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Abstract

Interviews were conducted with 74 persons over age 60 for the purpose of gathering information describing their experiences across the older adult lifespan. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to generate a theoretical framework of categories consisting of sequential clusters of experience. Although most theorists treat older adulthood as a single lifestage, results of this study indicate that developmental change may be described in five age-independent periods in older adulthood: (a) continuity with middle age, (b) an early transition, (c) a revised lifestyle, (d) a later transition, and (e) a final period. This framework provides a basis for identifying the needs of older adults in relation to particular periods of development and may assist in targeting educational and other programs more precisely for discrete subpopulations of older adults.

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A Framework for Describing Developmental Change Among Older Adults

Abstract

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