Enhancing later life: how older people perceive active ageing?
Enhancing later life: how older people perceive active ageing?
Objective: To identify older people's perceptions of active ageing, and to compare them with the literature, and with older people's perceptions of successful ageing and quality of life.
Design: Face-to-face interview survey with 337 people aged 65+ living at home in Britain.
Results: The most common perceptions of active ageing were having/maintaining physical health and functioning (43%), leisure and social activities (34%), mental functioning and activity (18%) and social relationships and contacts (15%). A third rated themselves as ageing 'Very actively', and almost half as 'Fairly actively'. Independent predictors of positive self-rated active ageing were optimum health and quality of life.
Discussion: Main sub-themes of active ageing included exercising the body and mind in order to maintain health and functioning. People's views focussed on basic definitions such as social, physical and mental health and activity, probably reflecting the novelty of the concept to them, thereby excluding frail older people from active ageing. Comparisons with definitions of successful ageing and quality of life showed overlap, but the latter were portrayed as 'states of being'. This is consistent with models which propose quality of life as the end-point of active ageing.
active ageing, old age, quality of life, successful ageing, quality-of-life, age, community, model
293-301
Bowling, Ann
796ca209-687f-4079-8a40-572076251936
May 2008
Bowling, Ann
796ca209-687f-4079-8a40-572076251936
Abstract
Objective: To identify older people's perceptions of active ageing, and to compare them with the literature, and with older people's perceptions of successful ageing and quality of life.
Design: Face-to-face interview survey with 337 people aged 65+ living at home in Britain.
Results: The most common perceptions of active ageing were having/maintaining physical health and functioning (43%), leisure and social activities (34%), mental functioning and activity (18%) and social relationships and contacts (15%). A third rated themselves as ageing 'Very actively', and almost half as 'Fairly actively'. Independent predictors of positive self-rated active ageing were optimum health and quality of life.
Discussion: Main sub-themes of active ageing included exercising the body and mind in order to maintain health and functioning. People's views focussed on basic definitions such as social, physical and mental health and activity, probably reflecting the novelty of the concept to them, thereby excluding frail older people from active ageing. Comparisons with definitions of successful ageing and quality of life showed overlap, but the latter were portrayed as 'states of being'. This is consistent with models which propose quality of life as the end-point of active ageing.
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Published date: May 2008
Keywords:
active ageing, old age, quality of life, successful ageing, quality-of-life, age, community, model
Organisations:
Faculty of Health Sciences
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 334556
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/334556
ISSN: 1360-7863
PURE UUID: 93f5004c-391a-41b8-b364-ee6634d6ba64
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Date deposited: 28 Mar 2012 12:13
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 10:35
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