Successful aging in Canada: findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)

For almost six decades, thousands of conceptual and empirical articles have struggled to define what successful aging is, and how it can be achieved. Most of the research in successful aging is conducted in the US, UK and European countries, but little has been published within the Canadian context. Using data from the CLSA, this doctoral research will examine the relationships between immigrant status/sex/marital status and successful aging. Findings from the proposed project will advance the existing understanding of successful aging in Canada while providing important insights into the experience of immigrants, women and people of different marital status. By studying factors associated with successful aging, social work practitioners, policymakers and researchers will hopefully be able to better understand what conditions and environments support successful aging, thereby enabling social workers to provide better support to older adults and their families in later life.