پژوهشهای راهبردی مسائل اجتماعی ایران (Dec 2020)
Demographic-Social and Economic Determinants of Active Aging among Retirees of Some Government Offices in Babol
Abstract
Introduction Population aging is a global and unprecedented phenomenon caused by socio-economic development and affects many countries, both developing and developed ones (UN, 2009). The way of adapting to changes in the age structures of the population could have a significant impact on the quality of life of people in the community, especially the elderly. Aging is often associated with many changes such as the family structure and living arrangements, work patterns and transition to retirement, health status, and even identity changes (Forster & Morris, 2012). Some elderly are able to adapt well to such changes and have successful aging, but some elderly cannot; as a result, many problems could arise in their physical, mental, and social health. The issue of successful and active aging has been the focus of researchers and policymakers to explain why some people in the old age are healthy, happy, satisfied, and adaptable to others, and what mechanisms and processes lead to such differences. Active aging is a concept introduced by the World Health Organization in 1990, which means the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation, and safety as people live longer. Being active not only means continuing physical activity and participation in the workforce, but also continuing participation in activities related to the society, politics, culture, spirituality, and citizenship. According to this approach, even the elderly with disabilities can actively participate in the family and community. Active aging has a variety of determinants that surround the family, the individual, and the nation (Tareque et al., 2014). According to the 2016 census in Iran, there are 7414091 people aged 60 and over comprising 9.27% of the total population. Studies show that during the last two decades, the growth rate of the elderly population of the country has accelerated faster than the growth of the total population; in the near future, a change in the population structure towards aging is expected. This study examines the socio-demographic and economic determinants of active aging among retirees. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 on 350 retirees of government offices in Babol city of Mazandaran province. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire which was designed based on three other standardized questionnaires. These questionnaires included: 1) The Quality of Life Questionnaire by the World Health Organization (WHOQOL-BREF); 2) The Lipad Elderly Quality of Life Questionnaire, prepared by Diego et al. in 1998 and was used in three cities (Leiden in the Netherlands, Padua in Italy, and Helsinki in Finland); and 3) The Social Health Questionnaire developed by Keys in 2004 at the MacArthur Science Foundation in the United States. In the present study, the dependent variable is active aging which includes three dimensions of health, safety, and participation. It was measured with 42 items on the Likert scale. In the final analysis, it became a distance variable with a score ranged from 42 to 210. Independent variables in this study included age, gender, level of education, employment status, income level, number of children, social capital, living arrangements, and intergenerational social support. The SPSS-24 software was employed to analyze the data at a significance level of 0.05. Discussion of Results and Conclusions The results of the present study showed that the average active aging index of men was higher than women. Retirees (those who lived with their spouses and their children, those with a university degree, and those who were re-employed after retirement) had the highest average active aging. Based on the results of multivariate analysis, the variables of intergenerational social support and age had a significant inverse effect on active aging. With the increase of social capital, the score of active aging increases. Furthermore, the level of household income above ten and a half million Rials and the level of diploma and higher education had a positive and significant relationship with active aging. Non-resident living arrangements led to an increase in the active aging index score. Older age was also associated with a decrease in the active aging score. Based on the results of path analysis, the social capital variable with the highest beta coefficient (0.545) followed by education and household income level were more important in predicting changes in active aging. According to the coefficient of determination, 51.7% of the total active aging changes were explained by the variables tested in this study. Active aging requires policy-making and strategic planning that addresses the quality of life of individuals throughout life. Improving the level of social capital of people before reaching old age could lead to an increase in life expectancy along with the health and well-being of the elderly. In the current situation, due to the inadequacy of social protection system for the elderly in proportion to the increase in the elderly population, encouraging and institutionalizing intergenerational support of children to elderly parents is an inevitable necessity.
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