Dear Readers, Welcome to the next installment of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work. This issue features seven articles that report the findings of original research projects from four countries:… Click to show full abstract
Dear Readers, Welcome to the next installment of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work. This issue features seven articles that report the findings of original research projects from four countries: Malaysia, Spain, China, and the United States. There are three quantitative and four qualitative studies. The issue opens with Marshall et al.’s brief report examining trends in financial hardship among older adults from 2006–2016 using data from the Health and Retirement Study. In particular, these authors identify factors associated with continuous, intermediate, and temporary experiences of hardship. Next, Li and Tang’s research, also based on the Health and Retirement Study, examines the role of individual activity in moderating the impact of social isolation and loneliness, noting that engaging in such personal solo activity serves as a protective factor against loneliness among older adults with limited social contacts. Hwan and Hussin’s work explores volunteer experiences among older adults in Malaysia who are living with End Stage Renal Disease; the study reveals numerous positive outcomes linked to volunteering even in the context of chronic health challenges. Uses a family quality of life framework, Wang and colleagues illuminate the experience of compound caregivers, defined as those providing care to more than one person. Their study demonstrates the implications of such care on individual and family health outcomes. Huang and colleagues’ investigation of grandparents caring for young grandchildren in China reveals the motivators and joys of grandparenting as well as the difficulties associated with unmet needs. Celdrán et al.’s interviews with older adult bloggers in Spain highlight numerous benefits associated with producing a blog, which include both cognitive and emotional rewards. The issue closes with Salisu’s phenomenological study of older single Black women’s decisions about whether to date, which offers “important practical implications for understanding the influence of the older women’s Blackness . . . and how it shapes their dating behavior” in the context of intersections of race, gender, class, and age. JOURNAL OF GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIAL WORK 2022, VOL. 65, NO. 3, 239–240 https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2022.2052686
               
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