Sustentabilidad 89

Many of the survey participants indicated that they felt they had too much work to do in too little time or suggested that as they aged they had tried to stop making work a priority in order to spend more time enjoying other meaningful occupations, such as spending time with family or participating in various leisure activities. As they aged, the survey participants expressed the desire to obtain work-life balance more than they had as younger women and many of them indicated that they had changed jobs or careers in order to achieve this. For these reasons, prioritizing non-work occupations was

interpreted as being a more salient need for older women workers than for other types of workers; because the participants indicated that they had consciously made decisions to enable for the prioritization of other occupations. As articulated by one participant, “Now more than ever I have to set boundaries as to what I am prepared to do. Will I work additional hours, weekends, etc. if asked? As I get "older" I realize that my "me time" is dwindling. I can't put things off as easily as when I was younger because I may never get that chance again.” Another survey participant reiterated these sentiments by saying, “my work, although important, no longer defines me as a person. Time with family and

reflected on their choice of occupations and made an effort to participate in occupations that they found enjoyable as they aged, rather than feeling pressured to prioritize work as had previously been done as younger women.

Two survey participants also identified as being members of the “sandwich generation” in that they have many familial responsibilities and this, along with work obligations, takes away from their ability to spend time relaxing, focusing on their own health and wellbeing, or participating in other occupations of their choice. One participant explained that she was “often caught in the middle between family (kids and parents) and work - everybody wants a piece of [her], and sometimes [she has] nothing left for [herself].” The other said, “[I] also get to deal with the sandwich generation thing… worries about adult children and older parents” and she explained that it could be “hard to find time to focus on [her] own health issues/needs and planning for retirement.”

Some survey participants also said that they would prefer to reduce their work hours or work part-time in order to more fully enjoy other activities as they reached older age. However, this option was unavailable to some participants either due to the nature of their work or for financial reasons, as one participant said, “an option to go part-time would be helpful but not available.” Not all survey participants enjoyed the same level of autonomy regarding their work, and some participants focused more on how they

managed their time within the workplace, rather than focusing on prioritizing their non- work occupations. In regards to what older women workers need to enable them to continue enjoying and contributing at work, many indicated that they either would prefer less work to do or more assistance in completing tasks. This attitude was reflected by many of the participants such as in a comment by one woman who said that there was simply “too much work for one person.” Another indicated that there was pressure to meet unreasonably high expectations that included working more than 8 hours per day on a regular basis. She suggested that without overachieving to meet these expectations, she would not be able to keep her job as expressed by her comment, “expectations for managers/directors are very high and one must meet these expectations to remain in the workforce.” Other survey participants reiterated this concept of high expectations and feeling pressured to perform, for example, another participant said, “I enjoy my work

except the hours and expectations are greater than I can give to stay healthy. There is little care as to your age and health as long as you can hold up your end of the work load.”

The survey findings identified instrumental needs for older women workers as health promoting factors that contributed to the health and wellbeing of survey participants. Four themes were interpreted to be instrumental needs. These themes were: active

management of physical health and wellbeing needs, recognition of emotional and mental health needs, management of financial insecurity and planning for financial wellbeing, and the prioritization of time management and non-work occupations. Along with the fundamental needs that were identified from the survey data, the instrumental needs contribute to developing an understanding of the met and unmet needs of older women workers. In particular, the instrumental needs category identified factors that can improve the overall health and wellbeing of older women workers when these instrumental needs are appropriately met.

5.4.

Conclusion

Throughout the research process, I aimed to identify the needs of older women workers and share these needs with the community such that future generations of older workers may not have the same concerns as women who participated in the current study. By sharing the findings with the participants, I hope to empower the participants and engage them by articulating their work-related health and wellbeing needs such that they can express themselves and share their concerns, thus making a positive change in their own lives. By giving a voice to current older women workers, and identifying ways that may assist in making workplaces more age-friendly, I will have initiated the action that this participatory research aims to do. Further conclusions connecting the advisory group findings and survey participant responses are explored in the discussion chapter of this thesis.

Chapter 6