Fenway Institute, Center for Population Research in LGBT Health, 1340 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
J Aging Stud. 2013 Jan;27(1):1-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jaging.2012.09.001. Epub 2012 Nov 13.
While we know that minority status differentiates the experience of aging, little research has been done to examine the ways in which patterns of successful aging may differ in diverse subgroups of older adults. In this exploratory study, we investigated and described experiences of successful aging in a sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Directed by a community-based participatory research process, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 22 LGBT adults, age 60 and older. We took an inductive, grounded theory approach to analyze the taped and transcribed interviews. We coded respondent experiences in four domains: physical health, mental health, emotional state and social engagement. Four gradations of successful aging emerged. Very few in our sample met the bar for "traditional success" characterized by the absence of problems in all four domains of health. Most of the sample was coping to a degree with problems and was categorized in one of two gradations on a continuum of successful aging: "surviving and thriving" and "working at it." A small number was "ailing": not coping well with problems. Some of the experiences that respondents described were related to LGBT status; others were related to more general processes of aging. The research suggests that a successful aging framework that is modified to include coping can better describe the experiences of LGBT older adults. The modified conceptual model outlined here may be useful in future research on this population, as well as more broadly for diverse populations of adults, and may be adapted for use in practice to assess and improve health and well-being.
虽然我们知道少数群体地位会影响衰老体验，但很少有研究探讨成功老龄化的模式在不同的老年人群体亚组中可能存在哪些差异。在这项探索性研究中，我们调查并描述了同性恋、双性恋和跨性别（LGBT）老年群体的成功老龄化体验。我们遵循社区参与式研究过程，对 22 名年龄在 60 岁及以上的 LGBT 成年人进行了半结构化深入访谈。我们采用归纳的、扎根理论的方法分析了录音和转录的访谈。我们将受访者的经验分为四个领域：身体健康、心理健康、情绪状态和社会参与。成功老龄化有四个梯度。我们的样本中很少有人达到“传统成功”的标准，即四个健康领域都没有问题。大多数样本在一定程度上应对着问题，并被归类为成功老龄化连续体上的两个梯度之一：“生存与繁荣”和“努力工作”。少数人“患病”：无法很好地应对问题。受访者描述的一些经历与 LGBT 身份有关；另一些则与更普遍的老龄化过程有关。研究表明，一个包含应对策略的成功老龄化框架可以更好地描述 LGBT 老年群体的体验。这里概述的经过修改的概念模型可能对未来对该人群的研究以及更广泛的成年人群体研究有用，也可以适用于评估和改善健康和福祉的实践。
