Natural disasters and the oldest-old: A psychological perspective on coping and health in late life

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2009

Abstract

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused unprecedented destruction and disruption in the lives of thousands of people. In times of such intense stress and uncertainty, older adults have historically been considered an at-risk group. In this chapter, we focus on health and well-being in a disaster context. We begin by reviewing normative age-related changes in physical, cognitive, and social functioning. Next, we discuss resilience and coping and as they relate to adaptation to stressful situations in adulthood. We present select data from the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS) that examined the impact of the storms on psychosocial indices of health and well-being in adults who varied in age from mid-twenties to ninety years and older. Results yielded comparable self-reported health and well-being across the pre- and post-hurricane assessments. A qualitative analysis of coping strategies before and after the storms revealed similar types and reported frequencies of coping behaviors among the age groups. Implications of these findings for disaster preparedness in late adulthood are discussed. © 2009 Springer-Verlag New York.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Lifespan Perspectives on Natural Disasters

First Page

171

Last Page

193

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