Objective: To investigate physical activity among older people living alone in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, and key factors contributing to their physical activity. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered in nine communities in Shanghai, using a stratified random cluster sample: 521 community-dwelling older people…

This report examines how the two global mega-trends of population ageing and rising inequalities have been developing and interacting, both within and across generations. Taking a life-course perspective the report shows how inequalities in education, health, employment and earnings compound, resulting in large differences in lifetime earnings…

This study examined a total of 140 elderly Chinese from China and the United States to investigate the relationship between attitude toward aging, daily activities, general health, education, and other demographics and rated creativity as measured by collage making and storytelling. The result of this study shows that creativity declines with age.…

Mobility is fundamental to active aging and is intimately linked to health status and quality of life. Although there is widespread acceptance regarding the importance of mobility in older adults, there have been few attempts to comprehensively portray mobility, and research has to a large extent been discipline specific. In this article, a new…

To analyze the influence of different health status dimensions and quality of life (QoL) domains on older adults' subjective health, and to assess the role that residential satisfaction plays in these relationships. A QoL survey was conducted on a representative sample of the community-dwelling older adult population in Madrid province (Spain).…

With reference to a questionnaire aimed at assessing the performance of Italian nursing homes on the basis of the health conditions of their patients, we investigate two relevant issues: dimensionality of the latent structure and discriminating power of the items composing the questionnaire. The approach is based on a multidimensional item…

This study explored the health care service needs and the major correlates of quality of life among 127 community-dwelling elderly Chinese immigrants in a western Canadian city. Participants were interviewed in their homes by trained, bilingual interviewers employing a structured questionnaire that covered a wide range of topics including health…

The older adult population is growing faster than any other cohort of people. By the year 2011, the baby boomers will start turning age 65, presenting a problem for public policy and health care systems. One of the key components of successful aging is the maintenance of good health. Numerous studies have extensively documented the link between…

The American Indian tribal nations and communities have long experienced health status worse than that of other Americans. Although major gains in reducing health disparities were made during the last half of the 20th century, most gains stopped by the mid-1980s. Consequently, health disparities continue to exist with marked variation across…

This study examines the baseline characteristics and changes in health status and cost of use of health services associated with use of publicly funded home support services. The analysis includes 122 people 75 years of age or more who were eligible for home support services. Over a 6-month period, one third of the sample used home support…

Replicating a survey of 875 people 55 years old or more undertaken in September 1999 throughout the former Northern Interior Health Region (NIHR) of British Columbia, in September 2005 a sample of 656 people completed a 22-page questionnaire. The average age of the respondents was 68, with a range running from 55 to 96 years, and 64% were women.…

Kahneman and Tversky's (1979) Prospect theory was tested as a model of preferences for prolonging life under various hypothetical health statuses. A sample of 384 elderly people living in congregate housing (263 healthy, 131 frail) indicated how long (if at all) they would want to live under each of nine hypothetical health conditions (e.g.,…

As elderly people become a larger proportion of the rural population, it is important to identify those at risk for poor health. Predictors of health-related quality of life can be useful in designing interventions. Purpose: One objective of the present study was to profile the health-related quality of life of community-dwelling, elderly people…

This study successfully interviewed 109 randomly selected Chinese people aged 60 and over living alone in two public housing estates in an urban area of Hong Kong. The results show that mental health status, number of days staying in hospital, life satisfaction, age, and self-esteem are significant factors in predicting the life quality of older…

This study aimed at adapting the Questionnaire Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-89 version 1.0: Vickrey et al., 1993), Quality of Life in Epilepsy QoLIE-89 RAND (Santa Monica, CA)] so that it may be used to measure quality of life (QoL) of older adults, healthy or suffering from various chronic illnesses. The participants were 202 older adults…