Applications of salutogenesis to aged and highly-aged persons: Residential care and community settings

Abstract

Antonovsky’s salutogenic model has received considerable attention in the health sciences. Concerning issues like capacities to deal with stressful life situations in later life or factors that contribute to healthy aging (even in institutions), salutogenesis offers a promising perspective on the health and well-being of users of residential aged care. Based on a literature search in pertinent databases, this chapter provides a review of research on salutogenesis related to residential aged care, and in comparison to community-dwelling aged. The literature is analyzed according to outcomes addressed, prediction of health outcomes, and interventions. Besides discussing empirical work, theoretical and methodological issues are briefly addressed. Summarizing results, there is little research on the application of salutogenesis in residential aged care institutions, but there are several studies on the community-dwelling aged. The research has been restricted mostly to individuals with little or no cognitive impairment. In residential care, depression and health-related quality of life are the most common topics for research oriented at salutogenesis; concerning community-dwelling aged persons, the research topics are more diverse. There is hardly any research addressing complex questions about salutogenic processes and mechanisms, or using advanced research designs, and there are hardly any salutogenesis-inspired intervention studies. Due to the scarcity of research, it is far too early to draw conclusions about the applicability of the salutogenic model to interventions to improve health and well-being of people in residential aged care or comparative groups in the community; there is an obvious need for more salutogenic intervention research in these groups.