Hill, Robert D. Positive Aging: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Consumers

International Social Science Review, Spring-Summer, 2007 by Susan Cody-Rydzewski

Hill, Robert D. Positive Aging: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Consumers. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2005. x 256 pages. Cloth, $27.95.

Positive Aging is a clearly written, comprehensive, encouraging discussion of the aging experience. The book, written by psychologist and gerontologist Robert D. Hill, is informative and timely, given recent demographic shifts in the population. Hill provides a thorough yet manageable overview of current and future aging trends. While dubbed as a guide for "mental health professionals," the book is quite accessible to the average reader and, arguably, useful for laypersons and appropriate for a number of courses, especially those preparing students for careers in the helping professions.

The uniqueness of the book lies in Hill's introduction and development of his concept of "positive aging." Hill differentiates positive aging from related concepts such as "normal aging" and "successful aging." Normal aging may be thought of as the likely or (virtually) universal consequences of aging found across various social or cultural groups. Successful aging denotes the experience of living beyond average life expectancy and maintaining a high quality of life well into one's late seventies and eighties. Personal choices, along with certain biological advantages, and personality type or disposition may contribute to a longer life span. The appeal of the successful-aging concept is in the identification of health-promoting factors and life choices. The concept of successful aging was one of the first attempts to explore the potential positive consequences of aging and the extent to which individuals can control their aging experiences.

In discussing the concept of positive aging, Hill notes that it has its roots in positive psychology, which posits that individuals possess a range of personal traits that are extremely valuable for coping successfully with difficult life circumstances. Building upon this idea, positive aging suggests that individuals can and should draw upon not only psychological factors and individual traits but also social and community resources to live and function optimally in old age. Resources such as paid or unpaid work, health care, education, extended family ties, and religion may offer tremendous support as individuals enter into old age. Positive aging suggests that older persons actively manage these resources. In doing so, they are demonstrating agency, initiative, and will.

The concept of positive aging resonates with the current social climate emphasizing fitness, lifelong activity, good health, and high self-esteem. Hill suggests that older persons make choices that will preserve and enhance their well-being. In particular, taking measures to maintain good physical health, seeking personal or intellectual growth experiences, and developing a reliable network of social relationships and support are all imperative to maintaining well-being in old age. In addition, it is important to focus on the positive aspects of growing old. Feeling pride in one's past and present accomplishments, the enjoyment of one's circle of family and friends, and the possibility for new life experiences coupled with enhanced perspectives or "wisdom" are aspects of old age to be embraced. One of the greatest advantages of the positive-aging framework is that it challenges previous notions that aging is inevitably associated with passivity, decline, and disengagement. Furthermore, unlike successful aging, which defines "success" in quantifiable terms (i.e., living beyond average life expectancy), positive aging encompasses the qualitative aspects of aging and aging well.

Hill argues that older persons mitigate the negative effects of aging through various coping strategies which involve modifications of earlier adaptive strategies. For example, "assimilative coping" is the recognition (and acceptance) that goals may have to be attained or achieved differently in old age than in youth or middle age. On the other hand, "accommodative coping" involves changing one's preferences or desires in those instances where old age (more specifically, level of functioning) makes the realization of those preferences impossible. Modifications such as these have been shown to minimize negative reactions to loss in old age. Flexibility, generally, is associated with more positive aging experiences.

Traits such as rigidity, negativity, regret, and self-absorption function as barriers to successful aging. Rigidity is particularly problematic in that it actively works against positive aging. Individuals who possess rigid outlooks or orientations are often not willing to redefine their roles, reassess their strengths and weaknesses, or renew their coping mechanisms. Overly rigid or negative individuals will also find it more difficult to realize the goal of positive spirituality, which is broadly understood to refer to a set of "meaning-based" concepts embedded in religious or spiritual contexts. Concepts such as forgiveness, altruism, and gratitude are acquired through (and continue to facilitate) life experiences. Finding meaning in experiences across the life course will serve to enhance contentment, life satisfaction, and interpersonal relationships.