title: Successful Aging Among African American Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Rowe and Kahn's concept of successful aging remains an important model of well-being; additional research is needed, however, to identify how economically and socially disadvantaged older adults experience well-being, including the role of life events. The findings presented here help address this gap by examining the subjective construction of well-being among urban African American adults (age ≥ 50) with Type 2 diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  As part of the National Institute on Aging-funded Subjective Experience of Diabetes among Urban Older Adults study, ethnographers interviewed African American older adults with diabetes (n = 41) using an adaptation of the McGill Illness Narrative Interview. Data were coded using an inductively derived codebook. Codes related to aging, disease prognosis, and "worldview" were thematically analyzed to identify constructions of well-being.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants evaluate their well-being through comparisons to the past and to the illnesses of friends and family. Diabetes self-care motivates social engagement and care of others. At times, distrust of medical institutions means well-being also is established through nonadherence to suggested biomedical treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hardship and illness in participants' lives frame their diabetes experience and notions of well-being. Providers need to be aware of the social, economic, and political lenses shaping diabetes self-management and subjective well-being.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration & Policy, Center for Aging Studies, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chard
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration & Policy, Center for Aging Studies, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Brandy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Harris-Wallace
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration & Policy, Center for Aging Studies, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Erin G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration & Policy, Center for Aging Studies, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Girling
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration & Policy, Center for Aging Studies, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rubinstein
authors.affiliation: Sociology and Anthropology, Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Ashanté M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Reese
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.
authors.forename: Charlene C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration & Policy, Center for Aging Studies, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: J Kevin
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Eckert
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D015142:Baltimore; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology*; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Diabetes; Health disparities; Minority aging; Qualitative methods; Successful aging