Abstract
Latinx older adults have a high risk for depression; however, the impact of discrimination on mental health among Latinx older adults is relatively unknown. Critical consciousness (CC) and intersectionality theory can play a role in understanding the socio-political context that affects the social relationships and well-being among Latinx older adults. Using a Critical Educational Gerontology (C.E.G.) approach, this article presents a conceptual framework that can be utilized to enhance social relationships and well-being among Latinx older adult populations. The development of the conceptual framework presented in this article is based on literature about community-dwelling Latinx older adults who attend senior centers in New England. Previous research suggests that less acculturated and linguistically-isolated populations have lower rates of perceived discrimination. However, a growing body of research suggests that although one may not perceive certain acts as discriminatory, the effects of unfair and prejudicial treatment on one’s sense of self and well-being may have long-term, determinantal health and mental health consequences. Given the importance of mental health to healthy aging, it is imperative to develop interventions and resources that strengthen social relationships to address the detrimental impact of discrimination on mental health. Senior centers may be ideal for developing and delivering such interventions to community-dwelling Latinx older adult populations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ayalon, L., & Gum, A. M. (2011). The relationships between major lifetime discrimination, everyday discrimination, and mental health in three racial and ethnic groups of older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 15(5), 587–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2010.543664.
Baringer, D. K., Kundrat, A. L., & Nussbaum, J. F. (2004). Instructional communication and older adults. In J. F. Nussbaum, & J. Coupland (Eds.), Handbook of communication and Aging Research (pp. 543–562). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Barnes, L. L., De Leon, C. F. M., Lewis, T. T., Bienias, J. L., Wilson, R. S., & Evans, D. A. (2008). Perceived discrimination and mortality in a population-based study of older adults. American Journal of Public Health, 98(7), 1241–1247. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.114397.
Burgess, D. J., Ding, Y., Hargreaves, M., Van Ryn, M., & Phelan, S. (2008). The association between perceived discrimination and underutilization of needed medical and mental health care in a multi-ethnic community sample. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 19(3), 894–911. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.0.0063.
Cacioppo, J. T., & Cacioppo, S. (2014). Social relationships and health: The toxic effects of perceived social isolation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(2), 58–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12087.
Campos, B., Schetter, C. D., Abdou, C. M., Hobel, C. J., Glynn, L. M., & Sandman, C. A. (2008). Familialism, social support, and stress: Positive implications for pregnant latinas. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14(2), 155–162. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.14.2.155.
DeNavas-Walt, C., & Proctor, B. D. (2014). Income and poverty in the United States: 2013. U.S. Government Printing Office.
Diemer, M. A., Rapa, L. J., Voight, A. M., & McWhirter, E. H. (2016). Critical consciousness: A developmental approach to addressing marginalization and oppression. Child Development Perspectives, 10(4), 216–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12193.
Dirkx, J. M. (2012). Self-formation and transformative learning: A response to calling transformative learning into question: Some mutinous thoughts, by Michael Newman. Adult Education Quarterly, 62(4), 399–405. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713612456420.
Finch, B. K., Kolody, B., & Vega, W. A. (2000). Perceived discrimination and depression among Mexican-origin adults in California. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 41(3), 295–313. https://doi.org/10.2307/2676322.
Formosa, M. (2002). Critical gerogogy: Developing practical possibilities for critical educational gerontology. Education and Aging, 17(3), 73–86. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/1200.
Formosa, M. (2011). Critical educational gerontology: A third statement of first principles. International Journal of Education and Ageing, 2(1), 317–300. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/1208.
Formosa, M., & Galea, R. (2020). Critical educational gerontology at a senior center in Malta: Possibilities and limitations for critical consciousness. Educational Gerontology, 46(2), 59–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2020.1711587.
Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Friere, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Penguin Books.
Garcia Diaz, L., Savundranayagam, M. Y., Kloseck, M., & Fitzsimmons, D. (2019). The role of cultural and family values on social connectedness and loneliness among ethnic minority elders. Clinical Gerontologist, 42(1), 114–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2017.1395377.
Glendenning, F., & Battersby, D. (1990). Educational gerontology and education for older adults: A statement of first principles. Australian Journal of Adult and Community Education, 30(1), 38–44. https://doi.org/10.3316/aeipt.48494.
Gonzales, E., Lee, Y. J., & Marchiondo, L. A. (2021). Exploring the consequences of major lifetime discrimination, neighborhood conditions, chronic work, and everyday discrimination on health and retirement. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 40(2), 121–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464819892847.
Guitierrez, L. M., & Ortega, R. (1991). Developing methods to empower Latinos. Social Work with Groups, 14(2), 23–43. https://doi.org/10.1300/J009v14n02_03.
Guzman, E. D., Woods-Giscombe, C. L., & Beeber, L. S. (2015). Barriers and facilitators of hispanic older adult mental health service utilization in the U.S.A. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 36(1), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2014.939790.
Holt-Lunstad, J. (2021). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors: The power of social connection in prevention. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 15(5), 567–573. https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276211009454.
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., Baker, M., Harris, T., & Stephenson, D. (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 227–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352.
Hooker, K., Phibbs, S., Irvin, V. L., Mendez-Luck, C. A., Doan, L. N., Li, T., Turner, S., & Choun, S. (2019). Depression among older adults in the United States by disaggregated race and ethnicity. The Gerontologist, 59(5), 886–891. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny159.
Jacqueline, L. A., Sunshine, R., & Kyriakos, M. (2017). The role of the latino family in late-life caregiving. Later-life social support and service provision in diverse and vulnerable populations (pp. 38–53). Routledge.
Jemal, A. (2017). Critical consciousness: A critique and critical analysis of the literature. The Urban Review, 49, 602–626. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-017-0411-3.
Jimenez, D. E., Bartels, S. J., Cardenas, V., Daliwal, S. S., & Alegría, M. (2012). Cultural beliefs and mental health treatment preferences of ethnically diverse older adult consumers in primary care. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20, 533–542. https://doi.org/10.1097/JGP.0b013e318227f876.
Jimenez, D. E., Garza, M., Cárdenas, D., V., & Marquine, M. (2020). Older latino mental health: A complicated picture. Innovation in Aging, 4(5), https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaa033.
Kessler, R., Mickelson, K., & Williams, D. (1999). The prevalence, distribution and mental health correlates of perceived discrimination in the United States. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40, 208–230. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2676349.
Kim, H. J., & Fredriksen-Goldsen, K. I. (2017). Disparities in mental health quality of life between hispanic and non-hispanic White LGB midlife and older adults and the influence of lifetime discrimination, social connectedness, socioeconomic status, and perceived stress. Research on Aging, 39(9), 991–1012. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027516650003.
Lebel, J. (1978). Beyond andragogy to gerogogy. Lifelong Learning: The Adult Years, 1(9), 16–18.
Marmo, S., Pardasani, M., & Vincent, D. (2021). Senior centers and LGBTQ participants: Engaging older adults virtually in a pandemic. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 64(8), 864–884. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2021.1937431.
Mauldin, R. L., Mattingly, S., Parekh, R., Haque, M., Connolly, J. P., Thomas, L., Tarbet, Z., & Chowdhury, F. (2023). Transportation behaviors among older Vietnamese immigrants in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: Well-being, geospatial mobility, and potential indicators for ride providers’ geospatial burden: Final report. [Peer-reviewed report]. Portland, OR. https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1302.
Mccall, L. (2005). The complexity of intersectionality. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 30(3), 1771–1800. https://doi.org/10.1086/426800.
Molina, K., Alegría, M., & Mahalingam, R. (2013). A multiple-group path analysis of the role of everyday discrimination on self-rated physical health among Latina/os in the U.S. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 45(1), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-012-9421-2.
National Council on Aging (NCOA) (2023, April 19). Senior centers for professionals: Get the facts on senior centers. https://ncoa.org/article/get-the-facts-on-senior-centers.
Noe-Bustamante, L., Lopez, M. H., & Krogstad, J. M. (2020). July). U.S. hispanic population surpassed 60 million in 2019, but growth has slowed. Pew Research Centerhttps://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/07/07/u-s-hispanic-population-surpassed-60-million-in-2019-but-growth-has-slowed/.
Okang, E. N., Aaron, S., Supiano, K., & Osman, A. (2022). Aging services workers in the pandemic: Voiced experience of senior center staff and case workers. Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214221116470.
Ong, A. D., & Williams, D. R. (2019). Lifetime discrimination, global sleep quality, and inflammation burden in a multiethnic sample of middle-aged adults. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 25(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000233.
Parks, R., Evans, B., & Getch, Y. (2013). Motivations and enculturation of older students returning to a traditional university. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 25(3), 62–75. https://doi.org/10.1002/nha3.20031.
Pérez, D. J., Fortuna, L., & Alegria, M. (2008). Prevalence and correlates of everyday discrimination among U.S. Latinos. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(4), 421–433. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20221.
Schaefer, J. L. (2009). Voices of older baby boomer students: Supporting their transitions back into college. Educational Gerontology, 36(1), 67–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/17419160903057967.
Steward, A. T., De Fries, C. M., Dunbar, A. Z., Trujillo, M., Zhu, Y., Nicotera, N., & Hasche, L. (2023). A phenomenological understanding of the intersectionality of ageism and racism among older adults: Individual-level experiences. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 78(5), 880–890. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbad031.
Van Wynen, E. A. (2001). A key to successful aging: Learning-style patterns of older adults. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 27(9), 6–9. https://doi.org/10.3928/0098-9134-20010901-04.
Watts, D. J. (1999). Networks, dynamics, and the small-world phenomenon. American Journal of Sociology, 105(2), 493–527. https://doi.org/10.1086/210318.
Wethington, E., Pillemer, K., & Principi, A. (2016). Research in social gerontology: Social exclusion of aging adults. In P. Riva & J. Eck (Eds.), Social exclusion: Psychological approaches to understanding and reducing its impact (pp. 177–195). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33033-4_9.
Yancura, L., Fruhauf, C. A., & Greenwood-Junkermeier, H. (2016). Recognizing microaggressions: A framework for helping grandfamilies. GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research Practice and Policy, 3(1), 6. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/grandfamilies/vol3/iss1/6.
Zhang, L., O’Malley, I., Cruz-Gonzalez, M., Sánchez González, M. L., & Alegría, M. (2022). Factors associated with mental health service use among Black, Latinx, and Asian older adults in community-based organizations. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 41(3), 680–689. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648211012802.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Parekh, R., Rozas, L.W., Mauldin, R.L. et al. Applying Critical Educational Gerontology to Mental Health Interventions at Senior Centers Serving Latinx Older Adults. Clin Soc Work J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-023-00900-3
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-023-00900-3