Learn current analysis on perceptions of knowledge and are available away with concepts you should utilize to vary your group’s tradition or programming in addition to encourage residents to maintain lively and contributing in your senior residing neighborhood, based on leaders on the Mather Institute, which performed the examine.
“It’s essential to acknowledge and respect the wealth of expertise and perception that residents can contribute,” Catherine O’Brien, PhD, MPH, senior vp of Mather Institute and neighborhood initiatives, and Jennifer Smith, PhD, affiliate vp and director of Mather Institute, advised me in an e-mail interview. “It might be priceless to offer avenues for residents to share their ideas and apply their abilities throughout the neighborhood if desired, resembling main resident curiosity teams or planning different occasions.”
The institute surveyed 745 individuals aged 55 or extra years on-line in January 2023; 70% had been Caucasian, 61% had been feminine, 59% had a bachelor’s diploma or greater, and 53% reported having incomes of lower than $80,000.
The researchers discovered that 71% of survey respondents stated they believed that knowledge will increase with age. However the examine additionally discovered that age in itself shouldn’t be perceived as guaranteeing knowledge — solely 39% of members stated they believed that age and knowledge are strongly associated.
O’Brien and Smith stated they had been stunned by the discovering. “Once we requested them in regards to the traits of a clever particular person, respondents clearly distinguished between knowledge and intelligence,” they stated.
However simply how did members characterize knowledge? Greater than half of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that clever individuals settle for their limitations (80%), are realists (67%), are accountable for their lives (58%) or have sturdy relationships (53%).
Advert what experiences have contributed to members’ knowledge? Essentially the most regularly cited reply was “making errors” (64%), adopted by interacting with individuals of various generations (59%), experiencing adversity (57%), serving to others or making an attempt new issues (every 54%) and elevating a household (50%). All had been chosen by at the very least half of members.
“Respondents indicated that quite a lot of experiences contributed to their knowledge, and senior residing suppliers may think about methods to assist these wisdom-building experiences. As an example, making errors and studying from adversity contributed to the knowledge of most respondents,” O’Brien and Smith stated. “Making a tradition that encourages individuals to attempt new issues and to be taught from these experiences might promote the event of knowledge. As well as, respondents indicated that interactions with individuals of various ages contributed to their knowledge. That is one in every of many causes to offer alternatives for intergenerational experiences for residents.”
Mather sought to conduct this analysis, O’Brien and Smith stated, as a result of “in our society, we’re regularly uncovered to unfavorable views about getting old, however there are numerous strengths that stay or improve all through one’s life. Knowledge is one in every of these strengths.”
The total report is on the market on the Mather Institute web site.
Lois A. Bowers is the editor of McKnight’s Senior Dwelling. Learn her different columns right here. Observe her on X (previously Twitter) at Lois_Bowers.
