Wellness in Older Adults: A Concept Analysis

Abstract

PURPOSE. The purpose of this analysis is to examine the concept of wellness within the context of older adulthood. Identifying characteristics of wellness will clarify and develop conceptual strengths and limitations, providing a step toward evaluating its relevance in older adults and increasing utility in geriatric nursing. ORGANIZING FRAMEWORK. Rodger's evolutionary perspective. METHODS. Computer and manual searches were conducted of articles in the English language from 1950 to 2010, addressing wellness across the life span or among older adult populations. An inductive analysis of articles produced descriptive themes. FINDINGS. A historical time line traced the evolution of the wellness concept and its operationalization. Wellness has evolved from a little used concept to one commonly applied across many industries. Antecedents, attributes, and consequences of wellness are described. Concepts related to wellness are also identified. CONCLUSIONS. This concept analysis adds clarity to wellness in older adults. The state of wellness development as a concept in geriatric nursing is moving from conceptualization to use and testing in nursing theory and interventions. Increased knowledge of wellness will enable geriatric nurses to discover the strengths of older adults thereby promoting their ongoing growth and development while simultaneously guiding care for their changing and diverse health.

Exercise

“…Following this, the moderator used a structured approach to manage the group discussions while using the study interview guide 24 . The interview guide was comprised of open-ended questions developed from theories on wellness dimensions [12][13][14] . To ease the participants into the topic and to give them extra time to recall their experiences in relation to the topic of the focus group, they were asked to share their prediagnosis exercise history.…”

“…The concept of wellness shares common attributes with well-being and happiness, and overlaps with the process of health promotion 12 . Roscoe 13 identifies several dimensions of wellness, including physical, emotional, and social wellness.…”

Principles Guiding Practice: A Case Study Analysis of the Principles of Sustainable Agriculture for Diverse Farms

“…Our approach to data analysis was inductive analysis (Bigby, Frawley, & Radharan, 2014;Borer & Bowen, 2007;Hammersley, 2011;McMahon & Fleury, 2012), also sometimes referred to as analytic induction or concept analysis. This approach is closely tied to grounded theory as a discovery research process.…”

The experiences of self-care in community-dwelling older people: A meta-synthesis

“…In our review both views are represented as some participants emphasize the importance of being physically and mentally active and, therefore, being engaged in self-care activities, while others show low levels of life satisfaction and self esteem and are inclined to retire from society and active life (Backman and Hentinen, 2001). The promotion and maintenance of wellness achieving through self-care activities is considered important in old age, as showed in our review, besides in other stages of life (McMahon and Fleury, 2012). For older people the self-care activities encompass activities required to satisfy their physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual wellness.…”