Successful Aging: Illness and Social Connections
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Method
2.1. Participants
2.2. Measures
2.3. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Limitations
6. Conclusions
My skin is thinning. Bruises and marks are annoying. Nothing you can do about it. You have to take an interest in your body and figure out what you need and what works for you. The doctor can’t tell you. You have to do it yourself. Get up and do exercises, check it out with your doctor. Stop the smoking and over-eating. The other thing is you have to keep the mind active.
7. Key Points
- The majority of participants aging with illness considered themselves to be aging successfully.
- Social connectedness variables community activity, religious activity, and relationships were predictive of successful aging in people aging with illness.
- Engagement in community activities had a suppressor effect on successful aging scores.
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Range | Mean | |
---|---|---|
Age (years) (n = 50) | 65–90 | 74.76 |
n | % | |
Sex | ||
Female | 34 | 68 |
Male | 16 | 32 |
Gender | ||
Very feminine | 12 | 23 |
Mostly feminine | 16 | 30 |
Mix of masculine and feminine | 7 | 13 |
Mostly masculine | 8 | 17 |
Very masculine | 6 | 15 |
Missing data | 1 | 2 |
Location | ||
Ontario | 43 | 86 |
USA | 1 | 2 |
Nova Scotia | 1 | 2 |
Quebec | 1 | 2 |
Unknown | 4 | 8 |
Survey Type | ||
Online | 40 | 80 |
In-person | 10 | 20 |
Relationship status | ||
Single | 1 | 2 |
Married/common-law | 22 | 44 |
Widow/widower | 16 | 32 |
Separated/divorced | 11 | 22 |
Income Adequacy | ||
Not very well | 3 | 6 |
Reasonably well | 27 | 54 |
Very well | 20 | 40 |
Education level | ||
Completed grade 8 | 4 | 8 |
Completed high school | 10 | 20 |
College | 12 | 24 |
University (undergraduate) | 13 | 26 |
University (graduate) | 11 | 22 |
Self-report successful Aging (SR-SA) | ||
Successful | 23 | 46 |
Somewhat successful | 18 | 36 |
Neither successful/unsuccessful | 8 | 16 |
Somewhat unsuccessful | 1 | 2 |
Min. to Max. | Mean | SD | |
---|---|---|---|
Successful aging inventory (n = 46) | 53–80 | 68.19 | 6.10 |
Social Connectedness (n = 50) | |||
Community activities | Frequency | Percent | |
Almost every day | 6 | 12 | |
Once a week | 19 | 38 | |
Once a month | 8 | 16 | |
Once a year | 3 | 6 | |
Never | 14 | 28 | |
Relationships | Frequency | Percent | |
Very happy | 27 | 54 | |
Happy | 19 | 38 | |
Neutral | 1 | 2 | |
Unhappy | 2 | 4 | |
Very Unhappy | 1 | 2 | |
Religious activities | Frequency | Percent | |
Almost every day | 3 | 6 | |
Once a week | 12 | 24 | |
Once a month | 3 | 6 | |
Once a year | 8 | 16 | |
Never | 24 | 48 |
Model 1 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Variable | B | SE B | β |
Community activity | −1.552 | 0.531 | −0.367 ** |
Religious | 1.269 | 0.527 | 0.302 * |
Relationships | 2.129 | 0.869 | 0.308 * |
R2 | 0.340 |
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Carver, L.F.; Beamish, R.; Phillips, S.P. Successful Aging: Illness and Social Connections. Geriatrics 2018, 3, 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics3010003
Carver LF, Beamish R, Phillips SP. Successful Aging: Illness and Social Connections. Geriatrics. 2018; 3(1):3. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics3010003
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarver, Lisa F., Rob Beamish, and Susan P. Phillips. 2018. "Successful Aging: Illness and Social Connections" Geriatrics 3, no. 1: 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics3010003