"We Used to Have Four Seasons, but Now There Is Only One": Perceptions Concerning the Changing Climate and Environment in a Diverse Sample of Israeli Older Persons

Overview

Journal J Appl Gerontol

Specialties Geriatrics
Infectious Diseases

Date 2023 Dec 12

PMID 38085273

Authors

Liat Ayalon

Natalie Ulitsa

Hanan AboJabel

Shelly Engdau-Vanda

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Solastalgia is the pain caused by the loss of solace and isolation from one's environment. Solastalgia is contrasted with nostalgia, which is defined as melancholy characterized by homesickness or the distance from one's home. The present study examines the two concepts of solastalgia and nostalgia in the context of climate change among diverse populations of older Israelis. In total, 50 older persons from four different population groups (e.g., veteran Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and Ethiopian immigrants) were interviewed. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Members of all four groups expressed emotional distress and grief associated with the changing climate, increased environmental pollution, and the disappearance of nature. Perceptions around the undesirability of these changes were quite unanimous, thus leading us to conclude that the outcomes associated with solastalgia and nostalgia are quite similar despite different etiological explanations.

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