Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Regional Partnership Program : Manitoba

Health is influenced by many psychosocial variables, including the way individuals psychologically appraise life events. For example, appraising events as controllable has salutary effects on health. Because individuals are threatened by precipitous, uncontrollable life challenges as they age, it is critical to understand the implications of perceived control (PC) in late life. Although research generally demonstrates health protective consequences of PC, our paradoxical premise is that appraising health as controllable might have negative consequences when it is part of a toxic appraisal style that fosters an invincible attitude leading to denial of health care needs and disengagement from health. The strengths of our longitudinal study that will assess the role of PC as assessed during interviews with community dwelling older adults include: i) access to a representative sample of very old adults; ii) a long follow up (20 years); iii) the linkage of interview data to other valuable databases (e.g., Manitoba Health Registry); and, iv) an outstanding quality and quantity of the data that provides access to psychological appraisals in a health context and a broad range of outcome variables, including physical activity, emotional well being (depression), physical health (e.g., ,blood oxygen), health care service usage, and longevity. The findings could have diagnostic implications in that they will provide the basis for developing an easy-to-administer screening tool to identify older adults who are at risk of disengaging from health care and who fail to comply with prescribed treatments. To the extent that health is compromised among individuals who deny their health needs, the findings would be relevant to understanding the well being of older Canadians. Because such individuals pose challenges for the informal and formal care systems, our findings would also have implications relevant to caregiver burden and the financial strain on Canada's health care system.