BEYOND DECLINE: PRESERVING A VALUED SENSE OF SELF IN LATER LIFE AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN URBAN SARAWAK

Abstract

Population ageing has intensified the need to understand how older adults maintain psychosocial health beyond the traditional focus on disease, decline, and functional limitations. Although previous research has identified factors associated with psychosocial well-being in later life, much of the existing evidence remains quantitative, providing limited insight into how older adults themselves experience, interpret, and sustain psychosocial health in their everyday lives. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of psychosocial health among community-dwelling older adults in urban Sarawak, Malaysia, using a qualitative phenomenological approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants aged between 60 and 79 years residing in Kuching, Sarawak. The data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Three interrelated themes emerged from the findings: (1) Meaning-Making of Psychosocial Health in Later Life, (2) Psychosocial Challenges in the Ageing Journey, and (3) Coping and Adaptation in Later Life. Participants conceptualised psychosocial health not merely as the absence of psychological distress, but as the capacity to preserve meaning, purpose, belonging, spirituality, and resilience despite age-related changes and adversities. Across the narratives, maintaining a valued sense of self emerged as the central integrative concept that enabled participants to remain engaged, connected, and significant within their families, communities, and broader social environments. The findings challenge deficit-oriented perspectives of ageing by portraying older adults as active agents who continually construct and sustain psychosocial health through adaptive meaning-making and social engagement. This study contributes to the fields of psychology, counselling, social work, and gerontology by providing a strengths-based understanding of healthy ageing that can inform culturally responsive counselling interventions, community-based support programmes, and policies aimed at promoting psychosocial well-being and positive ageing among older adults in Malaysia.