Toshikatsu ODA, Tomoyuki NOGAMI, Tadashi ASADA, Hirofumi KOISHI

Research Center for Human Science

E-mail:oda@【続けて「kobe-u.ac.jp」を入力してください】

ABSTRACT

　　The term of Life Skills is not popular in aging studies such as social gerontology, psychology of aging and so on, not only in Japan but also in other countries. The author believes that it will be a critical task for researchers who are studying successful aging to have to tackle studies on life skills in later life. He reviews existing works on life skills and reconsiders concept of life skills, and then discusses necessary life skills in later life from the view point of tasks and ways of adaptation to old age. Life skills can be defined as problem-solving abilities to meet his/her needs and wants as well as to be socially integrated without deviant behaviour while he/she responds well to expectation and demand of the society in which he/she lives. Such life skills can be roughly divided into two types: one is practical skills and another is psycho-social skills. The author, after examining the preceding discussions about adaptation/adjustment problems of the elderly to old age and later life presented by gerontologists, specifies necessary life skills in later life as follows. Situation recognition skills for properly understanding what is aging and changes in one's physical, psychological and social situations accompanied with getting old and for accepting such changes. Role recognition skills for understanding expectations and demands of the social group/society to which he/she belongs. Role performance skills for responding to expectations and demands toward the elderly. Maintain skills for continuing personal habit and preference. Goal setting skills for setting or arranging goal of life answering to changes accompanied with aging. Resource utilization skills for managing various environmental resources to realize his/her purposes. Disengagement skills for stopping or leave unwilling things. Accommodation skills for keeping social relations with others. Conflict management skills for maintaining mental stability. Each skill is not a plain one but is consisted of some sub-skills. Those sub-skills and other life skills necessary for later life will be discussed in other papers of the author. Finally, the author asserts that it will be important to make systematic life skills education programs for the elderly based on the findings of studies on life skills needed in later life.