Qualitative Research

Control and Independence in Aging

In the new year, I always like to begin the Round Table Discussion with a piece on normal aging. Frequently we get bogged down in the negative aspects of the aging process – the expected losses, illness and disease, poor mental health or the fragmented health care system. But I like to keep in mind […]

Older Adult Homelessness

In my home city one can’t help but notice the increasing number of homeless encampments or simply the sleeping bags, tents, cardboard boxes beside the freeways or tucked into the shrubs near our bike paths or side streets. Daily a news article appears reporting about homeless policy. But, rarely, if ever, has the issue of […]

Home Care: A Worker’s Perspective

Homecare is touted as the panacea for care of our frail elders. It is more cost effective than residential settings such as assisted living or nursing home care and it speaks to the wishes of many older adults who want to remain in their own homes preserving a sense of independence, familiarity and continuity. Our […]

Living With Long-Term Pain

Chronic and long-term pain was the topic for the November Round Table Discussion Group. We used as a reference a 2012 article in the Journal of Applied Gerontology. The attempt in this qualitative research was to describe responses and adaptations to living with long-term pain. I found it helpful, if a little reductive, to describe […]