Healthy Aging Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2261-7434
ISSN: 2261-7434
Department of Health and Education, Sweden and College of Nursing, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA
Original Research Article
The meaning of growing old: A lifeworld hermeneutic study on existential matters during the third age of life
Author(s): Lina Palmér*, Maria Nyström, Gunilla Carlsson, Catharina Gillsjö, Irene Eriksson and Ann-Charlotte Dalheim-Englund
This study investigates existential matters in the third age of life, which encompasses the years after retirement and ends when extensive support needs emerge in the fourth age. As the theoretical starting point in a lifeworld hermeneutic approach, 18 healthy older adults were interviewed about what it means for them to grow old. The interviews were interpreted according to Gadamer’s principles of openness and Ricoeur’s proposal to provide suggestions on how meaning can be explained. The findings are presented in three interpreted themes: Feeling free, Becoming vulnerable, and Existing in closeness to death. The themes are further interpreted, and a comprehensive understanding is reached with theoretical support from Jean-Paul Sartre’s idea of factuality and project. The meaning of growing old is discussed in terms of positive factors, such as healthy aging, transit.. View More»
DOI:
10.35248/har.2019.8.8