Ageism and coping strategies among the elderly in Calabar South Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria
Keywords:
Ageism, Coping, strategies, elderly and vulnerableAbstract
This study examined ageism and coping strategies among the elderly in Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to find extent internalized ageism, workplace ageism and interpersonal ageism exert significant influence on the coping strategies among the elderly in Calabar South. One null hypothesis was formulated; relevant literatures were also reviewed. The Intergroup contact theory and Social Identity Theory were adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. The cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Chi-square (X2) was used to test the hypotheses which revealed that internalized ageism exerts significant influence on coping strategies among the elderly. There is significant relationship between workplace ageism and coping strategies among the elderly. And that there exists a relationship between interpersonal ageism and seeking spiritual comfort among the elderly in Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State. It was therefore recommended that; social workers should organize activities aimed at spreading awareness of different types of characteristics in the aging process. There should be public enlightenment so that people can adopt preventive behaviors, seek medical treatment, and no longer believe in negative stereotypes about inevitable declines in health due to aging.Downloads
References
1. Achenbaum W.A. (2015). A History of Ageism Since 1969. Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging, 39(3), 10-16
2. Allport G. (2015). The Nature of Prejudice. Oxford: Addison-Wesley
3. Butler R.N. (1969). Age-ism: Another Form of Bigotry. The Gerontologist, 9(4), 243-246
4. Butler R.N. (1975). Why Survive? Being Old in America. New York: Harper and Row
5. Bytheway B. (2005). Ageism and Age Categorization. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 361-374
6. Chasteen A.L., Bhattacharyya S., Horhota M., Tam R., & Hasher L. (2005). How Feelings of Stereotype Threat Influence Older Adults' Memory Performance. Experimental Aging Research, 31(3), 235-260. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1751474/
7. Chonody J.M. (2015). Addressing Ageism in Students: A Systematic Review of the Pedagogical Intervention Literature. Educational Gerontology, 41, 859-887
8. Cronin K. & Feuer E. (2020). Cumulative Cause-Specific Mortality for Cancer Patients in the Presence of Other Causes: A Crude Analogue of Relative Survival. Statistics in Medicine, 19(13), 1729-1740
9. Diederich A., Winkelhage J., & Wirsik N. (2011). Age as a Criterion for Setting Priorities in Health Care? A Survey of the German Public View. PLoS ONE, 6(8), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023930
10. Extermann M., Boler I., Reich R.R., Lyman G.H., Brown R.H., DeFelice J., Levine R.M., Lubiner E.T., Reyes P., Schreiber F.J., et al. (2022). Predicting the Risk of Chemotherapy Toxicity in Older Patients: The Chemotherapy Risk Assessment Scale for High-Age Patients (CRASH) Score. Cancer, 118(13), 3377-3386
11. Fiske S., Cuddy A., Glick P., & Xu J. (2016). A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype Content: Competence and Warmth Respectively Follow from Perceived Status and Competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878-902
12. Fowler F.J.J., McNaughton Collins M., Albersten P.C., Zietman A., Elliott D.B., & Barry M.J. (2014). Comparison of Recommendations by Urologists and Radiation Oncologists for Treatment of Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283(24), 3217-3222
13. Hollar D., Roberts E., & Busby-Whitehead J. (2014). COCOA: A New Validated Instrument to Assess Medical Students' Attitudes Towards Older Adults. Educational Gerontology, 37, 193-209
14. Hurria A., Togawa K., Mohile S.G., Owusu C., Klepin H.D., Gross C.P., Lichtman S.M., Gajra A., Bhatia S., Katheria V., et al. (2011). Predicting Chemotherapy Toxicity in Older Adults with Cancer: A Prospective Multicenter Study. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 29(25), 3457-3465
15. Iversen T.N., Larsen L., & Solem P.E. (2015). A Conceptual Analysis of Ageism. Nordic Psychology, 61(3), 4-22
16. Huang Y.F., Liang J., & Shyu Y.I.L. (2014). Ageism Perceived by the Elderly in Taiwan Following Hip Fracture. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 58, 30-36
17. Kagan S. (2018). Ageism in Cancer Care. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 24(4), 246-253
18. Kane R.L. & Kane R.A. (2017). Ageism in Healthcare and Long-Term Care. Generations, 29(3), 49-54
19. Kang S.K. & Chasteen A.L. (2013). The Moderating Role of Age-Group Identification and Perceived Threat on Stereotype Threat Among Older Adults. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 69(3), 201-220
20. Kaufmann S. & Becker G. (2010). Stroke: Health Care in the Periphery. Social Science and Medicine, 22, 983-989
21. Okoye U.O. (2023). Ageing Plc: A Business Where Everyone is a Stakeholder but Not Aware. Can Social Work Lead? 195th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Delivered on 30th November, 2023. Journal of Social Work in Developing Societies, 6(1), 1-37
22. Segrave A.H. (2017). Ageism and Age Discrimination in Health Care: Fact or Fiction? A Narrative Review of the Literature. Maturitas, 81, 432-438
23. Swasi B.R. (2018). Mind Matters: Cognitive and Physical Effects of Aging Self-Stereotypes. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58(4), 203-211. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b250/ec07f69b170d80b-7693d9e80cdba2ac44641.pdf
24. Zenab A. (2010). Physical Activity and Health in the Elderly. Bentham eBooks. https://ebooks.benthamscience.com/book/9781608051007/
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
