Review Article Resilience in Later Life

A starting point of a concept of resilience in later life emerged from research on vulnerability and risk among children bolstered by work on adaptation and competence. Recently, some researchers have begun to apply the construct of resilience to elucidate the processes of successive challenge and compensatory recovery among those who are getting older. Age-related diseases and physiological changes that are usually considered to be a part of “normal aging ” do not occur in the same way for all people, nor do all individuals necessarily experience identical changes as they reach old age. Those who age successfully are able to respond to the challenge. It is generally agreed that the ability to transform adversity into a growth experience and move forward defines the concept of resilience. The concept of resilience offers a wide range of opportunities for investigation. This paper presents background and concepts of resilience in later life, empirical findings on resilience in later life, conceptual and methodological issues, and reasons why resilience matters for health care providers