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Cited by 68Chronic Disease Management StrategiesGender, Health, and Social InequalityAging, Elder Care, and Social Issues

Constructing the moral body: Self-care among older adults with multiple chronic conditions

Clarke, Laura Hurd, Bennett, Erica V.·2013·Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine
DOI 10.1177/1363459312451181
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Abstract

Older adults are increasingly living with and managing multiple chronic conditions. The self-management of illness occurs in a social and political context in which the responsibility for health has shifted from the State to the individual, who is expected to be an active consumer of health care. Although there has been extensive investigation of the management of single chronic conditions, the realities of living with multiple morbidities have largely been ignored, particularly among older adults. Addressing this gap, our study entailed in-depth interviews with 35 older Canadian adults, aged 73 to 91, who had between three and 14 chronic conditions. Self-care emerged as a primary means by which our participants managed their illnesses. Specifically, all of our participants were engaged in some form of self-care in order to cope with often debilitating physical symptoms and functional losses. They also utilized self-care because they had reached the limits of available medical treatment options. Finally, our participants argued that self-care was a moral responsibility that was underscored by gendered motivations. Whereas the men tended to emphasize the importance of self-care for the achievement of masculine ideals of control and invulnerability, the women suggested that self-care allowed them to maintain feminine norms of selflessness and sensitivity to the needs of others. In this way, self-care enabled the men and women to reframe their aging, chronically ill bodies as moral, socially valued bodies. We discuss our findings in relation to the extant research and theorizing pertaining to self-care, gender, and healthism.

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  • Age performances are propelled in contemporary Western contexts by a neoliberal rationality demanding individuals' body management as the key to reducing all later life risks.

    “Moreover, these performances are propelled in contemporary Western contexts by a neoliberal rationality demanding individuals' body management as the key to reducing all later life risks, including poverty, illness, disability, and isolation”

    From Centering Age Inequality: Developing a Sociology-of-Age Framework (2022) · cites this paper as Hurd Clarke & Bennett 2013

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Authors
Clarke, L. H., & Bennett, E. V.
Affiliations
University of British Columbia (CA)
ORCID
Venue
Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2012-07-05
Volume
17
Issue
3
Pages
211-228
ISSN
  • 1363-4593 (ISSN-L)
  • 1461-7196
DOI
10.1177/1363459312451181
OpenAlex
W2095935456
Cited by
68
References
52
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2
FWCI
4.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Health An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health Illness and Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Chronic Disease Management Strategies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Gender, Health, and Social Inequality
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues
Keywords
self-care, older adults, multimorbidity, gender, healthism, illness self-management, masculinity, femininity, aging, chronic disease, health responsibility
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, British Columbia, Chronic Disease, Family Relations, Female, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Self Care, Sex Factors, Social Values, Socioeconomic Factors, Comorbidity, Frail Elderly, Moral Obligations, Femininity, Masculinity

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