Resilience in the Face of Chronic Illness and Family Caregiving in Middle and Later Life

CME EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES 1. Understand the role of perceived personal control and accommodative strategies in adults coping with common challenges of old age. 2. Describe the effect of positive affect on resilience in older adults. 3. Discuss a proposed model that links conceptualizations of resilience with intervention strategies among older adults faced with chronic illness, disability, and family caregiving responsibilities. In the context of aging, resilience - the process of positive adaptation in response to threatening life circumstances, including chronic illness, disability, and providing personal and other types of care to older relatives in middle and later life - involves effective coping; the ability to 'bounce back;' and rapid recovery, sustainability of purpose, and personal growth while facing adversity. Although the idea of growth through adversity is appealing and has generated considerable interest, the research methods required to capture growth have lagged behind theoretical formulations, leaving this aspect of resilience more speculative. Resilience has been studied as an aspect of personality, and the concept of resilience has been applied to organizations, neighborhoods, and communities.