Letty Kuan

• Sister Letty G. Kuan
   is a nurse with Master’s Degree in Nursing and Guidance Counseling.
• She also holds a Doctoral Degree in Education. For her vast contributions to the University of the Philippines College of Nursing faculty and academic achievements, she is now Professor Emeritus, a title awarded only to a few who met the strict criteria.
• She had two Master’s Degrees, MA in Nursing and MS Education, Major in Guidance Counseling, culminating in Doctor of Education (Guidance and Counseling).
• She has clinical fellowship and specialization in Neuropsychology in University of Paris, France (Salpetriere Hospital). Neurogerontology in Waterson, New York (Good Samaritan Hospital) and Syracuse University, New York. She also had Bioethics formal training at Institute of Religion, Ethics and Law at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
• She authored several books giving her insight in the areas of Gerontology, Care of Older Persons and Bioethics.
• She is a recipient of the Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Teachers Award in 1995 and an Award for Continuing Integrity and Excellence in Service (ACIES) in 2004. Her religious community is the Notre Dame de Vie founded in France in 1932.
• As a former member of the Board of Nursing, her legacy to the Nursing Community is without a doubt, indisputable.

About her Theory:

“Retirement and Role Discontinuities”

Basic Assumptions and Concepts:

Physiological Age is the endurance of cells and tissues to withstand the wear-and-tear phenomenon of the human body. Some individuals are gifted with strong genetic affinity to stay young for a long time.

Role refers to the set of shared expectations focused upon a particular position. These may include beliefs about what goals or values the position incumbent is to pursue and the norms that will govern his behavior. It is also the set of shared expectations from the retiree’s socialization experiences and the values internalized while preparing for the position as well as the adaptations to the expectations socially defined for the position itself. For every social role, there is complementary set of roles in the social structure among which interaction constantly occurs.

Change of Life is the period between near retirement and post retirement years. In medico-physiologic terms, this equates with the climacteric period of adjustment and readjustment to another tempo of life.

Retiree is an individual who has left the position occupied for the past years of productive life because he/she has reached the prescribed retirement age of has completed the required years of service.

Role Discontinuity is the interruption in the line of status enjoyed or role performed. The interruption may be brought about by an accident, emergency, and change of position or retirement.

Coping Approaches refer to the interventions or measures applied to solve a problematic situation or state in order to restore or maintain equilibrium and normal functioning.

Determinants of positive perceptions in retirement and positive reactions toward role discontinuities:

1. Health Status – refer to physiological and mental state of the respondents, classified as either sickly or healthy.
2. Income – (economic level) refers to the financial affluence of the respondent which can be classified as poor, moderate or rich.
3. Work Status
4. Family Constellation – means the type of family composition described either close knit or extended family where three more generations of family members live under one roof; or distanced family, whose member live in separate dwelling units; or nuclear type of family where only husband, wife and children live together.
5. Self-Preparation

*To learn more about Sister Letty G. Kuan’s theory, conceptual model and other Filipino nursing theorists, get a copy of the book entitled “Theoretical Foundations of Nursing: The Philippine Perspective” by: Dr. Eufemia Octaviano and Dr. Carl Balita.