The paper aims to know the idioms that the elderly use to describe and make sense of their experience of aging. It is based on ethnographic data gathered through the in-depth interview of 30 normal and community dwelling elderly in Marikina City, Metro Manila, Philippines in 2012-2013. The participants were chosen through compulsive sampling from the registry of 1385 senior citizens screened free from dementia. Their age ranged from 60 to 90 years, regardless of social class, gender, ethnicity, religion and other indices of difference. The interviews were transcribed, verbatim, and coded for the idioms, their meanings and contexts in which the elderly used them. The elderly communicate in idioms, which maybe basic to denote identity that obtains from aging or secondary in that they develop from the basic ones and help define identity further. The idioms relate to either continuity or discontinuity theory of aging or help rationalize what it means to be human and elderly.
The various fields of specialization that deal with aging define the concept quite differently [
Global aging is an effect of the “demographic transition” that started in England during the Industrial Revolution [
The effects of population aging on individuals, societies and governments are still largely unknown. Nonetheless, experts, governments and global organizations express alarm about the pressures that aging exerts on two critical policy areas, namely, the pension systems and health services. Pension can help caution the impact of reduced income in late life [
Notwithstanding this, it is also important to understand aging as an individual experience. However, we cannot study “‘experiencing’―or experience in real time and its physical, mental, and emotional constituents and therefore must study retrospective accounts―linguistic representations” ([
This study is an analysis of ethnographic data gathered through the in-depth interview of 30 normal and community dwelling elderly in Marikina City, Philippines in 2012-2013 [
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Various models of the body as an organic entity exist, two of these need specific mention because of their relevance to the study. Katz [
Descriptive | Frequency | |
---|---|---|
Gender | Female | 25 |
Male | 5 | |
Civil Status | With spouse | 8 |
Widow/er | 21 | |
Single | 1 | |
Living Arrangements Independent | With caregiver | 1 |
With spouse | 5 | |
With relative | 1 | |
Co-resident | Children taking in elderly | 21 |
Elderly taking in children | 2 | |
Mean | Std. Dev. | |
Age | 71.93 | 8.39 |
Education | 6.27 | 3.17 |
Number of children | 4.36 | 1.95 |
Classification of idioms | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Tagalog | English | Tagalog | English | |
Basic | tulad ng dati | like before | di tulad ng dati | unlike before |
Secondary | kabataan bata pa malakas pa kaya pa malusog | youth still young still strong still able healthy | katandaan matanda na mahina di na kaya sakitin | old age already old weak unable sickly |
Rationalization | sa awa ng Dios | by the grace of God |
prove on this by proposing a three-stage, intergenerational model where the ascending generation begets the individual who, in the process of maturation, begets the descending generation. The life stages are birth, maturation and death. Robertson describes the model, saying, “The early stages of life are concerned emphatically with its (culture, underscoring mine) acquisition, the middle stages with its consolidation in social experience, the later stages with its formal definition and transfer” ([
The idea that the life course is a model of aging obtains from acute observations of the changes that the body and its processes and capacities undergo throughout a lifespan. These changes account for views of aging as a transitions from an “earlier” to a “later” stage [
Continuity presupposes that aging is a movement on the life course that links the past, present and future. It is an effect of the narration of identity, which involves transitions from birth to maturity to senescence. It is multifarious, vigorous and affects individuals differently. Some elderly think that they are youthful, still young to emphasize aging as a continuous process. Manolito, who is 70 years old, thinks that he is not old because, as he says it, “Bata pa ako” (I am still young) in the sense of “Malakas pa ako, kaya ko pa” (I am still strong; I can still do it). By malakaspa and kaya pa, he means that he is still capable of activity because he is still healthy and strong. He does not take maintenance medication for hypertension, diabetes or any chronic disease. Activity refers to IADL not ADL or paid work because he is not frail, he is past the employable age, and no paid work for the elderly like him exists in the city. The impact of aging on the relationship between age and work ability remains largely understudied all over the world. Ilmarinen ([
Tulad ng dati implies that the life course is a continuous process. It is, however, ambivalent because it asserts youthfulness and accepts aging at the same time. Tulad ng dati, as bata pa, obtains from a sense of youthfulness that tries to subvert the image that society creates for old people. His wife Zenaida kids Manolito about it, saying, “Ayaw tumangap na sya ay senior na” (He refuses to accept that he is already a senior citizen). He does not mention that he is old, and he avoids talk about himself as an elderly person. He does not say that he is bata (young); he says, instead, that he is bata pa. It is in this sense, and to a limited extent only, that tulad ng dati, as bata pa, finds resonance in Kaufman’s concept of “ageless self” [
The idea of “ageless self” argues for a body image that is independent of chronological age that obtains from the continuous narration of one’s life. “Continuous restructuring [of identity] allows individuals to maintain a feeling of unity about themselves and a sense of connection with the parts of their pasts they consider relevant to who they are at the present” ([
More specifically, continuity refers to capacity for IADLs. The elderly believe that activity can delay, if not prevent, the onset of disease, including dementia [
IADLs reflect a gender schema that differentiates strenuous from non-strenuous activities. For men, strenuous activity includes driving, lifting heavy objects, playing basketball, etc. Non-strenuous activity includes hobbies that they did not have the time to do in their youth because of work, parenting roles and other obligations. Emilio, a 64-year old former cab driver, is still capable of all these, including visiting friends alone. He also believes that he can defend himself against the siga (toughies) in the streets and in the neighborhood. However, since his children do not let him drive anymore, he busies himself with carpentry and carving at home. Gaudencio, who is 74 years old, is still active as a campaign manager of a local politician, he still writes campaign materials, and he still serves as emcee during election campaigns.
The difference between strenuous and non-strenuous activities for women is ambiguous. Such chores as cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, going to the market, childcare, fetching water, etc., women continue to perform in old age. However, as women advance in years, it appears that doing the laundry and fetching water can be too arduous to some, and those who can still do these chores could be exceptions like Arsenia, who is 78 years old. Arsenia lives with a married child who, together with her other children, do not let her live alone because they believe that she is no longer capable of living by herself. They provide her company whenever she consults with the doctor, visits relatives or vacations in the province to keep her safe from accident and harm. On the contrary, she believes that she is still healthy, strong and capable of living independently from her children. She tries to convince family members about this because, after all, she does the grocery, cooks for the entire household, takes care of the young and washes her own clothes and those of her grandchildren too.
Not everyone agrees with the continuity theory. Tulad ng dati, as bata pa, malakaspa, kaya pa, malusog, creates an image of the elderly that is neither old nor young but something in between, which is midlife, not the years prior to it as maybe the misconception. The story of Winifrida, who is 70 years old, and many others contest this: human beings grow old, a process marked by progressive declines in physical prowess, health and reproductive capacity. Activity decreases as the individual advances in years regardless of the will for action. Ayabe et al. say ([
Some elderly state that they are matanda na to emphasize aging as a discontinuous process. Discontinuity presupposes a movement on the life course, stage by stage, with each stage marked by changes that differentiates the young from the old. It is a conventional, Darwinian view of aging that underscores the reproductive role of the individual in the species. It considers aging as senescence and characterizes it as a stage in life marked by decreases in health, activity and productive prowess [
Activity indexes katandaan, which refers to ADLs, IADLS, volunteerism or gainful work. Although they differ from country to country, ADLS and IADLs generally try to measure the capacity of the individual for activity in late life [
Winifrida is a strong and healthy widow, but her children insist that she live with one of her daughters so that she can take care of her. She is ambivalent about co-residence: she is happy that her children care for her, but she expresses a desire for independent residence at the same time. She amplifies this by insisting on her capacity for such IADLs as cooking and doing the laundry and by complaining about meat in the food that she tries to avoid for health reasons. She says, “Naglalaba ako ng damit ko, nagluluto ako mag-isa. Gusto kung humiwalay sa kanila dahil natutukso ako minsan pag yung may mga karne sila” (I wash my clothes, I cook my food. I want to live alone because sometimes I cannot avoid eating meat that they prepare). Despite her capacity for IADLs, she considers herself old because of her chronological age. She says, “Matanda na ako, kaya nga kung minsan naglibang-libang na lang ako sa pamamagitan ng panunuod ng sine, ng TV” (I am already sold, so sometimes I entertain myself by watching movies and television). Women like her struggle against stereotypes that portray the elderly as socially withdrawn, depressive and unproductive in various ways (Cornwell and Waite, 2009). An accepting attitude toward growing old enables Winifrida to cope with inactivity and sadness. She keeps a network of friends who meet together whenever they watch free movies for the elderly in theaters in the city on Mondays and Tuesdays. Friends are a source of information for activity that she may find interesting for involvement.
Activity is a bodily impulse, hinahanap ng katawan, something that the body looks for, which relates to well- being [
Women usually have negative perceptions of health status and role functioning in late life [
Dementia is “a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by progressive loss of cognitive function and a decrease in the ability to perform activities of daily living” [
Dementia (Tagalog, ulyanin) is associated with normal aging. It is characterized by such changes in behavior as malimutin (forgetful), makulit (importunate) and naliligaw (wandering). These and other markers describe dementia that maybe mild, moderate or severe [
Health relates to work as pastime or work ability. Attitudes toward work, though, differ. In industrialized countries, work after retirement is a choice [
The poor have to work to live. Remigio is 67 years old, and he still drives a motor cab for a living despite having suffered from a stroke. He complains about dizziness, weakness and shortness of breath, but he feels a sense of loss on days that he could not drive. Ariston, who is 70 years old, still vends green mangoes on the sidewalk, and the little money that he earns he gives to his wife Minda for their basic needs. Leonita, who is 72 year old, continues selling sweets made from rice in their neighborhood and other parts of the city because she is still strong and healthy, and her poor children depend on her. Since poor health can restrict strenuous activity, vending and peddling are congenial to the elderly, but not driving for health reasons. While men and women vend on the sidewalks, only women continue peddling sweets. Some of the women work at the center as cleaners and sweepers.
The women, mostly widows, want to work for cash, and they mention the cleaners and sweepers at the center as examples. They are aware, though, that any gainful work for the elderly pays so little. They try to dismiss this and emphasize, instead, what they gain from it, saying, “Di bale na; ang mahalaga kumikita ako. Malaking tulong din yan” (Never mind; what is important is I am earning. It helps a lot). Paid work “plays an important role in the relationship between generativity and successful aging”, and it is “a predictor of aging well” ([
The elderly are a group unto themselves or, as Arsenia says, “kami-kami lang”, to denote identity, solidarity and connectedness. They prefer same sex and same age-range friends, and they are loyal to one other. They visit each other, watch free movies together and hang out together. Moreover, Emilio says, “Damayan pag may nabawas sa amin” (We condole with one another when one of us dies). Friendship is reciprocal in nature, involving the exchange of mutual support [
Di tulad ng dati is a description of the changes that happen on the individual through the years. The skin wrinkles and sags, two changes due to aging that are easily perceptible on the self and on others [
At 65 years old, Inocencia feels strong. She describes her capacity for IADLs in the following words, “Siempre, noong kabataan ko at wala pa akong naramdaman, one hundred per cent nagagampanan ko” (Of course, when I was young and did not feel anything wrong with my body, I was able to do them one hundred per cent). Activity, however, decreases with age and frailty [
Unpleasant feeling, such as fatigue, weakness and disease, are common complains. Kapaguran (fatigue) has a known cause: it is due to aging, and it is not a disease [
The body is either malusog, mahina or sakitin. Pananamlay (malaise), a sense of exhaustion that has no known cause, suggests the onset of disease. Sakit refers to two conditions: sakit, as pananakit (pain), due to fatigue; and sakit, as disease, due to various causes. Sakit, as disease, is infective or not, chronic or not, recurring like cough and colds, etc. Chronic diseases, such as arthritis, high blood pressure, stoke, cataract, diabetes, etc., can lead to inactivity for life [
Keeping the body healthy is a personal responsibility through activity, change in lifestyle and medication. These approaches obtain from the presumed links between lifestyle and disease based on experience and knowledge of disease and local cures. A healthy diet and active life can help prevent or control high blood pressure or diabetes. “Commitment to physical activity may help to reduce fatigue in overweight-to-obese” ([
Health-seeking practices differ. The affluent and less poor see the doctor and buy medicines that the doctor prescribes, they can afford surgeries, and they take multivitamins. The poor self-medicate based on their experience and by asking friends for advice. They take analgesics for headaches, anti-motility drugs for diarrhea, mucolytics for dry cough, etc. They see a doctor should their resources make it possible. Because they cannot afford surgeries, those with cataracts go blind, the arthritic stay at home, and those with goiter die without relief from difficulty of swallowing food. Depending on their networks, some are able to address their problems by asking influential people for help. Timotea wears a hearing aid that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes provided her. Poverty makes them value health. Yolanda stresses the importance of health over resource by telling her children that, “Kahit wala tayong pera basta wala tayong sakit” (Never mind that we are poor, what is important is we are healthy). Eleuteria expresses the same views, saying, “Tama na sa akin ito… kahit hindi ako mayaman basta healthy” (I am satisfied with my life… [I do not mind] that I am not rich, what is important is I am healthy).
Resource includes pension, inheritance, business, paid work and support from children. Widows, former housekeepers and never married women who have no pensions are poor [
Most of the males are pensioners of the Social Security System (SSS) or of the Government Social Insurance System (GSIS). There are few female pensioners because few used to work. One was a gift wrapper in a department store, and another a public school teacher. Regardless of gender, health and economic means, the pensioners do not show interest with work for different reasons. They associate retirement with pahinga (rest), and they try to survive based on their meagre pensions, with or without the help of their children. They consider themselves physically unfit for the jobs that they used to do, and mental jobs that suit their experience and age do not exist. Disinterest with work can be an influence of ageist images of retirees as living comfortably and happy.
This contrasts with the attitude of some widows who want to work. Their positive attitude toward work is an effect of freedom from reproductive and childrearing roles. Carlota, a cleaner at the center, receives a monthly allowance of 1500.00 pesos for the job. Each time that she receives her allowance, she wants to go shopping. Her daughter Kulasa, says “Aba feeling nya mayaman sya dun sa kanyang natatangap. Yun and kasiyahan nya dito” (She feels rich because of what she receives [from the center every month]. It is the reason why she likes it here). She has no paid work history before widowhood. She regards aging as a state in life when she can pursue things that she did not have the time to do as parent and spouse. Aging then creates new possibilities depending on the individual’s health, interest with work and the existence of paid work.
As they grow old, individuals make adjustments in their interpersonal relationships toward connectedness with others [
Kinship, as “super family” ([
The Filipino kinship structure is bilineal, while the family structure is nuclear in some groups [
The family is a social resource that contributes positively to a better sense of life [
Since the family remains the site of care [
Co-residence is the common mode of residence among the poor. There are two modes of co-residence: for homeowners, living in one’s house with one or more of the children; and for non-homeowners, living in the house of one of their children [
Conventionally, the children who live with their parents are the youngest or the poor child. If female, she justifies the role on the idea that caring is a woman’s role. Parents may take in a poor child. A married son of Eleuteria, who used to work abroad, lives in what used to be the garage of the house. A poor child takes in a widowed mother or father in his household, while a “rich” sibling, usually unmarried and working abroad as a nurse or seafarer, sends support for the parent/s and the household.
Co-residence is a cost-efficient way of raising a household. The relationship between parents and children can be reciprocal in nature [
Reciprocity in co-residence, though, can be unequal. It happens that the resources of the elderly are also those of the household. It is common for pensioners helping in the expenses for food and the electricity and water bills. They are always in debt because they borrow money from lending agencies or usurers in order to help pay the bills. Juanita lives with her daughter, and she reserves the pension of her deceased husband for the bills. She says, “Minsan kapos kasi tumutulong ako sa anak kong babae. Sagot ko pambayad ng kuryente” (Sometimes it [pension] is not enough because I help my daughter. I am responsible for the electricity bill). The strong and healthy elderly do housekeeping roles that include going to the market and preparing food for the entire household. Perfecta expresses her sense of confusion and annoyance about the set-up. She says, “Minsan naguguluhan din ako kasi ako ang in-charge sa pagluluto, pamamalengke… Minsan nayayamot din ako dahil ako lang inaasahan” (Sometimes I am confused because I am in-charge of cooking, going to the market… I am sometimes annoyed because they all rely only on me). These experiences are by no means peculiar because, “Older adults around the world provide care and support for their family, relatives, and friends” ([
The reasons for co-residence differ. The elderly rationalize it on sama-sama (togetherness) to affirm the family as the site and actor of care for the elderly. Co-residence helps ease anxieties due to aging, such as the need for belonging and connectedness with loved ones and care from the children. In the words of Heliconia, the elderly need their children “dahilmatanda na o di kaya mahina at may sakit” (because they are already old or weak and sickly). Leodivina has three sons, two unmarried and living with her and husband, and one married with children, who now lives with them also. She likes it this way so that the children can help look after their sickly father. She says, “E, gusto ko may kasama ang tatay nila sa bahay kasi anytime na [may mangyari sa tatay nila na may sakit] may kasama sya. Pumapasok kasi ang dalawang anak namin na nakapisan sa amin” (I want their father to have company always so that anytime [that something bad happens to him] he has company. Our two sons who live with us go to work). Co-residence of this type is common in the Philippines [
The children premise co-residence on filial piety, the “breeding of children for oneself” ([
Reneging on utang na loob partly explains the situation of Dolores: none of her three children cares for her. She explains this away by saying, “Malalayo sila, yong isa sa Laguna, meron sa Bikol, at mas mahirap pa sila sa akin” (They live away from me, one of them is in Laguna, another lives in Bikol, and they are poorer than me). In a way, this sustains the view that the economic status of children is a critical factor to care for the elderly [
Besides the household, friendship is also an important site for social bonding. Grounded on notions of bigayan (mutual giving), it involves the exchange of support that is more social than economic [
The center for senior citizens is a beehive of activity based on friendship. Its location on one side of Marikina River makes it a preferred place to spend daytime away from home. It hires some of the elderly as cleaners and sweepers, and it sells the bags and purses that the women make from plastic beads. It is spacious, it offers activities for fitness and health, it provides information that concern senior citizens, and it is accessible by public transportation. There are sheds, tables and benches, and there is running water too for cookouts. The sense of activity, acceptance, belongingness and commensality makes the center the place where old friends meet and new friendships form.
Friendship contributes to satisfaction in life. Siebert et al. point out that, “commitment to the role of friend is significant in predicting life satisfaction…, friendship identity meanings emerged as the strongest predictor―stronger than income and marital status―when predicting well-being” ([
Organizations are important sites of social network building, involvement and activity. They are religious or civic, and membership is either inactive or active. Active membership is “quite common” [
Marita, an active deacon of the Iglesia ni Kristo, meets with other deacons every week for church-related work―proselytizing on non-coreligionists. She complains of fatigue and body pains when she arrives home, but she never stops from trying to fulfill her obligations as a deacon every weekend. Leveriza, a Catholic, is an active member of a prayer group in her neighborhood. The members of the group call each other “sister” or “brother”. They do not only meet on Sundays but also on other days of the week because of the satisfaction that they derive from a life of prayer and the sense of belonging that the group provides. The “sisters” are busy church members, attending mass and joining prayer meetings. They celebrate fiestas and organize pilgrimages to local shrines during Lent. In addition to these, Eleuteria is happy to share that she is an active member of the homeowner’s association of the village in which they live.
Some of the elderly donate plastic bottles and other recyclable materials to the Tzu Chi Foundation. Tzu Chi, as the elderly call the foundation, is a Chinese organization committed to protecting the environment through garbage segregation and recycling toward “A Clean Earth” [
Volunteerism answers to the need for social connectedness that increases with widowhood. “This suggests that continuity of volunteer engagement and enhanced social participation are important following widowhood” [
Friendship, membership in organizations, paid work and volunteerism attest to agency in aging. Agency refers to autonomy, independence or control that the individual has over his life. “One aspect of autonomy is the right of the individual to control his or her own life” ([
Complains about insufficient resource are common. However, satisfaction in life is independent from economic autonomy, which explains why most of the elderly claim that they are happy despite their poverty. Happiness is an attitude toward life, a personal commitment and based on the past. Zenaida states something axiomatic about happiness. She talks about what makes her sad and anxious, not what makes her happy. The past only makes her sad, and the future worries her. She says, “May oras na masaya, may oras na malungkot… E, minsan, naalala mo yung naging buhay mo, lalong inuunahan ko. Yong sa darating na panahon, yon ang lagi kong iniisip.” (There are happy times, and there are sad times… Sometimes you remember your past life [that makes you only sad], so I try to cope with it. I think about the future). She feels responsible for herself, and she tries to cope with her anxieties by not thinking that she is sick, entertaining herself, keeping herself busy with chores and visiting her son when she could. She says, “Iniiwasan ko mag-isip na my sakit ako. Nililibang ang sarili, mag-isa pumunta sa mall, minsan pumupunta ako sa anak ko, malayo, sa bukid. Kilos ng kilos, hindi ako naglalabas, bihira akong makipagkwentuhan… kasi mahiyain ako” (I avoid thinking that I am sick. I entertain myself, I go to the mall alone, sometimes I visit my [son]. He lives far from here; it is in the mountains. I keep myself busy [at home]. I do not go out, and I seldom talk with other people because I am shy).
Health and longevity, sociality and activity, resource, etc., are important but they do not determine happiness. Contrary to the idea that associates “successful aging” with “healthy life expectancy” ([
Aging creates new opportunities for the elderly to pursue hobbies, maintain a social life, have fun and give more time to spiritual life. Belief, religion or spirituality refers to the idea of the supernatural, which, in Christianity, refers to God. It also refers to “a type of experience which allows one to see the difference that God makes to mere experience” ([
Belief in the hereafter does not occur in the data, which implies that it is not as important as the other aspects of religious life. Instead, the data attest to the importance of belief in an all-powerful God, activity and commitment. There are activities that the elderly feel obliged to perform. Marita meets with fellow deacons of the Iglesia ni Kristo for church-related work on weekends. Catholic women attend mass on Sundays, and those active in volunteer work in the parish attend prayer meetings. Leveriza and her “sisters” pray together on Saturday nights and on other days of the week. Fiestas are a source of fun and piety [
The elderly narrate their religious experience more than they do anything. They try to comprehend experience through linguistic representations that convey its “physical, mental, and emotional constituents” ([
Mercedita links disease with aging. “Lahat tayo tumatanda, nagkakasakit” (We all grow old, we get sick), she says. She adds, “Mabuti pag walang sakit” (It is good to be healthy). Her husband Pablito suffers from emphysema because he used to smoke. She hopes that his condition would not worsen, saying, “Sa awa ng Dios, sana di umabot sa ganon” (By the grace of God, I hope that it would not worsen). Perfecta believes that the elderly are prone to disease. She says, “Madaling maano rin magkasakit pag matanda na” (The elderly get sick easily). She also makes a connection between disease and poverty, which is revealing, saying, “Nakakahiya kasi mahirap lang ang palaging inuubo at sinisipon” (It is embarrassing because only the poor get cough and colds always). She attributes her health to God, saying, “Sa awa ng Diyos naman, miski payat. Di ako sakitin” (By the grace of God, I am thin but I am not sickly).
Health concerns include surgeries and successful recovery. A few of the elderly undergo surgeries for cataracts, kidney stones or another diseases. Eleuteria recalls that she had difficulty sleeping after her surgery for kidney stones because of the itchiness that she felt all over her body. She prayed to God for relief from itchiness so that she can sleep. Two weeks after, the itchiness was gone and she was able to sleep. She says, “Sa awa ng Dios, mga two weeks na after my operation, nakakatulog na ako nawala ng pangangati” (By the grace of God, it was about two weeks after the operation that I was able to sleep because the itchiness was gone).
Family members fear that something bad could happen to the elderly on the bus, train or on the streets. Although this pertains more to the frail elderly than to the strong ones, they ensure that the elderly has company when they leave the house and go somewhere that involves crossing the street or taking a public transportation. They also fear that the elderly would wander and lose their way. How Mercedita and family care for Pablito illustrates these concerns. She says, “Sa awa ng diyos naman, nakakapadbyahe mag-isa, kaya lang hindi namin pinapayagan, kailangan may maghatid sundo” (By the grace of God, he can still travel alone, but we do not let him do it anymore because he needs someone to bring him to where he wants to go and take him home too).
Economic status is an effect of education and job history in midlife [
Eleuteria suffers from chronic diseases. She has diabetes, hypertension and allergic rhinitis that trouble her a lot. She also had a successful surgery for kidney stones. She considers herself blessed despite her condition, and she attributes her longevity, health and strength to the kindness of God. Zenaida feels and thinks the same way. She says, “Sa awa ng Dios umabot ako sa ganitong edad at malusog at malakas pa sa kabila ng diabetes at hypertension” (By the grace of God, I reached this age, and I am still healthy and strong despite diabetes and hypertension).
Longevity provides an opportunity for the individual to ponder life and mortality. Everyone dies but the idea that the time of death is unknown creates unpleasant feelings. Leveriza reflects on her life and thanks God for it. She says, “Nababahala ka minsan. Pagka kami nga nagprayer dito, nagiiyakan yung mga kaibigan ko kasi dinadaing ko kay Lord hanggang kalian pa ako bukas, mamaya? Eh, kako, eh, ang lakilaki naman ng bonus Lord. Pwede mo na ako kunin ngayon” (You are sometimes anxious. When we gather to pray here [center for senior citizens], my friends cry because I ask the Lord when he would take me, would it be tomorrow or now? I say, Lord, [the long life that you give me] is a big bonus. You can take me now). She is conflicted toward life: she is happy for longevity, but she is sad and tired of taking maintenance medicines. She says, “Mamaya, bukas yung mga kaibigan ko, yan maglalapitan sila. Sasabihin nila, ‘Ang sarap ng buhay, sister’. Sabi ko sa kanila, ‘Oo, alam ko yon, kaya lang parang pagod na pagod na ako.’ Isipin mo naman, forty-eight hears old pa lang ako nag-iinom na ako ng gamot” (Now or tomorrow my friends will see me. They tell me, “Life is beautiful, sister”. I tell them, “Yes, I know it, but I feel very tired.” You come to think of it, I was only forty-eight years old when I started taking medicines [for hypertension]).
Sa awa ng Dios articulates a world view. It enables the individual to deal with his humanity that involves recognizing his mortality and at the same time making his vision of himself in his world real. In the words of Gaudencio, “Ang buhay ay dapat nating mahalin, kaloob yan ni Lord” (We should love life, it is God’s grace), which sums up his belief about life as God’s grace. Belief contributes to a positive sense of life. Eleuteria says, emphatically and assuredly, “Talagang satisfied ako. Una kay Lord, sa pamilya ko, sa mga kaibigan ko” (I am really satisfied with my life. I owe it first to the Lord, to my family, to my friends). The belief that health, including successful surgeries, the safety of loved ones, the success of the children in life, support from the children, long life and life itself become possible because of a God who is gracious to all those who seek Him.
The elderly are a diverse population, thus talk of aging elicits different responses. The frail and sufferers of chronic disease associate aging with decrements in strength and productivity, proneness to disease, especially chronic ones, smaller social networks, etc. [
Keeping the body healthy and active is a personal responsibility and a lifetime commitment that involves keenly observing the body as an organic entity. The awareness that aging is a transformation from “youth” to “elder” [
Living independently from children is the ideal set-up in late life, alone or with spouses and regardless of economic condition as long as possible. Longevity, poverty, frailty, choice and family values transform the nuclear family into a household because “larger households [are] more likely to be caring for an extended family member” ([
Living alone is a predictor of hardship among poor elderly [
It is a truism that a culture that encourages aging produces elderly populations in society. However, the idea that a culture that promotes filial piety in the young produces filiation among them needs reconsideration. How utang na loob operates, alone or in relation to gaba and hiya, is still poorly understood and needs to be examined further [
Friendship, membership in organizations, volunteerism and paid work are independent from familial relations. They are important aspects of sociality that contribute to satisfaction in life. Friendship remains the core relationship, and it serves as an anchor to other modes of connectedness and social network building. Volunteerism remain constant even upon widowhood, while poor, healthy and active widows show interest in paid work that suits their abilities. It would be interesting to look into the positive effects of widowhood in relation to sense of freedom and interest with paid work.
Belief in God, immortality and in good and evil does not seem as important as activity and commitment in fostering a sense of community and integration with co-religionists. Belief in a gracious God intensifies with crises. Life itself is a manifestation of the experience of a gracious God. The less poor are more candid about their belief than the poor: they owe everything to God―longevity, health, the success of children, etc. If one’s status is an attestation to God’s grace, then the poor have less to declare about this, which is not to say that they are less satisfied with life or are less religious. Rather, belief is not something that they resort to even in difficult times [
The elderly communicate in idioms to convey their feelings and thoughts about their experience of aging to others [
Tulad ng dati plays into the concept of “ageless self” [
Di tulad ng dati regards the life course as a process that involves transformations from “early” to “later” stage [
The relationship between spirituality, religion or belief and aging maybe viewed in three ways―as something that makes the individual happy, as compensation for suffering and as resource [
R.C.E. thanks the following: the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology for the grant that made the research possible in 2012-2013; the St. Luke’s Medical Center-Quezon City (SLMC) for issuing the ethics clearance; the SLMC Research and Biotechnology Division where he was affiliated as anthropologist and assigned at the Memory Center of the Institute of Neurosciences during the duration of the research; the research participants; and the head and staff of the Center for Senior Citizens of Marikina City.
Rolando C.Esteban, (2015) Thinking about Aging: Experience, Identity and Meaning among an Elderly Population in the Philippines. Advances in Aging Research,04,133-153. doi: 10.4236/aar.2015.45015