Research Centre for Gender, Health and Ageing, School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
J Aging Stud. 2013 Dec;27(4):330-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jaging.2013.08.002. Epub 2013 Sep 10.
The fourth age, as the last stage of life, represents a final challenge to find personal meaning in the face of changing capacities, illness and disability. Participation in valued activities is important for sustaining interest in life and has been associated with enhanced health and well-being. Art and craft activities are a popular form of participation amongst women in late life with growing international interest in the potential for these types of activities to maintain health and well-being and address problems of social isolation. Drawing on open text comments from 114 women enrolled in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health and in-depth interviews with 23 women all aged in their eighties, this paper explores the nature of older women's participation in art and craft activities and conceptualises links between participation in these activities and health and well-being in late life. Participation in art and craft activities is complex and dynamic, comprising cognitive and physical processes infused with emotion and occurs in the context of social relationships, physical spaces, physical ailments and beliefs about the value of the activities. By participating in art and craft activities, older women find purpose in their lives, contributing to their subjective well-being whilst helping and being appreciated by others. They develop a self view as enabled and as such take on new art and craft challenges, continue to learn and develop as art and craft makers and remain open to new possibilities.
第四阶段，作为生命的最后阶段，代表了在面对能力变化、疾病和残疾时寻找个人意义的最终挑战。参与有价值的活动对于维持对生活的兴趣很重要，并且与增强健康和幸福感有关。艺术和手工艺活动是老年女性中一种流行的参与形式，国际上越来越关注这些类型的活动在保持健康和幸福感以及解决社交孤立问题方面的潜力。本研究借鉴了澳大利亚妇女健康纵向研究中 114 名女性的开放性文本评论和对 23 名年龄均为 80 多岁的女性的深入访谈，探讨了老年女性参与艺术和手工艺活动的性质，并将这些活动与晚年的健康和幸福感联系起来。参与艺术和手工艺活动是复杂和动态的，包括认知和身体过程，充满情感，并发生在社会关系、物理空间、身体疾病和对活动价值的信念的背景下。通过参与艺术和手工艺活动，老年女性在生活中找到了目标，为她们的主观幸福感做出了贡献，同时也帮助和得到了他人的赞赏。她们将自己视为有能力的人，并因此接受新的艺术和手工艺挑战，继续作为艺术和手工艺者学习和发展，并对新的可能性保持开放态度。
