A qualitative exploration of the lives lived by Irish centenarians

Abstract

Centenarians are of particular importance to aging research as they represent the living architype of exceptional longevity and as such studying their attributes is expected to contribute to one's understanding of survivorship. While much centenarian research to date recognizes the biological and genetic determinants in achieving advanced age, there is a lack of understanding regarding the influence of social factors and their role in aging. As centenarian populations continue to grow at an unprecedented rate, the heterogeneity among centenarian cohorts together with current aging trends highlights the intrinsic need to better understand centenarian aging from a biopsychosocial perspective. A key challenge for research concerning centenarians is understanding their personal experiences of reaching this momentous age as such information could help to identify the sociodemographic and psychosocial factors that enable people to live such extraordinarily long lives. To address this, this study focused on the lived experience of Irish centenarians and explored their understanding of their aging in a rapidly modernized sociocultural Ireland. Documenting the psychosocial profiles of centenarians will assist key stakeholders including researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the development of policies and strategies to support the growing population of older adults in Ireland. Furthermore, this research will also map Irish centenarians who have not previously been explored onto the international nexus of centenarian research.