CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Financial security and spirituality are essential to positive aging in Latino older adults, and programs designed for this population should prioritize these elements, a new study indicates.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign social work professor Lissette Piedra surveyed a diverse group of 38 community workers and researchers on the psychological, physical and social factors they believed were important to Latino older adults’ well-being in later life.
The goal of the study was to explore scholars’ and practitioners’ differing perspectives, as they affect the type of programming offered to this population, said Piedra, the first author of the study.
“In responding to their clients’ needs in specific environments, service providers develop a body of tacit knowledge or practice wisdom that may deviate from scholarly experts’ opinions – but providers’ perspectives are frequently overlooked,” Piedra said. “Examining how they conceptualize positive aging among Latinos is critical for tailoring programming to benefit this group.”
Using concept mapping, a graphical tool that illustrates the relationships among key ideas, the researchers identified four factors that the respondents considered essential to Latinos’ successful, heathy aging.
These factors are self-sufficient living, which includes financial security and independence; cognitive and physical health; social and spiritual life, which encompasses meaningful relationships, spirituality and giving of oneself; and psychological resources such as resilience and having a positive outlook.
A 20-member steering committee, consisting of scholars and community workers who specialize in programming for older adults in the Chicago area, consulted on the project, including data collection and interpretation. More than half of the committee members were of Hispanic or Latino descent, as were many of the practitioners who specialize in Latino older adults.
While all the respondents rated financial security and the ability to meet one's material needs as important for Latinos’ successful aging, they disagreed on the importance of spirituality.
Most of the community workers rated spirituality as the second most important factor for older Latinos to age well, while scholars viewed it as the least important element.
This suggests that practitioners who work closely with Latino communities may have greater insight into the influence that religious beliefs and practices have on the mental and physical health of older Latinos, Piedra said.
Prior studies have supported this finding, tying various aspects of spirituality – such as participating in religious services and feeling close to God – to lower rates of depression and anxiety in Latino older adults. Spirituality and a strong faith also may help this population accept the inevitable losses associated with aging, one study found.
Accordingly, nearly 75% of Latino older adults age 50 and over indicated in a 2014 Pew Research Center poll that religion played a very important role in their lives.
“Our findings and the existing literature suggest that culturally sensitive programming for Latino older adults should extend beyond linguistic and ethnic customs. For this group, spirituality reflects an important cultural value,” Piedra said.
While the sample size was small and the community workers who participated were limited to the Chicago area, the researchers think that their concept-mapping methodology can be used to replicate the findings with practitioners from a broader geographic sample.
The study is published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology.
Co-authors of the study were John Ridings of The Institute for Clinical Social Work, Chicago; Melissa J.K. Howe of the University of Chicago; Jennifer L. Smith and Catherine O'Brien, both of the Mather Institute; Alexis Howard of McKinsey and Company; and professor emeritus Kendon J. Conrad of the U. of I. at Chicago Division of Health Policy and Administration.