Stop aging and start living: the theory and practice of positive aging
-
Laura L. Payne
and
Charly Heavenrich
Abstract
This article introduces some traditional mixed with some novel ways to think about the human aging experience. We acknowledge that many, if not most, adults who live into their fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth decade, or even longer, will likely experience physical, social, and emotional losses of one kind or another. While we acknowledge the increased risk of facing losses with age, we aspire to bring a different focus to the process of aging. Through the interplay between theory and practice as set forth through Laura’s academic perspectives and Charly’s lived experience, the stage is set for fresh questions with which to shape future research on the role that leisure plays in positive aging. We highlight both contemporary theoretical ideas and one person’s reality-based experience with aging. The article introduces this special issue by bringing an alternative voice to the human aging experience. After all, even in the face of loss in old age, Baltes and Baltes’ theory of Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) provides us with the tools to make later life a good life, and to make living long the opportunity to age well.
©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Publisher's Note
- Publisher's Note
- EDITORIAL
- Leisure across the life course
- REVIEWS
- Stop aging and start living: the theory and practice of positive aging
- Efficacy of leisure experiences in controlling the onset of dementia in older adults
- ORIGINAL ARTICLES
- Leisure participation and the life, health, leisure and retirement satisfaction of retirees: a case study of Port Macquarie, Australia
- Yoga as a means to negotiate physical activity constraints in middle-aged and older adults
- Cultural participation of older adults: investigating the contribution of lowbrow and highbrow activities to social integration and satisfaction with life
- Reconstructing leisure in adapting to chronic illness in later life: emotional and behavioral strategies
- Older adults’ computer use: a case study of participants’ involvement with a SeniorNet program
- Leisure and disability: Mobility Assist program for aging and older adults
- Increasing the self-efficacy of individuals with a disability through a theory-based curriculum applied to playing golf
- The reliability and norms of the Leisure Diagnostic Battery for undergraduate recreation majors who are deaf
- Book reviews
- Book reviews
- Book reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Publisher's Note
- Publisher's Note
- EDITORIAL
- Leisure across the life course
- REVIEWS
- Stop aging and start living: the theory and practice of positive aging
- Efficacy of leisure experiences in controlling the onset of dementia in older adults
- ORIGINAL ARTICLES
- Leisure participation and the life, health, leisure and retirement satisfaction of retirees: a case study of Port Macquarie, Australia
- Yoga as a means to negotiate physical activity constraints in middle-aged and older adults
- Cultural participation of older adults: investigating the contribution of lowbrow and highbrow activities to social integration and satisfaction with life
- Reconstructing leisure in adapting to chronic illness in later life: emotional and behavioral strategies
- Older adults’ computer use: a case study of participants’ involvement with a SeniorNet program
- Leisure and disability: Mobility Assist program for aging and older adults
- Increasing the self-efficacy of individuals with a disability through a theory-based curriculum applied to playing golf
- The reliability and norms of the Leisure Diagnostic Battery for undergraduate recreation majors who are deaf
- Book reviews
- Book reviews
- Book reviews
