Attitudes on Aging Well Among Older African Americans and Whites in South Carolina

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Corwin, Sara J ; Laditka, James N ; Laditka, Sarah B ; Wilcox, Sara ; Liu, Rui
• Description:
  Introduction
  
  Cognitive impairment in older adults is a major cause of functional disability. Interest in protecting brain health is likely to grow as the US population ages and more people have experiences with cognitive decline. Recent scientific evidence suggests that physical activity, heart-healthy diets, and social involvement may help to maintain brain health. We investigated attitudes about aging well among older African Americans and whites to inform the development of interventions to promote cognitive health.
  
  Methods
  
  We used a purposive sample to conduct 5 focus groups with African Americans (n = 42) and 4 with whites (n = 41). Participants also completed a brief survey. In discussions centered on brain health, participants were asked to describe someone they know who is aging well. We used a grounded theory approach to guide the analysis and interpretation of the data.
  
  Results
  
  Both African Americans and whites said that components of aging well include social activity, a strong spiritual life, not taking medications, and traveling. African Americans said aging well means being cognitively intact, free of serious mobility impairment or other health problems, and independent. Whites described aging well as living a long time, staying physically active, maintaining a positive outlook, and having good genes.
  
  Conclusion
  
  African Americans did not commonly associate physical activity with aging well, which suggests that tailored intervention strategies for promoting brain health should emphasize physical activity. African Americans and whites did not commonly associate nutrition with aging well, which also suggests a useful focus for public health interventions.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Aged Aged, 80 And Over Aging Attitude To Health Black Or African American Female Focus Groups Humans Independent Living Male Motor Activity Religion White People Work

  More +
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 6(4).
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  19754989
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC2774627
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  1-U48-DP-000025/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; 1-U48-DP-000033/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; 1-U48-DP-000045/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; 1-U48-DP-000048/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; 1-U48-DP-000050/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; 1-U48-DP-000051/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; 1-U48-DP-000052/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; 1-U48-DP-000054/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; 1-U48-DP-000059/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; SIP 13-04/PHS HHS/United States ; SIP 8-06/PHS HHS/United States
• Place as Subject:
  South Carolina
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  6
• Issue:
  4
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:563100e248dd08af96ffab6c2f142edff67406c257696acdc14198ef8acb9865dd3872e909b3568bc9f050dbda6a7ed55bede3da8444ca4221065604c5516715
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/20392/cdc_20392_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 547.00 KB ]