Gender roles in a geriatric therapeutic community

During the years 1983-1989 an action research/intervention study in a 40-bed Finnish home for the elderly had as its goal the development of a modified therapeutic community. This paper focuses on the gender roles. Logistic regression analysis indicated that males (N = 17) were best differentiated from females (N = 38) by extramural functional activity, extramural social passivity, religious neutrality, passivity in contacts with a personal nurse, and better education. These five explanatory variables correctly predicted gender in 84% of the cases. These mild gender differences reflect the traditional sex roles of an agrarian Finnish village and were seen mainly as a positive phenomenon. The findings, and some other gender identity themes in the elderly, also were illustrated by qualitative case material. These data suggested that the therapeutic community of aged people should permit active preservation of even conservative and stereotyped gender roles, thereby aiding in the defense and continuity of their often frail identity. The search for new role elements should be supported as well, however, because some elderly continue to develop their gender roles during their final years.