Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Instructor, Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Older people are more vulnerable to physical disability, as well as mental illnesses. They also may experience challenges that can be related to Nussbaum's Central Human Functional Capabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the elderly's views related to Central Human Functional Capabilities.
Methods: This study used a qualitative approach to understand older people's perspectives on capabilities. Purposive sampling was used to select nineteen older women aged 65 to 79 years. The data collected through semi-structured interviews were thematically analyzed.
Results: Eighteen themes emerged by thematic analysis of the ten functional capabilities, including life (life expectancy, life satisfaction), bodily health (functional independence, nutrition, and accessibility), bodily integrity (independent decision-making and dealing with insults), senses, imagination and thought (material interests and religious beliefs), emotions (love of children), practical reason (daily routine), affiliation (respect for others, empathy for others, gender discrimination), other species (interest in nature and flowers), play (interest in recreational activities), and control over one's environment (political participation, being dependent).
Conclusion: Despite the importance of all the capabilities from the viewpoint of the elderly, the "bodily health" and "bodily integrity" capabilities were of particular importance. Health policymakers should recognize the Central Human Functional Capabilities and allocate resources and services that best promote these capabilities for the elderly.
Keywords
2. Hinkle JL, Cheever KH. Study guide for Brunner & Suddarth's textbook of medical-surgical nursing. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.
3. Sadock BJ, Sadock VA. Kaplan and Sadock's synopsis of psychiatry: behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry. Philadelphia:
Understanding the Elderly’s View of Central … Sarlak et al
120 Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences 2020; 9(2):111-122
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2011.
4. Beard JR, Officer A, De Carvalho IA, Sadana R, Pot AM, Michel J-P, et al. The world report on ageing and health: a policy framework for healthy ageing. The lancet. 2016; 387(10033):2145-54.
5. Tajvar M, Arab M, Montazeri A. Determinants of health-related quality of life in elderly in Tehran, Iran. BMC Public Health. 2008; 8(1):323. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-8-323.
6. Zahmatkeshan N, bagherzadeh R, Akaberian S, Yazdankhah M R, Mirzaei K, Yazdanpanah S, et al. Assessing quality of life and related factors in Bushehr’s elders 1387-8. J Fasa Univ Med Sci. 2012; 2(1):53-58. [In Persian]
7. Yazdanpanah L. The study of obstacles of social participation among citizenship's Tehran city. Social Welfare. 2007; 7(26):105-130. [In Persian]
8. World Health Organization. International classification of functioning, disability, and health: Children & youth version: ICF-CY. World Health Organization; 2007.
9. Berkman LF, Syme SL. Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: a nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents. American Journal of Epidemiology. 1979; 109(2):186-204. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112674.
10. Wilkins K. Social support and mortality in seniors. Health reports. 2003; 14(3):21-34.
11. Escobar-Bravo MA, Puga-González D, Martín-Baranera M. Protective effects of social networks on disability among older adults in Spain. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2012; 54(1):109-116. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2011.01.008.
12. Lund R, Nilsson CJ, Avlund K. Can the higher risk of disability onset among older people who live alone be alleviated by strong social relations? A longitudinal study of non-disabled men and women. Age Ageing. 2010; 39(3):319-326. doi:10.1093/ageing/afq020.
13. Mendes de Leon CF, Glass TA, Berkman LF. Social engagement and disability in a community population of older adults: the New Haven EPESE. Am J Epidemiol. 2003; 157(7):633-642. doi:10.1093/aje/kwg028.
14. Bourassa KJ, Memel M, Woolverton C, Sbarra DA. Social participation predicts cognitive functioning in aging adults over time: Comparisons with physical health, depression, and physical activity. Aging & Mental Health. 2017; 21(2):133-46.
15. Glass TA, De Leon CF, Bassuk SS, Berkman LF. Social engagement and depressive symptoms in late life: Longitudinal findings. J Aging Health. 2006; 18(4):604-628. doi: 10.1177/0898264306291017.
16. Sirven N, Debrand T. Social participation and healthy ageing: an international comparison using SHARE data. Soc Sci Med. 2008; 67(12):2017-2026. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.056.
17. Barnes LL, Mendes de Leon CF, Wilson RS, Bienias JL, Evans DA. Social resources and cognitive decline in a population of older African Americans and whites. Neurology. 2004; 63(12):2322-2326. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000147473.04043.b3.
18. Engelhardt H, Buber I, Skirbekk V, Prskawetz A. Social involvement, behavioural risks and cognitive functioning among the aged. Ageing and Society. 2010; 30(5): 779-809. doi: 10.1017/S0144686X09990626.
Understanding the Elderly’s View of Central … Sarlak et al
Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences 2020; 9(2): 111-122 121
19. Wang HX, Karp A, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Late-life engagement in social and leisure activities is associated with a decreased risk of dementia: a longitudinal study from the Kungsholmen project. Am J Epidemiol. 2002; 155(12): 1081-1087. doi:10.1093/aje/155.12.1081.
20. Ramage-Morin PL. Successful aging in health care institutions. Ottawa: Statistics Canada; 2005.
21. Glei DA, Landau DA, Goldman N, Chuang YL, Rodríguez G, Weinstein M. Participating in social activities helps preserve cognitive function: an analysis of a longitudinal, population-based study of the elderly. Int J Epidemiol. 2005; 34(4):864-871. doi:10.1093/ije/dyi049.
22. Pin S, Spini D. Impact of falling on social participation and social support trajectories in a middle-aged and elderly European sample. SSM Popul Health. 2016; 2:382-389. doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2016.05.004.
23. Baker S, McBeth J, Chew-Graham CA, Wilkie R. Musculoskeletal pain and co-morbid insomnia in adults; a population study of the prevalence and impact on restricted social participation. BMC Fam Pract. 2017; 18(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s12875-017-0593-5.
24. Kolanowski A, Litaker M. Social interaction, premorbid personality, and agitation in nursing home residents with dementia. Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 2006; 20(1):12-20. doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2005.08.006.
25. Chen JH, Lauderdale DS, Waite LJ. Social participation and older adults' sleep. Soc Sci Med. 2016; 149:164-173. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.045.
26. Moradi S, Fekrazad H, Mousavi M T, Arshi M. The study of relationship
between social participation and quality of life of old people who are member of senior association of Tehran city in 2011. Salmand: Iranian Journal of Ageing. 2013; 7(4):41-46. [In Persian]
27. Mirzaee M, Kavehfiruz Z. Quality of life of older adults and participation in social activities of them according to their sex. Journal of Population Association of Iran. 2009; 4(8):123-48. [In Persian]
28. Rashedi V, Gharib M, Yazdani A A. Social Participation and Mental Health among Older Adults in Iran. Iranian Rehabilitation Journal. 2014; 12(1):9-13.
29. Alkire S. Valuing freedoms: Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction. England: Oxford University Press on Demand; 2005.
30. Nussbaum M. Human rights and human capabilities. Harv. Hum. Rts. J. 2007; 20:21-24.
31. Nussbaum M. Women and human development: a study in human capabilities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2012. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511841286.
32. Sen A. Human rights and capabilities. Journal of human development. 2005; 6(2):151-166. doi: 10.1080/14649880500120491.
33. Dixon-Woods M, Agarwal S, Jones D, Young B, Sutton A. Synthesising qualitative and quantitative evidence: a review of possible methods. J Health Serv Res Policy. 2005; 10(1):45-53. doi: 10.1177/135581960501000110.
34. Shulman KI, Shedletsky R, Silver IL. The challenge of time: clock‐drawing and cognitive function in the elderly. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 1986; 1(2):135-140. doi: 10.1002/gps.930010209.
Understanding the Elderly’s View of Central … Sarlak et al
122 Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences 2020; 9(2):111-122
35. Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 2006; 3(2):77-101.
36. Clark DA. The capability approach: its development, critiques and recent advances. Swindon: ESRC Research Group; 2005.
37. Alkire S. Choosing dimensions: the capability approach and multidimensional poverty. In Kakwani N, Silber J. (Eds), The many dimensions of poverty. Palgrave Macmillan, London; 2013. p. 89-119.
38. Biggeri M, Karkara R. Transforming children’s rights into real freedom: a dialogue between children’s rights and the capability approach from a life cycle perspective. In Stoecklin D, Bonvin JM (Eds), Children’s rights and the capability approach. Children’s Well-Being: indicators and Research. Dordrecht: Springer; 2014. p.19-41.
39. Hick R. The capability approach: insights for a new poverty focus. Journal of social policy. 2012; 41(2):291-308. doi: 10.1017/S0047279411000845.
40. Yeung P, Breheny M. Using the capability approach to understand the determinants of subjective well-being among community-dwelling older people in New Zealand. Age Ageing. 2016; 45(2):292-298. doi:10.1093/ageing/afw002.
41. Mousavi T, Dharamsi S, Forwell S, Dean E. Occupational therapists' views of Nussbaum’s life capability: an exploratory study. OTJR (Thorofare N J). 2015; 35(4): 239-249. doi: 10.1177/1539449215601010.
42. Nussbaum M. Frontiers of justice: nationality, disability, species membership. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2006.
43. Davidian H. Recognition and treatment of depression in Iranian culture. Tehran: academy of Medical Sciences press; 2007. [In Persian]
44. Mousavi T, Forwell S, Dharamsi S, Dean E. Occupational therapists' views of Nussbaum's practical reason and affiliation capabilities. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health. 2015; 31(1):1-18. doi: 10.1080/0164212X.2014.1003265.
)