The experience of resilience in older people living with chronic illness

Buggins, Sarah-Louise

Abstract

This portfolio thesis consists of three parts: a systematic literature review, an empirical paper and a set of appendices.

Part one is a systematic literature review which synthesises the published qualitative literature investigating resilience in older people living with chronic illness. The review aims to explore the role that resilience plays in ageing with a chronic physical illness, and how resilience is experienced by this group of people. The synthesis resulted in eight sub-themes subsumed under three super-ordinate themes. Super-ordinate themes are ‘the resilient mindset’, ‘engaging with others’ and ‘continuity in life’. The strength of the empirical evidence is evaluated, and findings are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and clinical practice.

Part two is an empirical paper investigating narratives of resilience in older people who are living with a diagnosis of dementia. This qualitative study utilised a narrative approach to collect and analyse stories from eight older people around how they have responded to changes and challenges since receiving their dementia diagnosis. The stories contained a number of phases, and resilience emerged as an on-going process stimulated by people’s sense of identity, agency, connection and positive outlook on life. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

Part three consists of a set of appendices which relate to both the systematic literature review and the empirical paper. This also includes a reflective account of the research process and an epistemological statement.

Citation

Buggins, S.-L. (2016). The experience of resilience in older people living with chronic illness. (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4218727

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Nov 29, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 23, 2023
• Keywords: Clinical psychology
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4218727
• Additional Information: Department of Psychological Health and Wellbeing, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Jun 1, 2016