Grant: Summer Program in Aging

There are a growing number of older adults in Canada. These older adults often live with many chronic health conditions. These chronic health conditions have been linked to negative health outcomes. These include lower quality of life and physical function, more use of costly health services, and more rates of death. While older adults with many chronic health conditions often describe lower self-reported health, this is not true of everyone. Some older adults with many chronic health conditions describe their health positively when asked, "In general, how would you rate your health: Excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?" One way to explain why some older adults with many chronic health conditions report their health positively may be their ability to bounce-back from health challenges. This is known as resilience. This research will focus on the ways that this ability to bounce-back explains self-reported health in older adults. The research will use data from a large Canadian study on aging and in-person interviews with older adults. Results from this study will help explain the reasons that some older adults describe positive health even though they live with health challenges. It is important to explain self-reported health in older adults. With this knowledge, there may be ways to strengthen positive factors, like resilience. There may also be ways to lower the impact of risk factors, like low mood symptoms. This research will help build programs and policy to increase health and support aging in older adults.