Department of Food and Resource Economics University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, DK-1958, Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
VIVE, The Danish Center of Applied Research, Herluf Trolles Gade, 111052, København K, Denmark.
Appetite. 2020 Dec 1;155:104827. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104827. Epub 2020 Aug 15.
With the loss of a spouse everyday commensal routines can be disrupted or discontinued. This may challenge both the rhythm and organization of daily life, and it can be the first step of many impacting negatively on the widow's, or widower's, health status. Entering new commensal circles could offer a remedy here, helping widow(er)s to forge new social relationships through the sharing of meals. In this paper, we explore how old widows and widowers deal with the disruption of their commensal routines, and how they perceive community-based social meal arrangements for older adults. Qualitative interviews with 31 widow(er)s with different educational backgrounds confirm that many widow(er)s see eating alone as problematic, yet the majority prefer not to attend community-based meals. Reasons given for this often mention the other attendees. Widow(er)s describe the "segment" of people they take to be attending community-based meals as "old" in purely negative and stereotypical ways. We found, however, that when the community-based meal was based on a theme - a "shared third" - it was perceived more positively: the widow(er)s were then able to distance themselves from the negative stereotypes of old age and create a positive self-identity in which they were living up to societal norms of successful, active aging.
丧偶后，日常的共餐习惯可能会被打乱或停止。这可能会打乱日常生活的节奏和秩序，而且可能是对丧偶者健康状况产生负面影响的第一步。进入新的共餐圈子可能是一种补救措施，通过分享餐食帮助丧偶者建立新的社会关系。在本文中，我们探讨了老年丧偶者如何应对共餐习惯的中断，以及他们如何看待为老年人提供的社区社交餐安排。对 31 名具有不同教育背景的丧偶者进行的定性访谈证实，许多丧偶者认为独自吃饭有问题，但大多数人不愿意参加社区社交餐。他们给出的原因往往与其他与会者有关。丧偶者用纯粹负面和刻板的方式描述他们认为参加社区社交餐的“那部分”人是“老”的。然而，我们发现，当社区社交餐基于一个主题——“共同的第三点”时，它会被更积极地看待：丧偶者就可以摆脱对老年的负面刻板印象，创造一个积极的自我认同，在这个自我认同中，他们符合成功、积极老龄化的社会规范。
