A healthy view? exploring the positive health perceptions of older adults with a lower socioeconomic status using photo-elicitation interviews

Abstract

Purpose: The health perceptions of older adults with a lower socioeconomic status still seems to be unsettled. To gain more insight in these perceptions, 19 older adults were interviewed with the use of a photo-elicitation method. Methods: Participants reflected on ten photographs covering aspects of physical, social and mental health, and were also asked if and how they experience to have control over their health. Results: The results showed that the perception of health depended on the background of the participant, was experience-oriented and was mostly focused on the negative aspects of physical and mental health. Social contacts were an important contributor to well-being, especially when physical health declined. Although most participants seem hardly aware of having influence on their own health, several participants showed automatic selfmanagement abilities. Conclusion:For participants who need more support to improve, or become more aware of their self-management abilities, interventions with an experience-oriented approach are needed.

Rapid Review on the Concept of Positive Health and Its Implementation in Practice

“…According to them, the conceptualisation of health depends on contextual factors and scientific perspectives [ 9 , 39 , 66 ]. They also emphasise that people construct their own understandings of health based on personal circumstances and individual characteristics [ 9 , 27 , 32 , 39 , 55 , 64 , 66 ]. For example, these articles highlight that people from lower socio-economic backgrounds have a more disease-oriented approach to health and focus on different aspects of health compared to other groups.…”

“…Therefore, they recommended paying attention to the cultural sensitivity of the PH concept and method when applying it to non-Western populations [ 73 ]. Likewise, some studies advised that attention should be paid to aligning the PH method to suit vulnerable groups—including disadvantaged individuals and the sometimes frail elderly—as the literature indicates they may have a lower awareness of how their behaviour can influence their health and they may put a greater emphasis on illness than on health aspects [ 27 , 32 , 55 , 64 ]. Finally, a primary care evaluation study reported physicians noting the prevalence of interpretations of PH among professionals.…”

Ruimte voor gezondheid : het belang van de leefomgeving en mobiliteit voor het welbevinden van ouderen

“…Het meeste wetenschappelijke onderzoek wordt juist gedaan met mensen die prettig ouder worden. Gelukkig zijn er uitzonderingen, zoals Carlsson et al (2023); Joshi & Bailey (2023); Leyerzapf et al (2018); en Platzer et al (2021). Ook opvallend is dat veel geografisch gerontologisch onderzoek plaatsvindt in westerse landen: de vergrijzing is daar tot nu toe het sterkst.…”

Uncovering hidden abilities for participation in research through photo-elicitation interviews: a view on participatory research with people living in residential care facilities

“…Photo-elicitation interviews refer to the idea of using photographs in research interviews to explore a certain topic and the photographs can be generated by either the researcher or the research person [ 38 ]. The method has recently been used to involve older people in research [ 39 , 40 ] but as highlighted in a review of the photovoice method with older persons [ 41 ], visual research methods can be practically challenging due to ethical issues, functional and visual impairment, logistics, and resources allocated to the research project. The review further suggests that visual methods need accommodation to different contexts [ 41 ], but there has been little attention to the potential benefits of photo-elicitation interviews as a participatory research method with people living in residential aged care facilities.…”