Social Workers’ Perspectives on the Connection Between Later Life Trauma and Older Adults’ Mental Health and Overall Well-being

Shrestha, Laxman Prasad

Social Workers’ Perspectives on the Connection Between Later Life Trauma and Older Adults’ Mental Health and Overall Well-being

dc.contributor.advisor	Lee, Yeonjung
dc.contributor.advisor	Gulbrandsen, Carolyne (Cari)
dc.contributor.author	Shrestha, Laxman Prasad
dc.contributor.committeemember	Archer-Kuhn, Beth Elizabeth
dc.contributor.committeemember	Shankar, Janki
dc.contributor.committeemember	Kwan, Crystal
dc.date	2024-11
dc.date.accessioned	2024-09-16T17:18:03Z
dc.date.available	2024-09-16T17:18:03Z
dc.date.issued	2024-09-13
dc.description.abstract	This research explores gerontological social workers’ perspectives and experiences responding to later-life trauma (LLT) and its impacts on older adults’ mental health and overall well-being, as well as their experiences with support, services, and resources available to older adults in their communities. A critical ethnography approach was utilized to investigate the experiences of social workers, recruited from agencies in Calgary, who have two or more years of working experience with older adults with histories of traumas. The findings of this qualitative study demonstrate that LLT significantly impacts older adults’ mental health and overall well-being. Capitalism-oriented societies and policymakers continue to marginalize this critical social issue. The study's results recognize the prevalence of ageism, discrimination, stereotypes, prejudices, and negative social assumptions and attitudes and describe how they exacerbate LLT. This study elaborates on specific factors contributing to intersecting multilayered barriers, such as social/self-stigma (shame, guilt, fear, and negative beliefs), systemic barriers, and limited programs, services, and resources for older adults. Although the number of older adults is growing locally and globally at the fastest rate in history, limited attention has been devoted to older adults and their issues related to LLT, compared to their younger counterparts. Older adults’ trauma is assumed to be normal and natural, even though the impacts of trauma are unique to each person. The results of this research reinforce how ageism and capitalistic social norms play pivotal roles in the stereotypes of and discrimination against older adults and their issues related to LLT. This study provided essential policy and practice recommendations to support older adults with LLT to ensure trauma-informed and age-friendly programs, services, and resources. The implications for policy, practice, and further research are discussed and presented.
dc.identifier.citation	Shrestha, L. P. (2024). Social workers’ perspectives on the connection between later life trauma and older adults’ mental health and overall well-being (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119734
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Impacts
dc.subject	Later-life trauma (LLT)
dc.subject	Older adults
dc.subject	Perspectives
dc.subject	Policy
dc.subject	Practice
dc.subject	Social work
dc.subject.classification	Social Work
dc.title	Social Workers’ Perspectives on the Connection Between Later Life Trauma and Older Adults’ Mental Health and Overall Well-being
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Social Work
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Social Work (MSW)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.