Home⇛PCS Review⇛vol. 16 no. 1 (2024)

Pagtanda at Matanda Na: Metro Manila Home for the Aged Residents Narratives on the Meanings of Aging

Kate Ashlyn N. Dayag-Nonay

Discipline: social sciences (non-specific)

 

Abstract:

All people age, but not everyone is mindful of what it means to age. Meanings of aging vary based on individual experiences, which include changes in mental, physical, environmental, relational, and even the sense of identity. This exploratory study described and analyzed how 11 lolos and lolas from four (4) private homes for the aged within Metro Manila constructed the meaning of aging. Using the Symbolic Interactionism perspective, this research identified and explained the role of identity and interaction in the participants’ understanding of aging. The participants reminisced about significant life moments through storytelling before they engaged in conversations about their identities and relationships with people around them. The study found that the definitions of aging were signposted during two stages: Pagtanda (before living in the home for the aged) and Matanda Na (living in the home for the aged). Some of the words they used to define the meaning of aging are (1) kuntento, (2) positibo, (3) nalimitahan, (4) prosesong hindi maiiwasan, (5) and (6) pag-iba (pagbabago). All these definitions were affected by constructs, such as marriage, health, money, interaction, and environment. In analyzing the various definitions, the repeating constructs, and the role of identity and interaction in aging, selected residents of homes for the aged within Metro Manila are arguably content but not satisfied.



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