ANTICIPATORY LOSS FOR AGING PARENTS: LONGER, HEALTHIER LIVES ALLOW NEW PURPOSE FOR AGING FAMILIES. (11th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wells, M; Kartoz, C
• Is Part Of: Innovation in aging. Volume 2(2018)Supplement 1
• Page Start: 464
• Page End: 464
• Publication Date: 2018-11-11
• Subjects: Aging -- Periodicals; Gerontology -- Periodicals; 612.67
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igy023.1736
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2399-5300

Abstract

Abstract: Extended lifespans are one of the defining aspects of the 21st century, with healthy 65 year olds in the United States expecting another 15 years of healthy life. This lengthens the time families have together. One experience of adult children during this time is the protracted sense of the eventual loss of the parent. The aim of this work is to explicate the concept of anticipatory loss for healthy aging parents utilizing a hybrid concept analysis model. Hybrid concept analysis combines both a literature search and fieldwork to develop a concept. Purposive sampling for an IRB approved phenomenological study of adult children with healthy aging parents reached data saturation at 16 subjects. Content analysis revealed that anticipatory loss is the overarching experience of this life stage. Participants report sadness for the future loss, but also gratitude and joy for time with one's parent. Previous definitions of anticipatory loss suggest an imminent loss and negative emotion/s or consequence/s, such as depression. However, these participants demonstrated a quiet acceptance of this eventual normal life course event. The final step in the hybrid concept analysis, the description of antecedents and defining characteristics, reveals that anticipatory loss for healthy aging parents is preceded by components of intergenerational solidarity such as affectual and associational solidarity. The implications of this conceptual definition are that a reliable and valid measure of anticipatory loss for healthy parents is needed and that this concept may help gerontologists reframe the life course narrative for aging families.