Meaningful Aging in the Face of Vulnerability: Perspectives From the Humanities and Arts

Abstract This symposium interprets GSA’s 2020 leading conference theme, “Why Age Matters”, as touching upon fundamental existential questions about the meaning of old age. Although meanings of aging have always been implicitly present in a variety of disciplinary gerontological studies, scholars from the humanities and arts have traditionally taken the lead in the field to provide thorough reflections and analyses about what makes later life meaningful. In this symposium, we aim to present a selection of perspectives from the humanities and arts that explore how meaningful aging can be realized in circumstances of the increasing vulnerability that inevitably accompanies old age. First, Hanne Laceulle uses a practice-theoretical philosophical framework to argue that the common assumption that vulnerability constitutes a threat to meaningfulness deserves to be nuanced, because meaning can also occur in the process of integrating vulnerability in one’s life. Second, Theresa Allison, Jennie Gubner and Alexander Smith show how vulnerable older adults living with dementia and their caregivers seek meaning in daily life, adapting meaningful activities to circumstances of increasing vulnerability. Third, Kate de Medeiros and Ulla Kriebernegg discuss how a dialogue between facts and fictions, narrative and literary gerontology, can contribute in seeing vulnerability as a form of resistance. Fourth, Margaret Perkinson illustrates the power of visual images as elicitors of reflections on meaning among the older inhabitants of a Guatemalan village. Documenting villagers’ own perspectives through PhotoVoice methodology underscores the fundamental importance of taking first-person perspectives into account when studying meaning.

little research has focused on barriers to meeting specific types of resident daily care and activity preferences. The purpose of this study was to describe LTC staff barriers to fulfilling specific types of resident preferences. A descriptive, qualitative study with 19 assisted living staff from nursing, dietary, and activities was conducted. Semi-structured interviews focused on identifying work system barriers to meeting specific types of resident preferences were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings suggest shift assignments, staffing challenges, and facility schedules influence staff ability to meet certain types of preferences. The results suggest innovative design of shift schedules and assignments may help staff meet certain types of preferences. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Research in Quality of Care Interest Group. Results show a significant increase in substantiated complaints among providers that were slow adopters of the PELI. Overall, the extent of PELI implementation was not associated with regulatory outcomes.

THE IMPACT OF PREFERENCE-BASED, PERSON-CENTERED CARE ON REGULATORY OUTCOMES
The use of the PELI may not impact substantiated complaints suggesting further research is needed to identify person-centered outcomes of interest. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Research in Quality of Care Interest Group.

MEANINGFUL AGING IN THE FACE OF VULNERABILITY: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE HUMANITIES AND ARTS Chair: Kate de Medeiros Discussant: Desmond O'Neill
This symposium interprets GSA's 2020 leading conference theme, "Why Age Matters", as touching upon fundamental existential questions about the meaning of old age. Although meanings of aging have always been implicitly present in a variety of disciplinary gerontological studies, scholars from the humanities and arts have traditionally taken the lead in the field to provide thorough reflections and analyses about what makes later life meaningful. In this symposium, we aim to present a selection of perspectives from the humanities and arts that explore how meaningful aging can be realized in circumstances of the increasing vulnerability that inevitably accompanies old age. First, Hanne Laceulle uses a practice-theoretical philosophical framework to argue that the common assumption that vulnerability constitutes a threat to meaningfulness deserves to be nuanced, because meaning can also occur in the process of integrating vulnerability in one's life. Second, Theresa Allison, Jennie Gubner and Alexander Smith show how vulnerable older adults living with dementia and their caregivers seek meaning in daily life, adapting meaningful activities to circumstances of increasing vulnerability. Third, Kate de Medeiros and Ulla Kriebernegg discuss how a dialogue between facts and fictions, narrative and literary gerontology, can contribute in seeing vulnerability as a form of resistance. Fourth, Margaret Perkinson illustrates the power of visual images as elicitors of reflections on meaning among the older inhabitants of a Guatemalan village. Documenting villagers' own perspectives through PhotoVoice methodology underscores the fundamental importance of taking first-person perspectives into account when studying meaning.

MEANING AND LATE-LIFE VULNERABILITY: A PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICE-BASED APPROACH Hanne Laceulle, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, Netherlands
The quest for meaning constitutes one of the fundamental human existential motivations. At first glance, late life vulnerability appears to pose a threat to meaningfulness. Sources of meaning associated with certain activities or relations may seem less accessible once vulnerabilities, caused by social losses or diminishing health, start to dominate people's daily life experience. On the other hand, some theorists have argued that it is particularly in the confrontation with our human vulnerability that the need for meaningfulness is most urgently felt. This paper presents a philosophical-conceptual exploration of meaning as a dynamic, context-dependent social practice. Contrasting theoretical approaches that analyse meaningfulness and/ or meaninglessness in terms of the presence or absence of certain components or qualities, a practice-based approach enhances our sensivitity for concrete ways in which people manage to find or create meaning in situations of vulnerability, thereby integrating this vulnerability in their life narratives and sense of self.

. University of California San Francisco Division of Geriatrics, San Francisco, California, United States
This paper examines self-identified meaningful activities in the daily lives of 21 vulnerable older adults living with dementia and the people who care for them at home (dyads). Using ethnographic observation and interviews, we asked the dyads to identify which aspects of daily life were most meaningful and how these activities changed as dementia progressed. Results ranged from pleasure-seeking activities like cigarette smoking and eating, to spiritual or mindfulness activities like hymn-singing, prayer and tai chi. Dyads identified specific examples of the ways in which meaningful activities and meaning-making both persisted and adapted throughout the progression of dementia. Using these identifiable moments of meaning-making as a starting point for inquiry, we explore underlying questions of how to adapt to dementia progression while retaining meaning in relationships.

FACTS AND FICTIONS: RETHINKING VULNERABILITY AND RESISTANCE IN LATE-LIFE NARRATIVES AND WHY AGE MATTERS
Ulla Kriebernegg, 1 and Kate de Medeiros, 2 1. University of Graz,Graz,Steiermark,Austria,2. Miami University,Oxford,Ohio,United States Narrative gerontology examines the experience of aging through life stories and other first-person accounts. Literary gerontology explores cultural narratives (e.g., novels, films) that link us to our own aging through stories of others, real or imagined. Our paper focuses on narrative constructions of vulnerability, resistance, subjectivity and agency in life stories, interviews and fictional texts (e.g., Margaret Atwood's short story "Torching the Dusties.") It considers how aspects of vulnerability are embedded in stories and what they reveal about the cultural construction of age and aging or what makes us vulnerable as we age. Overall, our paper highlights the socio-cultural construction of vulnerability in narratives related to age and aging, focusing on the representation of vulnerability as a form of resistance and position of strength.

COMMUNICATING GUATEMALAN VILLAGERS' EXPERIENCE OF AGING THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY OF LOCAL AGING ADVOCATES Margaret Perkinson, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
What does it mean to grow old in a remote Guatemalan village? How do locals perceive the experience and meaning of later life, and how can a non-local access those perceptions? Volunteers from the village church's committee on aging learned PhotoVoice methodology to document townspeople's experiences of aging. Team members reassembled to discuss reasons for selecting a particular subject, how the photos' contents related to their own lives, what the images said about aging in their village, and possible actions to consider in response. Qualitative analysis of the discussions revealed perceptions and meanings attached to family relationships, living environments, work and leisure activities, and health issues of their older subjects. The images evoked exchanges, commentary, and reflections among group members, creating an "eliciting context" in which processes of negotiated, shared meaning-making regarding later life emerged.