Researching with centenarians

Aims and objectives.  The objectives were shaped by ways in which to best engage the readers' curiosity about being 100 years old. Background.  In the effort to reverse negative stereotyping associated with older people, the aim was to produce a book of individual stories for public readership that had the power to combat ageism and to present alternative constructions. Methods.  Twenty-four centenarians were interviewed. Each person was asked to retell, using their own words, something about themselves and the social context that had shaped their lives. Centenarians could select whatever was foremost in their minds; an aspect of their lives that they wanted to share. We asked a few standard questions: What is it like to have lived one hundred years? What, in your opinion, has contributed to longevity? What matters today? A conversational approach to interviewing was adopted with the use of prompts to encourage story telling. Results.  Centenarians privileged talking about their early years, childhood, going to school and first employment. Although most people could relate to a country upbringing and fewer years at school, subsequent life experiences and opportunities were diverse. Advice to others who desired a long life was keeping active, leading a simple life, eating well, working hard, maintaining an interest in events and surroundings, helping others and being moderate in all things. Maintaining a sense of humour was thought to be important. Loss of eyesight, mostly in the last few years, had been a profound disruption in the lives, creating new dependencies. Extensive family cohesion and frequent contact with others who cared was a profound feature. There appears to be a matter of fact appraisal of difficulties, losses and sadness but these were considered to be part of life and not particularly extraordinary. It seemed that these people had made a successful transition to living beyond 100 years old by leaving stress behind and moving on. Embedded in the stories of centenarians was a sense of self that was strong and resilient. Conclusions.  The book containing 24 separate stories was published by Penguin. Sharing the stories of centenarians provided an opportunity to engage with the public readership and help shape wider social perceptions of older people as worth listening to. Relevance to clinical practice.  In this paper, alternatives to dominant stories about ageing are presented and challenge the negative stereotyping of older people and its associated notions of decline, dementia, decay and death. Its relevance to clinical practice is precisely to show that older people are worth listening to. Moreover their ordinary lives make interesting, popular readership. Although the stories were primed to reach a wide public audience, we argue that its health promotion message and our creative effort to combat negative stereotypes can filter to healthcare delivery.