Conceptualizing resilience in women older than 85: overcoming adversity from illness or loss.

Resilience in women older than 85 is defined as the ability to achieve, retain, or regain a level of physical or emotional health after devastating illness or loss. This concept analysis of resilience in women older than 85 is based on the strategy suggested by Meleis. Resilience in women older than 85 is symbolized by a coiled wire, enclosed within a box similar to a jack-in-the-box. Environmental factors within the jack-in-the-box include frailty, determination, previous experience with hardship in learning how to cope, access to care, culturally based health beliefs, family support, self-care activities, caring for others, and functioning like efficiently working machines. External factors that influence the ability of the wire to recoil include the structure of the box itself and stress. More study is needed regarding diverse older women's experiences of resilience to develop a workable, clinically focused theory.