for social interaction, and (d) an opportunity for role support, which are all important factors of successful aging (Winstead et al. 2014). To buttress her findings (Reitzes et al. 1995) added that participation in activities allows for interactions with others, which can impact a person's self-evaluation and self-esteem. There is a need for adults to be active, connected, and engaged in life in order to prevent decline (Gitlin et al. 2013). Also, Bennett (2002) in study on “ Low level social engagement as a precursor of mortality among people in later life “ used data derived from the Nottingham Longitudinal Study of Activity and Ageing (NLSAA), participants 1042 older adults that were randomly selected from general practitioners list with 406 men and 636 women. Data collected were analysed with independent t-test, results indicate significant differences were found for at T2 for social engagement [t(230)=–3.12, P-0.002], morale [t(225) =2.64, P-0.01] and health [t(226) =2.39, P-0.02. Findings reveal that those who died 154 participants during the study were traced a low level of social engagement. The author added that low levels of social engagement either have a direct effect on mortality, or represent hidden health problems, acting as a marker for later ill health.

The strength of this articles is that the author used standard data source to select study participants to reduce bias due to choice of sampling technique, while the major weaknesses are attrition rate was not presented and the small sample size that could limit the findings generalisation.

Furthermore, Menec (2003) in the study conducted on “The relation between everyday activities and successful ageing: a 6-year longitudinal study” which was developed to assess longitudinally the similarity between everyday activities and indicators of successful aging, namely well-being, function, and mortality used data which was based on the Ageing in Manitoba Study, with activity being measured in 1990 and function, well-being, and mortality assessed in 1996, the sample size used was 1,439 when looking at happiness, 1,208 for life satisfaction, and 1,292 for function. Mortality rate were based on a sample size 2,291 individuals. Well-being was measured in terms of life satisfaction and happiness; function was defined in terms of a composite measure combining physical and cognitive function. Regression results for happiness and life satisfaction show that activity level was significantly related to feelings of happiness. In addition, cognitive impairment, poor self-rated health, and morbidity were negatively related to happiness. Findings from the study show that greater overall activity level was related to greater happiness, better function, and reduced mortality. The author also added the different activities were related to different outcome measures; but generally, social and productive activities were positively related to happiness, function, and mortality. The results also suggest that different types of activities may have different benefits. “Whereas social and productive activities may afford physical benefits, as reflected in better function and greater longevity, more solitary activities, such as reading, may have more psychological benefits by providing a sense of engagement with life.

The major strength of this article is the large sample size used by the author which gives room for findings generalisability and the use of relevant statistical method to analysis the collected data analysis benefits from a relatively large sample size drawn from Ageing in Manitoba Study. However, being a longitudinal study, the author did not present participants’ attrition rate. Also, sampling procedures were not clearly discussed.

Therefore, it can be concluded that individual changing recourses in life course namely income, housing, saving, health, marital status, social well-being and self-esteem would be taken care of when older people are actively engaged in either formal or informal services / activities, based on the findings from the literature and articles reviewed older people are happy, better fit, healthier and life longer when they are actively engaged in either formal or informal activities for successful ageing.

From a policy standpoint, policymakers and government should enact policy that will allow older people to engage themselves either by increasing the retirement age or by reengaging older people after initial retirement.

References List

• Almeida, D. M. (2005)’Resilience and vulnerability to daily stressors assessed via diary methods’, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(2), pp. 64–68.
• Avlund, K., Lund, R., Holstein, B. E., Due, P., Sakari-Rantala R. and Heikkinen, R-L. (2004).’The impact of structural and functional characteristics of social relations as determinants of functional decline’, Journal of Gerontology: Social Science; 59(1), pp. S44–51.
• Bengtson, V., Gans, D., Putney, N. and Silverstein, M. (eds.) (2009) Handbook of theories of aging. 2nd edn. New York: Springer.
• Bennett, K. M (2002) ‘Low level social engagement as a precursor of mortality among people in later life’, Age and Ageing, 31(3), pp. 165–168.
• Burholt, V. and Windle, G. (2006) The material resources and well-being of older people. York: York Publishing Services.
• Daatland, S. (2002) Time to pay back? Is there something for psychology and sociology in gerontology. In Andersson, L. (ed.) Cultural Gerontology. Auburn House, Westport, CT.
• Department for Work and Pensions. Pensioner Income Series 2013-4. Available at: www.dwp.gov.uk
• Donenfeld, M. J. (1940) ‘The meaning of social resources’, The Journal of Educational Sociology, 13(9), pp. 560-564.
• Edwards, D. F. (2011) ‘Active aging: benefits of an active lifestyle on health and well-being in lifestyle on health and well-being in later life’, Available at: aging.wisc.edu/outreach/2011_colloquium/Edwards2011.pdf (Accessed: 12th December 2018).
• Estes, C. (2001) Social policy and aging. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Giele, J. Z., and Elder, G. H., jr. (1998) Methods of life course research: qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Gitlin, L. N., Szanton, S. L., and Hodgson, N. A. (2013) ‘It's complicated-but doable: the right supports can enable elders with complex conditions to successfully age in community’, Generations, 37(4), pp. 51-61.
• McGarry, J., Clissett, P., Porock, D. and Walker, W. L. (2013) Placement learning in older people nursing: a guide for students in practice. China: Bailliere Tindall.
• Menec, V. H. (2003) ‘The relation between everyday activities and successful aging: a 6-year longitudinal study’, The Journals of Gerontology, 58(2), pp. S74-S82.
• Nilsson, H., Bulow, P.H. and Kazemi, A. (2015) ‘Mindful sustainable aging: advancing a comprehensive approach to the challenges and opportunities of old age’. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 11(3), pp. 494- 508.
• Philips, J., Ajrouch, K., Hillcoat-Nallétamby, S. (2010) Key concepts in social gerontology. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
• Rebecca, L., Deborah, C., Randolph, N. and Camille, B. W. (2002) ‘The effect of widowhood on older adults' social participation: an evaluation of activity, disengagement, and continuity theories’, The Gerontologist, 42 (4), pp. 522–533.
• Reitzes, D. C., Mutran, E. J., and Verrill, L.A. (1995) ‘Activities and self-esteem: continuing the development of activity theory’. Research on Aging, 17(3), pp. 260-277. Available at: http://search.proquest.com/docview/61400886 (Accessed: 4th December 2018).
• Riley, M. (1983) Introduction: a mosaic of knowledge, in M. Riley, B. Hess and K. Bond (eds) aging in Society Selected Reviews of Recent Research, London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Schwarzbach, M., Luppa, M., Forstmeier, S., König, H. H., and Riedel-Heller, S. G. (2014) ‘Social relations and depression in late life: a systematic review’, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29(1), pp. 1–21.
• Schroeder-Butterfill, E., (2018) ‘Theory of ageing’, Perspective in Gerontology, Available at: https://blackboard.soton.ac.uk/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_182651_1&content_id=_3858392_1 (Accessed: 6th November 2018).
• Tabet, E, R. (2016) ‘Activity participation and older adults Well-Being,’ Student Perspectives about Civic Engagement, 2(1) Article 5. Available at: http://digitalcommons.nl.edu/space/vol2/iss1/5 (Accessed: 6th December 2018).
• Victor, C. (2005) The social context of ageing: a textbook of gerontology. London: Routledge
• Waite, L.J. and Gallagher, M. (2000) The case for marriage. New York: Doubleday.
• Winstead, V., Yost, E. A., Cotten, S. R., Berkowsky, R. W., and Anderson, W. A. (2014) ‘The impact of activity interventions on the well-being of older adults in continuing care communities’. The Journal of Applied Gerontology, 33(7), pp. 888-911.