The relationship between satisfaction and demands of age-friendly environment and being active in elderlyhood at Taoyuan County

Autor: Shu-Chun Yang, 楊淑君
Rok vydání: 2014
Druh dokumentu: 學位論文 ; thesis
Popis: 102
Background: Aging is a trend for the developed world. WHO estimated that the population aged over 60 will reach 1.2 billion in 2025 and 2 billion in 2050. Taiwan's no exception. Its people aged over 65 will exceed 14% in 2018 and 20% in 2025, becoming a so-called “super aged society.” While active aging is an important issue for Taiwan, studies on whether the age-friendly environments can enhance elders’ active aging are quite rare in this country. Objective: To study Taoyuan County’s elder residents their demand and satisfaction of age-friendly environment as well as their degree of active-aging in physical, psychological and social aspects, and to discuss the relationship between the active aging and age-friendly environment. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. First, in order to determine major indicators of healthy and age-friendly environment as well as validated and reliable questionnaires, field observation, focus group and expert discussions are conducted in Taoyuan County’s 13 administrative districts. In addition, for the definition of “active”, it qualifies those who have at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activities per week to be “physically active”, and a score of 7 points or more on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale to be “psychologically active”. For elders who participate in the community’s cultural and recreational activities, are classified as “socially active.” For 1,646 samples, it is extracted from 13 administrative districts of Taoyuan County, according to Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) method. Then the survey is distributed to the participants chosen by the Public Clinic Staff who received prior trainings on surveying. To analyze the collected data, SPSS 20.0 is applied for descriptive statistics. Then chi-square test is implemented for independent t-test, ANOVA, correlation, and multiple logistic regressions. Results: A total of 1,627 (98.8%) validated questionnaires are collected. It consists of 798 women (50.8%) and 772 men (49.2%). The result indicates that responders are quite satisfied with their “Housing”, but dissatisfied with the “Transportation.” Furthermore, they demand for better “Communication and Information” and “Housing,” and have the lowest desire for “Civic Participation and Employment.” It is found that about 32.6% (n=517) of elders in the county are physically active, 64.5% (n=1049) are psychologically active, and 20.6% (n=333) are socially active. Also, it is significant that those who are physically (t=3.996, P< .001) and/or psychologically (t=4.791, P< .001) active have higher rate of satisfaction regarding Taoyuan County as an age-friendly environment. For those socially active elders, they have lower demand for the age-friendly environment (t=3.916, P< .001). The relationship between age-friendly environment and active aging is determined by observing elders’ satisfaction on surveyed items. For example, physically active relates to "bus driver attitude", "shopping convenience" and "meal plans", while psychologically active relates to “meal plans.” On the socially active perspective, it involved with “Accessible and Affordable Community Activities" and “Caregiving Facilities around Homes.” The result also points out that seniors with good appetite and dietary habits (i.e. to take 3 portions or more of whole grains and drink 1500 ml of water daily) are more physically and psychologically active. For those who “feel” themselves healthy, they are also active in both physical and psychological, but not in social aspect. However, if the aged people are on a long-term medication, they become socially active, possibly due to strong psychological and social supports of Taiwan’s health care system. Elders living alone and/or apart from their family members tend to be less active psychologically, which could be explained that the aged people are used to rely on family support that it has been a traditional Taiwanese culture. Conclusion: Averagely speaking, there are 30% of elders in Taoyuan County being physically active, 60% being psychologically active, and 20% being socially active. It also relates that an age-friend environment will influence senior residents’ degree of active aging. In Taoyuan County, items catching aged residents’ attention are transportation, meal plan, shopping convenience, accessible and affordable community activities, and/or caregiving facilities around homes. Suggestion: For Taoyuan County to be an age-friendly community, it is more effective if the county can improve its system and programs on eating, transportation, recreation, day-care and medical services, as well as opportunities to live with (or close to) family and relatives. With the enriched environment, it should promote the activeness of elderlyhood of senior residents, in their physical, psychological and social attributes. Key words: age-friendly environment, elder, elderlyhood, active aging, satisfaction, demand
Databáze: Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations
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