Supporting resilience in older people: implications for nursing practice

Abstract

Resilience refers to an individual's ability to adapt and bounce back following adversity. As a concept it may help to explain how some people cope with stressors using internal and social support, leading to personal growth. The concept of resilience is frequently mentioned in the literature but often poorly understood. Older people are vulnerable to multiple adversities such as loss and chronic illness and therefore it is important to introduce strategies that promote resilience. The aim of this article is to explore the concept of resilience in older people by using the social ecological model to examine factors that influence resilience within this context. It further discusses the role of the nurse and uses a case study to highlight how nurses can facilitate the use of individual, contextual and sociocultural resources to foster resilience with older people in practice.