Subjective Realities of Rural Older Women's Lives: A Case Study

SUMMARY

This paper presents and analyzes the subjective reality of a single older rural woman through her telling of her life story and open-ended interviews. This case study is used to demonstrate how a rural woman experiences a positive life experience while living with poverty, poor health, and numerous challenges and losses. The case was selected from the multiphase Rural Older Women's Project completed in rural Minnesota in 1986 and 1987. This representation shows the respondent living her later life and adjusting to old age in the same ways she has always faced life's challenges–with stoicism and tenacity, as well as patience and good humor. In the telling of her life story we recognize key values of rural older women including independence and privacy, balanced with a clear sense of the importance of relationships with others, and a closeness to the land. The views of informal and formal systems of service delivery arc discussed and implications explored for the development of formal services which will more effectively meet the needs of rural older women.