Social Aspects of Aging in Indigenous Communities contains 19 chapters organised into five sections. The authors use a social work lens to focus on overarching themes including the importance of identity, and the impacts of colonisation and social change. The chapters present Indigenous ageing through theories, research findings (qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods), social and cultural phenomena, and case studies. This book provides a balanced view from a wide range of authors working across diverse contexts, presenting the differences, but also the commonalities. The overarching aim of this collection, edited by Jordan Lewis and Tuula Heinonen, is to provide an inside perspective on best practices, demonstrations of resiliency in the face of sociocultural changes, and recommendations for social work policy and practice.
The first section, ‘Indigenous Cultural Beliefs and Views on Aging’, explores cultural beliefs and views on, and factors that challenge, healthy Indigenous ageing. In ‘The Cultural Determinants of Healthy Indigenous Aging’, Michael Yellow Bird, Gina Belton and Jamie Jensen ask ‘what is healthy aging?’, questioning the relevance of key definitions and models of healthy ageing to Indigenous ageing, before presenting their own model of nine interconnected ‘cultural determinants of healthy Indigenous aging’ (p. 25) based on both Western scientific research and traditional Indigenous knowledge and practices. They also discuss determinants that compromise healthy Indigenous ageing, specifically colonialism, providing useful context for the stories of strength and resilience woven throughout the following chapters despite the impacts of Westernisation and colonisation. In Chapter 2, ‘Active Aging in Mountainous Villages’, Hai Luo's ethnographic study identifies the social norms and values related to ageing in Indigenous cultures in southern Taiwan. Chapter 3, ‘Locating Aging in India’, brings to light understanding from two Indigenous communities in the north-east and north-west of India towards older adults, their roles and their status. Chapter 4, ‘Sociocultural Beliefs and Health-seeking Behavior Among Older Adults in Selected Rural and Urban Areas in Lagos State, Nigeria’, details a mixed-methods study exploring how sociocultural beliefs influence choice of health-care treatment.
The second section, ‘Aging and Social Policy: Challenges and Effects on Indigenous Older Persons’, shows the impacts of colonisation and lack of consideration for Indigenous cultural beliefs and practices in policy. Chapter 5, ‘Lapland in Transformation’, uses author Shahnaj Begum's doctoral research to understand the impact of climate change on health, wellbeing and culture. Chapter 6, ‘Indigenous Older Adults in Taiwan: The Aging Population and Related Policy’, uses secondary data from governmental surveys and documents to discuss the lives of Indigenous older adults and the challenges at the policy level. Chapter 7, ‘Development of the Indigenous Long-term Care System Between 2007 and 2016 in Taiwan’, combines quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the obstacles of delivering and utilising long-term care services in Indigenous townships from an Indigenous cultural safety perspective. Chapter 8, ‘Indigenous Spirituality, Decolonization, and Restoration of Traditional Elders’ Ancestral Knowledge Today’, uses case studies to discuss the struggle to maintain language, culture, transgenerational ancestral teaching and transmission of ancient knowledge to younger generations.
The third section, ‘Effects of Social Change on Communities, Families, and Older Persons’, contains chapters representing Zambia, Bangladesh, Ghana and Sri Lanka. Chapter 9, ‘Aging in the Contested Floodplain’, analyses the effects of environmental and institutional changes on the social, economic and cultural lives of the older people of the Kafue Flats floodplain, highlighting the importance of traditional values and active participation of older people to conservation efforts. Chapter 10, ‘Survival Strategies of Older Adults in the Manipuri Community in Bangladesh’, explores the coping strategies of older adults. Chapter 11, ‘Elderly Care in Rural Ghana’, uses case studies to analyse the support systems of older adults from two perspectives: (a) assistance provided to/received by older adults for activities of daily living; and (b) financial, material, social and emotional support received by older persons. The final chapter in this section, ‘Socioemotional Challenges of Indigenous Elders’, reports on an interpretative qualitative study based in a rural village in northern Sri Lanka investigating the socioemotional and cultural challenges and needs faced by Indigenous older persons. Together the final two chapters consider how the decline of the informal care system necessitates a need to explore alternative, professionalised care and support.
The fourth section, ‘Emotional and Psychological Issues’, focuses on social isolation and loneliness. Older Indigenous people are ‘particularly at risk of experiencing social isolation and loneliness due to their colonized status’ (Moeke-Maxwell et al., p. 315), however, there has been minimal research exploring how loneliness and social isolation are understood and experienced by Indigenous groups. ‘Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Māori Living in Aotearoa New Zealand’ presents the results of a study that investigated a small cohort of Māori kaumātua (older people) within a larger study on social isolation and connectedness. The second chapter in this section and the first contribution from South America, ‘Loneliness Among Indigenous People in Chile: A Neglected Issue’, describes a quantitative approach to researching loneliness. The authors use the data to suggest both risk factors for and protective factors against loneliness, with resilience being determined to be the most important protective factor.
The final section, ‘Contributions of Indigenous Older Persons’, brings to light a variety of ideas and strategies for improving quality of life and social connection by valuing and acknowledging the many contributions of older Indigenous persons to families and communities. Chapter 15, ‘Honoring and Preserving Culture Through Indigenous Cultural Generative Acts to Reduce Generative Mismatch and Improve the Health of All Generations’, makes the case for Alaska Native Elders and youth to work together closely to explore innovative ways to document and share the knowledge held by Elders. Chapter 16, ‘Continuity, Connectedness, and Community: An Alaska Native Life Cycle and Explanatory Model of Caregiving Networks’, considers care-giving networks from birth to universe across the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual worlds. Chapter 17, ‘Reigniting the Indigenous Spirit: Indigenous Elders and Organizations’, describes a series of Elder-led workshops, based on the Medicine Wheel, which offer a framework for all organisations to benefit from the wealth of knowledge and wisdom older adults hold. The narratives of the older adults in ‘Examining Intergenerational Ties and Roles: From the Lens of Tribal Older Persons in India’ highlight the need for social security and programmes that support older adults as a means to lead a healthier, happier life in older age given demographic, socioeconomic and cultural changes that undermine support systems available to older adults. The final chapter, ‘Shared Roles and Responsibilities of Older Adults in Jaffna, Sri Lanka: Unrecognized Contributions to Their Families and Communities’, highlights a relatively under-researched area, drawing recommendations for future research.
A particular strength of this collection is the focus on the strength and resilience of Indigenous Elders, in contrast to the tendency often visible in research to focus on the negative implications of historical events, and social and economic change, to explain health disparities. Authors provide solutions grounded in local knowledge, and whilst there are no singular solutions, inspiration can be drawn from the strengths-based solutions and approaches that can support positive ageing. As such, this book will be of interest to practitioners working with Indigenous communities and their older adult members in any location. In this sense, it would have been nice to have a final chapter that identifies the synergies and overlaps, bringing together the learnings and recommendations from each chapter. Another strength of this collection is the way authors introduce key concepts and frameworks in easy-to-understand terms, without compromising on detail or attenuation. Furthermore, chapter authors provide insight into quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods projects, as well as practical and ethical considerations, which will be of particular value to students and early career researchers wishing to conduct their own research projects.
