Personal wellbeing and quality of life among older adults

In recent decades, the study of living conditions under the paradigm of the quality of later life has shown increasing interest, both in a scientific context and in social policies and service providers, in observing the explanatory factors to establish standards and procedures for action to enhance...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Rojo Pérez, Fermina, Fernández-Mayoralas, Gloria
Tipo de documento: outro
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Data de publicação:2016
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositório:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/372000
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/372000
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Personal wellbeing
Quality of life
Personal and social conditions
Health
Residential environment
Older adults
Spain
Health services
Descrição
Resumo:In recent decades, the study of living conditions under the paradigm of the quality of later life has shown increasing interest, both in a scientific context and in social policies and service providers, in observing the explanatory factors to establish standards and procedures for action to enhance the quality of life of older adults, as one of the most vulnerable demographic groups. Within the conceptual framework of quality of later life, this study aimed at exploring if there are changes in older adults’ personal wellbeing in 2008 and 2011 and look for associated factors among the most important quality of life domains. Two comparable data sources collected in 2008 and 2011 were used: the Quality of Life of Older Adults-Spain survey and the Ageing in Spain Longitudinal Study, Pilot Survey, respectively. The Personal Wellbeing Index, as a multidimensional measure of quality of life, was employed to evaluate subjective wellbeing. Personal, social and residential characteristics were considered as independent variables. Descriptive statistical analysis, analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc comparison and correlation statistical techniques were applied. The Personal Wellbeing Index reached 70.1 % and 74.6 % of scale maximum for 2008 and 2011, respectively. The highest-scoring wellbeing items were satisfaction with personal relationships, personal safety and feeling part of your community or group of people (community connectedness) in both years studied and achievements in life in 2008. Standard of living accounted for the lowest level in 2008 and was among the lowest in 2011. It has been shown that improved personal and contextual conditions affect quality of life. It would be desirable though to pursue this line from the longitudinal prospective to determine the causal factors that are influencing changes in personal wellbeing during the course of the life of older adults.