Individual and social determinants of self-rated health and well-being in the elderly population of Portugal

Abstract

This article aims to identify the main determinants of self-rated health and well-being in the elderly Portuguese population, using a set of dimensions including demographic and socioeconomic indicators, characteristics of interpersonal networks and social activities, health, sexual activity, representations of aging, and feeling of happiness. Taking socioeconomic, behavioral, and attitudinal predictors into account to analyze the explanatory value of the interrelated dimensions and weights for each factor, the author argues that social capital, activities associated with active aging, and greater optimism towards aging can contribute greatly to better self-rated health and wellbeing among the elderly, partially offsetting the effect of socioeconomic factors and illness associated with age.

Factors Associated to Subjective Wellbeing in Older Adults

“…25 Concerning the factors related to the Social Dimension, as observed, the variables participation in organizations, income and inclusion in the job market significantly predicted life satisfaction and therefore increased the subjective wellbeing. The results found support the findings from other studies on professional activities 4,7 and participation in organizations. 5 Besides the participation in organizations and the inclusion in the job market, although not inves-tigated in this study, extraversion was a variable studied in the group of older adults and related with their wellbeing.…”

“…15 The literature refers that physical impediments play a determinant role in health assessment and, therefore, in the wellbeing of older adults. 4 In line with these results, in a study developed in Brazil, which related functional capacity with quality of life, older adults with a higher level of functional disabilities presented lower quality of life scores than people without functional alterations. 16 In line with the functionality, the evidence demonstrates that practicing physical exercise influences the quality of life of older adults.…”

“…Factors like age, gender, education, degree of social integration, support networks and professional activities are clearly related with perceived wellbeing, happiness and quality of life, besides social participation at home, in politics and religion. [4][5] What health is concerned, autonomy and functionality are determining factors in the subjective wellbeing of older adults. In a Brazilian study that analyzed the association between health-related behaviors and feelings of happiness, a strong association was found between happiness and the number of morbidities, perceived quality of health and the level of disabilities.…”

An Investigation on Predictors of Life Satisfaction Among the Elderly

“…Furthermore, interpersonal intimacy and emotional support can enhance well-being and life satisfaction (Diener et al, 2000;Troxel et al, 2007). It has been noted that a good interpersonal network between partners along with a good personal concept about aging process (Silva 2014) positively affect life satisfaction in the elderly (DeLamater and Moorman, 2007). Life satisfaction was also prominently observed in the Malay elderly compared to the non-Malays.…”

Connecting the dots on health inequalities – a systematic review on the social determinants of health in Portugal

“…Most publications that looked at health inequalities according to marital status found no association (see, for example, references [ 19 , 31 , 41 ]). Only six publications looked at income-related health inequalities and pro-poor inequalities were found in half of these [ 19 , 28 , 31 ]. Social capital was analysed using individual measures of social support and social activities, which were found to be associated with better health [ 28 , 42 ].…”