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Life satisfaction among older people in Italy in a gender approach
- Authors:
- MEGGIOLARO Silvia, ONGARO Fausta
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 35(7), 2015, pp.1481-1504.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Over the last few decades, increasing attention has been paid to the issue of wellbeing among older people, and life satisfaction has been used as an indicator to evaluate older people's life conditions. This paper sheds some light on this topic by examining life satisfaction among people aged 65 and older and its predictors. The authors adopt a gender approach to examine whether older men and women have different sources of satisfaction. This hypothesis is tested in Italy, a country still characterised by an unbalanced public and private gender system. The study also examines whether living arrangements, specifically living alone, influence the determinants of life satisfaction of older men and women. The data used are from the cross-sectional surveys ‘Aspects of Daily Life’, undertaken in Italy by the National Statistical Institute. The results do not show clear gender differences in the determinants of life satisfaction, with only some slight gender differences among those living alone. This suggests that the social and cultural environment may play a relevant role for older people's life satisfaction. (Edited publisher abstract)
The impact of the pandemic on subjective wellbeing inequalities
- Authors:
- ABDALLAH Saamah, WREN-LEWIS Sam, MAGUIRE Rosie
- Publisher:
- What Works Centre for Wellbeing
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 5
- Place of publication:
- London
This briefing explores the impact of the pandemic on subjective wellbeing, focusing on gender, age, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. Subjective wellbeing is affected by some of the more tangible direct impacts of the pandemic, such as income or employment losses, and illness, but also some of the more intangible social and psychological impacts such as loneliness, anxiety and loss of sense of purpose. The paper finds that several groups have suffered ‘more than average’ from the pandemic including: women; older people (at the start); younger people (later on); some ethnic minorities; those with higher education; and renters. For those groups who were already disadvantaged (e.g. ethnic minorities and renters) and where therefore these impacts imply growing inequalities, the data argues in favour of doubling-down on providing targeted support. In other cases, for example for young people and those with higher education, the implications are more subtle. It would be valuable to better understand why wellbeing has fallen more for some groups than others and where the pandemic has introduced new vulnerabilities. (Edited publisher abstract)
“You’ve got to be old to go there”: psychosocial barriers and facilitators to social eating in older adults
- Authors:
- SAEED Anisa, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 60(4), 2020, pp.628-637.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Background and Objectives: Social eating is associated with a range of physical and mental health benefits for older adults. Previous research has identified some of the practical barriers that may limit social eating, such as cost and access to public transport. However, little is known about the psychosocial issues that can affect older adults’ engagement with social eating. This study examines psychosocial barriers and facilitators to attending community-based social eating opportunities for older adults.Design and Methods: Forty-two older people aged between 59 and 89 years living in Manchester, UK, participated in semi-structured interviews or focus groups about their experiences and perceptions of social eating opportunities. Interview transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic analyses. As there are known gender differences in relation to attitudes and behaviors relating to food and social activities, a framework analysis was applied to explore how these themes were differentially expressed by gender.Results:Four themes were identified that related to the importance of (a) offering more than food; (b) participants’ social identity; (c) taking the first step; and (d) embarrassment and self-consciousness about physical health. Gender differences related to perceptions of the relevance and attractiveness of social eating, and the role of social support.Discussion and Implications:This study improves our understanding of older adults’ social eating experiences and highlights clear strategies by which social eating opportunities could be made more attractive, accessible, and acceptable to older adults. (Publisher abstract)
Experiences of ageism and the mental health of older adults
- Authors:
- LYONS Anthony, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 22(11), 2018, pp.1456-1464.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: This article examines relationships between experiences of ageism and four specific mental health outcomes among older Australian adults, including whether these relationships vary depending on age, gender, and sexual orientation. Methods: A survey was conducted nationwide involving 2137 participants aged 60 years and older. Mental health variables included depressive symptoms, anxious symptoms, general stress, and positive mental health or flourishing. Results: Recent experiences of ageism were found to be strongly related to poorer mental health on all four mental health variables. However, experiences of ageism appeared to have a greater effect on the mental health of those who were younger in age (specifically depression), of men more so than women (specifically depression), and of those who identified as heterosexual as opposed to other sexual orientations (specifically general stress). Conclusion: These findings suggest that experiences of ageism may be an important factor in the health and well-being of older adults, especially for those who are younger, male, and heterosexual, and may need to be taken into account when devising strategies for supporting healthier and happier ageing. (Edited publisher abstract)
Gender differences in the effect of social resources and social status on the retirement satisfaction and health of retirees
- Authors:
- WANG Yihan, MATZ-COSTA Christina
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 62(1), 2019, pp.86-107.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This study explores the effect of positive and negative social support, social reciprocity, and subjective social status on the retirement satisfaction and health of retirees and gender differences therein. Using cross-sectional data from the 2010 and 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the authors found that social support seems to matter more for the retirement satisfaction and health of women, while social reciprocity matters more for the health of men and subjective social status for the retirement satisfaction of men. Implications for the development of social programmes and policies over the life course are discussed. (Publisher abstract)
Gender specific standards to improve health and wellbeing for women in prison in England
- Authors:
- PEDEN Jo, et al
- Publisher:
- Public Health England
- Publication year:
- 2018
- Pagination:
- 205
- Place of publication:
- London
These standards set out evidence-based good practice in addressing the health and wellbeing needs of women in prison. The document contains six key principles and 122 standards covering 10 topic areas. The ten topic areas are: general, health and wellbeing; mental health, self-harm and suicide; substance misuse; violence and abuse; sexual and reproductive health; pregnancy and families; older women; nutrition and diet; physical activity; and weight management. The standards have been developed from a literature review of current evidence and reviewed through consultation with national and international experts. They are designed to complement existing national and international health standards and guidance for women in prison. The document will be useful for commissioners of services, service providers and all employees who work in the female prisons. It is also relevant for local authorities and community providers who may provide services to women on leaving prison. (Edited publisher abstract)
Dismantling the silence: LGBTQ aging emerging from the margins
- Author:
- FREDRIKSEN-GOLDSEN Karen I.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 57(1), 2017, pp.121-128.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Historical, environmental, and cultural contexts intersect with ageing, sexuality, and gender across communities and generations. The author's scholarship investigates health and well-being over the life course across marginalised communities, including LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) midlife and older adults, native communities experiencing cardiovascular risk, and families in China living with HIV, in order to balance the realities of unique lives in contemporary society. By probing the intersection of age, sexuality, and gender, the analysis is informed by both personal and professional experiences. With the death of the author's partner occurring at a time of profound invisibility and silence before HIV/AIDS, the author found their life out of sync, experiencing a loss without a name. This essay provides an opportunity for the author to weave together how such critical turning points in their own life helped shape their approach to gerontology and how gerontology has informed their work and life. Reflecting on this journey, the author illustrates the ways in which historical, structural, environmental, psychosocial, and biological factors affect equity, and the health-promoting and adverse pathways to health and well-being across marginalised communities. Although gerontology as a discipline has historically silenced the lives of marginalised older adults, it has much to learn from these communities. The growing and increasingly diverse older adult population provides us with unique opportunities to better understand both cultural variations and shared experiences in ageing over the life course. (Edited publisher abstract)
Unforgiveness, depression, and health in later life: the protective factor of forgivingness
- Authors:
- ERMER Ashley E., PROULX Christine M.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 20(10), 2016, pp.1021-1034.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: Feeling unforgiven by others has been linked to poor health outcomes. The current study examined whether feeling unforgiven by others is associated with depression and self-rated health among older adults in the United States. The potential moderating roles of forgiving others and self-forgiveness in the association between unforgiveness and both depression and self-rated health was also assessed along with gender differences. Method: Data were drawn from a sample of 1009 adults in Wave 2 of the Religion, Aging, and Health Survey, a national sample of adults aged over 67. Depression was measured using the eight item short form from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. Self-rated health was assessed with a one-item indicator. Results: Analyses indicated that higher levels of self-forgiveness ameliorated the relationship between unforgiveness by others and depression for men and women and higher levels of forgiving others attenuated the association between unforgiveness by others and depression for women. Self-forgiveness was protective of depression for women who reported unforgiveness by others and low levels of forgiving others. Regardless of levels of self-forgiveness, men who were most likely to forgive others experienced a significant association between unforgiveness by others and depression. Neither forgiving others nor the self were significant moderators in the association between unforgiveness and self-rated health. Conclusion: Forgiving others and the self may be protective of well-being when women feel unforgiven by others. These findings have implications for forgiveness intervention programs and contribute to literature pertaining to forgiveness and health in later life. (Publisher abstract)
Gender-specific changes in well-being in older people with coronary heart disease: evidence from the English longitudinal study of ageing
- Authors:
- ZANINOTTO Paola, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 20(4), 2016, pp.432-440.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate gender-specific trajectories in well-being among older people with coronary heart disease (CHD) and to compare them with those of healthy people. Method: The study included a sample of 4496 participants from the first three waves of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (2002–2003 to 2006–2007). The authors measured well-being using quality of life (CASP-19; ‘control’, ‘autonomy’, ‘pleasure’ and ‘self-realization’) and depressive caseness (three or more symptoms on the CESD-8; Centre for Epidemiologic Study Depression scale). Results: After adjustment, at two– and four–years follow-ups, women had three points higher quality of life than men (p < 0.001). When looking at each quality of life's domain we found that women reported higher scores of autonomy compared to men. The gender difference in the probability of having depressive caseness reduced to 7 percentage points at four-year follow-up from 13 percentage points in the previous occasions. Men's quality of life declined progressively over time by 3 points (p < 0.001) (equivalent to the effect of having diabetes) but no changes in prevalence of depressive caseness were found. Women's quality of life only declined after four-year follow-up by less than 2 points (p < 0.001), while in the same period their probability of reporting depressive caseness reduced by 6 percentage points (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Women had better quality of life than men in the two and four years following a CHD event, and were not more likely than men to report depressive caseness in the long term. Men's quality of life deteriorated progressively over time, among women it did not deteriorate in the first two years following a CHD event; women had a long-term improvement in depressive caseness. (Edited publisher abstract)
Ill, worried or sick? Inter-relationships among indicators of wellbeing among older people in Sweden
- Author:
- HALLEROD Bjorn
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 29(4), May 2009, pp.563-584.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This study examined the associations between a large set of health indicators and wellbeing among older people (aged 66 or more years) in Sweden. The data were drawn from the Swedish Panel Survey of Ageing and the Elderly (PSAE), with variables covering information about health, daily activities, social interaction, anxieties and worries, and economic hardship. A series of confirmative factor analyses were used to reveal if and how indicators of living conditions could be subdivided into latent factors, and several socio-economic and socio-demographic variables were used as their predictors. Differences between men and women and between a number of age groups of old people were systematically scrutinised. The preferred representation of the data was a nested model that identified one global factor, which related to all manifest indicators, and three residual factors that measured the specific experiences of physical impairment, psychosocial distress and economic difficulties. The findings improve our understanding of the relationships between indicators of health and wellbeing and the various latent dimensions that simultaneously affect response patterns.