Alignment or struggle? Exploring socio-demographic correlates of individual modernity in Chinese older people

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
XUE BAI
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Living Arrangement ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Demographic Correlates ◽  
Individual Modernity ◽  
Chinese Older People ◽  
Socio Demographic Factors

ABSTRACTIt is noteworthy that while modernisation, together with population ageing, has happened in Western countries for a rather long period of time, China must confront the challenges of an ageing population before it really becomes an advanced industrial society. Facing rapid societal changes, citizens may react differently to this process. By conducting questionnaire surveys with 445 elders in Wuhan, China, this study examines Chinese older adults' individual modernity modes and reveals its socio-demographic correlates. The results show that facing rapid changes in societal modernisation, participants have reacted differently to this process, with 23.8 per cent of Chinese older participants using an accommodation mode, 27.0 per cent using a resistance mode, 13.3 per cent using a withdrawal mode and 36.2 per cent using a coping mode. In addition, socio-demographic factors such as urban–rural residence, age, gender, socio-economic status, living arrangement and daily activities have been identified as significant correlates of Chinese older participants' individual modernity modes. It is further suggested that governments at all levels should allow for options and opportunities for older people to align themselves in the modernisation process by removing the barriers that may hinder their integration and empowerment efforts. While it is important to respect older adults' different responses in the face of modernisation, their participation in societies should be encouraged and respected by the wider society in the context of modernisation.

scholarly journals The media image of Chinese older people: From stigmatic stereotype to diverse self-representation

2021 ◽  
pp. 205943642110125
Author(s):  
Kun Li
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Media Image ◽  
Past Life ◽  
The Media ◽  
Leisure And Recreation ◽  
Chinese Older People

From the perspective of communication and media studies, this article explores a comparison between the image of older adults presented on media and online self-representation facilitated by the use of smartphones. The qualitative textual analysis was conducted with a sample (228 posts, from 1 January to 31 December,2019) selected from a representative WeChat Public Account targeting at older adults in China. The results demonstrate that leisure and recreation is the most frequently mentioned topic (58%) with memories of past life receiving the least references (3%). The striking features of popular posts among older people include a highly emotional tone, bright colours and multimedia. Sentiment analyses shows 68.42%, 13.16% and 18.42% of positive, neutral and negative emotions, respectively. A generally positive attitude of self-representation is in a sharp contrast with the stigmatic media image of older adults. The article concludes that the visibility of Chinese older people may help to reduce the stigma surrounding old age in China.

scholarly journals The subjective well-being of older adults in Shanghai: The role of residential environment and individual resources

Urban Studies ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1692-1714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yafei Liu ◽  
Martin Dijst ◽  
Stan Geertman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Residential Environment ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Correlates ◽  
Social Challenge

As a rapidly ageing population becomes an increasingly serious social challenge for Chinese megacities, issues affecting older adults’ subjective well-being (SWB) attract greater concern. However, it is difficult to gain a comprehensive understanding of older adults’ SWB, since most SWB theories focus only on specific factors. Moreover, residential environmental factors are hardly considered in studies of older adults’ SWB. In this paper we therefore investigate the effects of residential environment and individual resources on the SWB of older adults in Shanghai, using the integrative theoretical framework proposed by Lindenberg. We investigate the relationships between resources (residential environment and individual resources), needs satisfaction and SWB using multiple regression analysis. Our results show that the residential environment exerts a stronger impact on SWB than individual resources. Good quality residential building, good accessibility to medical and financial facilities, higher economic status of a neighbourhood, and a lower proportion of older adults in a neighbourhood are important environmental correlates of SWB. Health appears to be the most significant individual resource; other important individual resources include household income, a high-skilled occupation, a job in the public sector and living with grandchildren. Comfort is the most important basic need for older adults.

scholarly journals Social and Behavioural Determinants of the Difference in Survival among Older Adults in Japan and England

Gerontology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Aida ◽  
Noriko Cable ◽  
Paola Zaninotto ◽  
Toru Tsuboya ◽  
Georgios Tsakos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Evaluation Study ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Family Based

Background: A rapidly ageing population presents major challenges to health and social care services. Cross-country comparative studies on survival among older adults are limited. In addition, Japan, the country with the longest life expectancy, is rarely included in these cross-country comparisons. Objective: We examined the relative contributions of social and behavioural factors on the differences in survival among older people in Japan and England. Methods: We used data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES; n = 13,176) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA; n = 5,551) to analyse all-cause mortality up to 9.4 years from the baseline. Applying Laplace regression models, the 15th survival percentile difference was estimated. Results: During the follow-up, 31.3% of women and 38.6% of men in the ELSA died, whereas 19.3% of women and 31.3% of men in the JAGES died. After adjusting for age and baseline health status, JAGES participants had longer survival than ELSA participants by 318.8 days for women and by 131.6 days for men. Family-based social relationships contributed to 105.4 days longer survival in JAGES than ELSA men. Fewer friendship-based social relationships shortened the JAGES men’s survival by 45.4 days compared to ELSA men. Currently not being a smoker contributed to longer survival for JAGES women (197.7 days) and ELSA men (46.6 days), and having lower BMI reduced the survival of JAGES participants by 129.0 days for women and by 212.2 days for men. Conclusion: Compared to participants in England, Japanese older people lived longer mainly because of non-smoking for women and family-based social relationships for men. In contrast, a lower rate of underweight, men’s better friendship-based social relationships, and a lower smoking rate contributed to survival among participants in England.

scholarly journals Inequalities in Cognitive Impairment Among Older Adults in China and the Associated Social Determinants: A Decomposition Approach

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingwen Deng ◽  
Wenbin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Concentration Index ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Living Arrangement ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Socioeconomic Inequalities ◽  
Chinese Older Adults

Abstract BackgroundDespite there is growing evidence focusing on health inequalities in China, socioeconomic inequalities in cognitive impairment among older adults have received little attention. This study aims to measure socioeconomic inequalities in cognitive impairment among Chinese older adults, and determine the contributing social factors to the inequalities.MethodsA cross-sectional analysis was performed using data from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), a total of 10556 older adults aged 65 and over were included in the study. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was measured by using the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination. The socioeconomic inequalities in cognitive impairment were illustrated and quantified by the concentration curve and normalized concentration index. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to identify the associated factors of cognitive impairment. And decomposition analysis was further applied to decompose the contribution of each determinant to the observed inequalities in cognitive impairment.ResultsThe study indicated that the prevalence of cognitive impairment among Chinese older adults was 18.95%. The overall concentration index for cognitive impairment was − 0.046, which suggested a higher concentration of cognitive impairment among socioeconomically disadvantaged older adults. The results showed the prevalence of cognitive impairment was associated with sex, age, marital status, education level, occupation, economic status, emotional support, financial support, living arrangement, and participation in informal activities. Decomposition results further revealed the contributions of the determinants to the inequalities in cognitive impairment. Specifically, age (131.61%), marital status (85.68%), emotional support (84.85%), education level (39.73%), occupation (21.24%), sex (17.25%), financial support (− 4.19%), economic status (1.02%), living arrangement (0.88%), and informal activities (0.30%) have varying degrees of contributions to the inequality in cognitive impairment.ConclusionThis study sheds light on the pro-rich inequality in cognitive impairment among older adults in China. It suggests that policymakers should pay more attention to older adults who are female, old-old, widowed, illiterate, economically disadvantaged, have no social support, and are less socially involved. Also, more targeted interventions should be undertaken to improve the socioeconomic conditions of these vulnerable individuals and their ability to cope with the risk of cognitive impairment.

scholarly journals THE BURDEN OF ENGAGING IN VOLUNTEER ATTENUATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT AND HEALTH OUTCOMES

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S145-S146
Author(s):  
Yuta Nemoto ◽  
Ryota Sakurai ◽  
Masami Hasebe ◽  
Kumiko Nonaka ◽  
Hiroko Mtsunaga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Living Arrangement ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
World Health ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Volunteer Activity ◽  
Volunteer Engagement

Abstract This study examined the interaction of participating in volunteer activity and its burden on health outcomes. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018. Of 8426 older adults aged 65 and over, 5232 individuals were included in the analyses (response rate: 62.1%). Health outcomes included self-rated health (SRH), mental health (The World Health Organization Five Well-Being Index: WHO-5), and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence: TMIG-IC) as dependent variables. Independent variables included engagement in volunteer activity and its burden. These variables were combined and classified into three groups: non-participants; participants with burden; and participants without burden. Covariates included age, gender, educational attainments, economic status, and living arrangement. Logistic regression analysis and analysis of covariates were conducted to examine the interaction of volunteer activity and its burden on health outcomes. Of 5232 older adults, 76.3% of subjects were non-participants, 3.4% were participants with burden, and 20.3% were participants without burden. Multivariate analysis showed that non-participants were more likely to have poor health outcomes compared with participants with burden. Moreover, participants without burden were more likely to have better health outcomes (SRH: Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.92, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.70 to 2.17, WHO-5: OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.51 to 1.88, TMIG-IC: Coefficient = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.10 to 0.62). Our findings suggest that volunteer activity is related to better health regardless of their burden. However, burden of volunteer engagement might attenuate the relationships between volunteer activity and health outcomes.

scholarly journals Association of providing/receiving support on the mortality of older adults with different living arrangements in Taiwan: a longitudinal study on ageing

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
pp. 2082-2096 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIAO-YU LIAO ◽  
CHIH-JUNG YEH ◽  
SHU-HSIN LEE ◽  
CHUN-CHENG LIAO ◽  
MENG-CHIH LEE
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Living Arrangement ◽  
Health Status Measures

ABSTRACTThis longitudinal study evaluated the direct effects of providing/receiving family support on mortality in older adults with different living arrangements in Taiwan. All data analysed were obtained from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging, 1996–2007, of residents aged ⩾67 years (1,492 men and 1,177 women) and Taiwan's National Death Register. Living arrangements were divided into living alone, living only with spouse, living with family and living with others. Support was mainly defined as family support divided into two categories: providing and receiving. The effect of providing/receiving family support on the mortality of older adults was evaluated using Cox regression analysed by living arrangement. Participants living with their families had lower educational levels (illiterate or elementary school) and more disability in both activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living. However, they provided more family support than those in other living arrangements. After adjusting for several potentially confounding variables, including background characteristics, economic status and various health status measures, results showed that older adults living with their families and providing support had an 11 per cent lower mortality rate (Hazard ratio = 0.89; 95 per cent confidence interval = 0.83–0.96; p = 0.0018). In conclusion, we found that, when living with family, the lives of older adults can be extended by providing support, clearly supporting the old adage ‘it is more blessing to give than to receive’. Older adults wanting to extend their lives can be encouraged to provide more help to their families.

scholarly journals Sarco-Osteoporosis: Prevalence and Association with Frailty in Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan-Jiao Wang ◽  
Yi Wang ◽  
Jun-Kun Zhan ◽  
Zhi-Yong Tang ◽  
Jie-Yu He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Older People ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Lower Proportion ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Chinese Older People ◽  
Osteoporosis Prevalence ◽  
Community Dwelling Older Adults

The aim was to apply AWGS criteria to estimate the prevalence of sarco-osteoporosis and investigate its relationship with frailty, in a sample of 316 community-dwelling Chinese older people. Regression analysis was performed using frailty as the dependent variable. The results showed that the prevalence rate of sarco-osteoporosis was 10.4% in older men and 15.1% in older women. ≧80 years old (OR 4.8; 95% CI, 3.05–10.76;P=0.027), women (OR 2.6; 95% CI, 1.18–2.76;P=0.036), and higher level of comorbidity (OR 3.71; 95% CI, 1.61–10.43;P=0.021) were independently associated with the likelihood of being sarco-osteoporosis. In the frail group, sarco-osteoporosis occurred in 26.3% of men, in 38.5% of women, and in lower proportion in the prefrail (13.6% of men; 16.2% of women) and nonfrail group (1.6% of men; 1.9% of women) (P<0.05, resp.). Furthermore, the likelihood of being frail/prefrail was substantially higher in the presence of sarco-osteoporosis (OR 4.16; 95% CI, 2.17–17.65;P=0.019in men; and OR 4.67; 95% CI, 2.42–18.86;P=0.007in women). The results indicate that patients with sarco-osteoporosis are more likely to be ≧80 yrs with higher burden of comorbidities and to have frailty/prefrailty, especially for women.

scholarly journals Falls in older people – An overview for the acute physician

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-102
Author(s):  
JA Fox ◽  
◽  
MA Fox ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Mode Of Presentation ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Socioeconomic Burden

Falls are common amongst older adults inf licting a substantial socioeconomic burden. Aetiology is often multifactorial. Comprehensive individualised assessment is pivotal to direct effective interventions. We provide an overview of falls and highlight an approach for acute physicians who will increasingly encounter this mode of presentation in an ageing population.

scholarly journals Socio-economic inequality in the prevalence of violence against older adults – findings from India

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debashree Sinha ◽  
Prem Shankar Mishra ◽  
Shobhit Srivastava ◽  
Pradeep Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Living Arrangement ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Wealth Quintile ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Bivariate Analysis ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
Related Inequality

Abstract Background Violence against older adults is a well-recognised socio-psychological and public health problem. It is uncared-for, undiagnosed, and an untreated problem that is widespread across both developed and developing countries. The present paper aims to understand the extent of the socio-economic status related inequality in violence against older adults in India. Methods The study uses data from Building a Knowledge Base on Population Aging in India (BKPAI). Violence against older adults is the outcome variable for the study and is defined as older adults who faced any abuse or violence or neglect or disrespect by any person. Bivariate analysis and regression-based decomposition technique is used to understand the relative contribution of various socio-economic factors to violence against older adults (N = 9541). Results The prevalence of violence faced by older adults was 11.2%. Older adults aged 80+ years [OR: 1.49; CI: 1.14–1.93] and working [OR: 1.26; CI: 1.02–1.56] had higher likelihood to face violence than their counterparts. On the other hand, older adults who were currently in union [OR: 0.79; CI: 0.65–0.95], lived with children [OR: 0.53; CI: 0.40–0.72] and who belonged to richer wealth quintile [OR: 0.35; CI:0.24–0.51] had lower likelihood to suffer from violence than their counterparts. The decomposition results revealed that poor older adults were more prone to violence (Concentration index: − 0.20). Household’s wealth status was responsible for explaining 93.7% of the socio-economic status related inequality whereas living arrangement of older adults explained 13.7% of the socio-economic related inequality. Education and working status of older adults made a substantial contribution to the inequalities in reported violence, explaining 3.7% and 3.3% of the total inequality, respectively. Conclusion Though interpretation of the results requires a cautious understanding of the data used, the present study highlights some of the relevant issues faced by the country’s older adults. With no or meagre income of their own, older adults belonging to the poorest wealth quintile have little or no bargaining power to secure a violent free environment for themselves. Therefore, special attention in terms of social and economic support should be given to the economically vulnerable older population.

Quality of life of older people in China: a systematic review

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Chen ◽  
Allan Hicks ◽  
Alison E While
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Older People ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Measurement Tools ◽  
Socio Demographic Factors

SummaryThe quality of life (QoL) of older people is of increasing interest in China, due to its ageing population. A systematic review of published QoL studies was undertaken to examine different measurements and related factors of QoL of older people in China. Papers were identified by searching the following electronic databases: Web of Science, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, China Academic Journal and VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals. Fifteen studies were included in the review, using eight different QoL measurement tools. Health status, psychological well-being, social well-being, housing and socio-demographic factors were identified as important related factors of QoL. Further studies are needed using valid measurement tools to explore more factors, especially culturally specific contributors, to the QoL of older people.

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