This study examines relationships among three measures of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, happiness and depressive symptoms), and two global measures of productive activity (number of ...activities and time commitment). We argue that participation in multiple productive activities should increase subjective well-being because these behaviors increase social integration and provide meaningful social roles. Using the first two waves of the Americans' Changing Lives survey, we estimate a series of OLS and ordered logistic regression models to examine this issue among a sample of respondents 60 years old and older. Our multivariate regression results show that as time committed to productive activities increases, life satisfaction increases. Both increasing numbers of productive activities and increasing time commitment predict higher levels of happiness. Also, we find only modest support for a relationship between productive activities and the number of and changes in depressive symptoms. Our results provide support for the idea that engaging in productive activities is beneficial to older persons' well-being, implying confirmation of the role enhancement hypothesis and demonstrating the importance of social integration.
Despite the rapid increase in the older population in South Korea, the quality of life of older adults remains low. The suicide rate of older adults in South Korea is among the highest of all OECD ...countries. Using data from 2012 (wave 4) to 2020 (wave 8) of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families (KLoWF), this study examined the effects of participation in productive activities on suicidal ideation among South Korean female older adults. This study derived three key findings. First, although there were differences regarding the type of productive activity, participation in productive activity could reduce the probability of experiencing suicidal ideation. Participation in housework as a productive activity related to daily life had the greatest marginal effect. Second, the more productive activities one participated in, the lower the likelihood of suicidal ideation. Third, the economic and health status of older women had a significant effect on suicidal ideation. The marginal effect of health status was greater than that of economic status. This study not only makes an academic contribution but also has policy implications for the field of public health.
Increasing evidence suggests that different patterns of activity participation confer several positive well-being outcomes through the later years of life. The aim of the present study is to examine ...the likelihood of higher well-being linked with a socially engaged lifestyle with a view to extending prior research. Data on a nationally representative sample of adults aged 65 and older from eleven European countries (n = 7025) was drawn from the first Wave of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004/5). Socially and productively oriented activities were administered as salient aspects of activity participation and were rated on frequency of involvement. Wellbeing was defined by the clustering of six indicators including life satisfaction, quality of life, self-rated health, psychological distress, chronic diseases and Body Mass Index (BMI). The effect of activity participation on the clustering of well-being indicators was estimated according to complex samples ordinal regression models. The overall pattern was that of a significantly increased likelihood for frequently active participants to present multiple presence of positive well-being outcomes (p < 0.05). This held true not only at the individual level but also across most SHARE countries. Although the findings of the current analysis cannot identify the direction of causality of the observed effects, they still lend some support to the reasonable conjecture that old-age activity engagement matters for individuals’ wellbeing and testify to the suggestion that public health and social care interventions should consider the respective potential well-being gains and therefore foster the facilitation of activities and attachments.
Productive activities are crucial factors leading to an “active aging” population. With the case of Vietnam, this paper aimed to explore the productive activities among Vietnamese older people by ...using data from the Vietnam Aging Survey (VNAS), which was conducted in 2011 as the first-ever nationally representative survey on persons aged 50 and over in Vietnam and contained 2789 older people (those aged 60 and over) representing all older people living in 6 ecological regions and urban and rural areas in Vietnam. Productive activities included working and/or taking care of any (great)grandchild(ren) in the past 12 months prior to the survey. Using paired t-tests and probit models, we compared the differences in these productive activities among older people in terms of sex and living area. The results from various t-tests showed that educational attainment, health status and poverty status were key factors differentiating older men and women and rural and urban older people in these productive activities. For the probit estimations in terms of both gender and living location, the results indicated that age, education, health status and supportive children were determinants of working decision, while age, marital status and size of household were consistently important factors of taking care of (great)grandchildren. The paper also discussed policy implications for socio-economic and health protection in promoting older people's productive activities as well as protecting them from a variety of risks and vulnerabilities.
•Older people are active in working and taking care of their (great)grandchildren.•Their activities are significant differences, especially in terms of sex and age.•Health is also a key determinant of older people's productive activities.•Adaptive social and health protection policies are needed for “active aging”.
Objectives: To investigate type and load of productive activities as potential determinants of mental health and well-being in elderly persons with a physical disability.
Methods: We used data from a ...Swiss population-based sample of 314 adults at or past the legal retirement age (65 for men, 64 for women) who live with a chronic physical disability, spinal cord injury. Engagement in housework, volunteering, and paid work were dichotomized (no; some engagement) and three groups of engagement types were constructed (none; housework only; volunteering and/or paid work). Load of engagement was appraised using a sumscore on the overall frequency as well as the total number of performed activities. We used regression modelling to draw causal inference regarding the associations of type and load of engagement with general mental health (Mental Health Inventory, SF-36), self-reported depression (Self-Administered Comorbidity Questionnaire, SCQ), and well-being (WHOQoL-BREF items).
Results: Engagement in volunteering was positively related to well-being. Persons engaged only in housework reported better well-being and lower prevalence of depression than non-engaged persons, however, persons engaged in volunteering or paid work reported the highest well-being and the lowest prevalence of depression. The productivity sumscore tertiles and the number of performed activities were both positively linked to well-being and negatively linked to depression, while their association with general mental health was less pronounced.
Conclusion: Strengthening the engagement in productive activities among the elderly with a chronic physical disability is suggested as a promising strategy to promote well-being and reduce the prevalence of depression.
The relevance of the article relates to the need for continuing preschool education under quarantine conditions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by means of distance technologies and preparation of ...children for STEAM education. Artistic and productive activities are considered to be the resource of STEAM education. The aim of the article is to substantiate educational opportunities of distance education programs for undertaking artistic and productive activities of older preschool children on quarantine. Research methods: theoretical analysis, surveys, generalization of experience, analysis of children’s products, parental feedback. The scientific basis of the study is a set of approaches of different levels. Scientific novelty of the research is two-fold. The possibility of organizing artistic and productive activities of older preschool children by means of remote technologies in terms of preparing parents to interact with educators and organizational, technical, informational assistance to children. The features of the organization of such education in Ukraine under conditions of introducing quarantine measures are revealed. Practical significance is viewed through development and approbation of the content of classes on artistic and productive activities, integrated with the fundamentals of mathematics. There have been developed the questionnaires on digital competence for educators and digital literacy for parents.
The study investigates whether productive activities by older adults reduce bodily inflammation, as indicated by C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomeasure associated with the risk of cardiovascular ...diseases.
The study uses a representative survey of adults aged 57-85 from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 1,790). Linear regression models were used to analyze the effects of multiple roles (employment, volunteering, attending meetings, and caregiving) and the frequency of activity within each role on log values of CRP concentration (mg/L) drawn from assayed blood samples.
Number of roles for productive activities was associated with lower levels of CRP net of chronic conditions, lifestyle factors, and socioeconomic resources. When specific types of activity were examined, volunteering manifested the strongest association with lower levels of inflammation, particularly in the 70+ group. There was no evidence that frequent engagement in volunteer activity was associated with heightened inflammation.
Productive activities-and frequent volunteering in particular-may protect individuals from inflammation that is associated with increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Objectives. The purpose of this study was to test whether paid work and formal volunteering reduce the rate of mental health decline in later life. Methods. Using four waves of Health and Retirement ...Study data collected from a sample of 7,830 individuals aged 55 to 66, I estimated growth curve models to assess the effects of productive activities on mental health trajectories. The analytical strategy took into account selection processes when examining the beneficial effects of activities. The analyses also formally attended to the sample attrition problem inherent in longitudinal studies. Results. The results indicated that activity participants generally had better mental health at the beginning of the study. Full-time employment and low-level volunteering had independent protective effects against decline in psychological well-being. Joint participants of both productive activities enjoyed a slower rate of mental health decline than single-activity participants. Discussion. The results are consistent with activity theory and further confirm the role accumulation perspective. The finding that full-time work combined with low-level volunteering is protective of mental health reveals the complementary effect of volunteering to formal employment. Methodological and theoretical implications are discussed.
We investigate the relationship between control in productive activities (paid work, housework, caregiving) and well-being in persons with a physical disability and their caregiving partners from a ...dyadic perspective, exploring not only the effect of own control on well-being, but also the effect of the partners' control on well-being. We further evaluated socioeconomic and caregiving characteristics as potential risk factors for low control in productive activities.
Longitudinal dyadic data from the pro-WELL survey (n = 246) including persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their caregiving partners were used and mixed-effects regression modelling was applied. Well-being was operationalized with a cognitive (Satisfaction with Life Scale, SWLS) and an affective component (Positive and Negative Affect Scale, PANAS).
Control at work was positively related to well-being in persons with SCI, but less so in caregiving partners. Control in housework and caregiving was associated with higher well-being. The partners' control was linked to affective well-being. Poor socioeconomic conditions were negatively related to control at work and in caregiving, but not to control in housework. Caregiving characteristics seem unrelated to control at work or housework, but higher objective caregiver burden was linked to reduced control in caregiving.
Our findings suggest that low control in productive activities are common in the disability setting and represent an instrumental factor for reduced well-being that is augmented by poor socioeconomic conditions and high objective burden of care. Interventions aiming to optimize well-being through the integration in productive activities should take into account opportunities of exerting control.
•Well-being suffers when control in housework and caregiving is low.•Well-being in persons with disabilities suffers when control at work is low.•Affective well-being suffers if the partner experiences low control.•Poor socioeconomic conditions increased the risk of low control in productive activities.•Partners with higher burden of care are at risk of low control in caregiving.
Vegetable extraction has been considered a new paradigm of adequate development for the Amazon Region by ecological movements, international organizations, and foreign governments. This study ...evaluates whether the supply of extractive products transformed into economic value can ensure the livelihood of families and prevent deforestation. The study was conducted at the extractive reserves Alto Juruá, Rio Ouro Preto, and Rio Cajari during two periods: January to March 2017 and January to March 2019. A total of 384 interviews were conducted—234 in 2017 and 150 in 2019. The field results show that low returns, low land productivity, and lack of labor point to the economic infeasibility of vegetable extraction in the extractive reserves of Alto Juruá, Rio Ouro, and Rio Cajari. As a priority, extractivism should be considered a cultural institution and an economic model that can promote sustainability. A strategy capable of valuing products derived from extractivism should be developed, and an approximation of the markets that remediates the efforts of forest conservationists should be considered.
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