Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo 6997801, Israel.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 3;19(1):492. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010492.
Motherhood is a meaningful life role among adult women. Occupations within the maternal role of younger mothers have been well documented, but less is known regarding the maternal-role at older age. This review aimed to describe the occupations, activities, and perceptions that older women ascribe to their maternal role. In the future, this information may promote health and wellbeing of older women. A systematic search of peer reviewed articles, that included healthy, community-dwelling mothers, 60 years of age or older, was conducted. Maternal-role occupations and perceptions of older mothers were identified and classified according to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF). Fourteen articles, representing 3102 older mothers, were included. The identified occupations and activities within the maternal role were from two categories: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) (such as assistance with daily chores) and social participation (such as sharing holiday rituals). Three themes reflecting maternal-role perceptions were identified: providing support; relationship with children; and motherhood as a never-ending role. Maternal occupations were identified in only a few articles and from only two categories, IADL and social participation. These findings together with the perception that motherhood is a 'never-ending' role suggests that further research is needed to better characterize the maternal role of older women from an occupational perspective.
母亲身份是成年女性有意义的生活角色之一。年轻母亲的母职角色的职业已经有充分的记录，但对于老年母亲的母职角色了解较少。本综述旨在描述老年女性赋予其母职角色的职业、活动和观念。未来，这些信息可能会促进老年女性的健康和幸福感。对包括 60 岁或以上、健康、居住在社区的母亲在内的同行评审文章进行了系统搜索。根据职业治疗实践框架（OTPF），确定了老年母亲的母职职业和观念，并进行了分类。有 14 篇文章，代表 3102 名老年母亲，被包括在内。母职角色中的确定的职业和活动来自两个类别：日常生活活动的工具性活动（如日常家务协助）和社会参与（如分享节日仪式）。确定了反映母职观念的三个主题：提供支持；与孩子的关系；以及母职是一个永无止境的角色。只有少数几篇文章确定了母职职业，且仅来自日常生活活动和社会参与两个类别。这些发现以及母职是“永无止境”的角色的观念表明，需要进一步研究从职业角度更好地描述老年女性的母职角色。
