Factors influencing the successful aging of older Korean adults
Nam Hyun Cha
Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Kaya University, Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea
Eun Ju Seo
Full Time Lecturer, Department of Nursing, Daewon University College, Jecheon City, Chungbuk, Republic of Korea
Sohyune R Sok
Associate Professor, College of Nursing Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
PP: 78 - 87
Abstract
Background: The study trend has been undergoing a change, increasingly focusing on successful aging factors for obtaining a healthy and happy life in old age and in an aging society. This study examined and identified the factors influencing the degree of successful aging among older Korean adults. This study was a cross-sectional design. The participants comprised of 305 Korean older people aged 60 years or over, who met eligibility criteria.
Measures: Measures were a general characteristics form, the Self-Liking/Self-Competence Scale-Revised Version (SLCS-R) form, the self-efficacy scale, the interpersonal relationship scale, the self-achievement instrument, and the successful aging scale.
Results: The analyses showed that the prediction model for successful aging among older Korean adults was significant (F=159.09, p<0.001). The value of the adjusted R2 was 0.692, which corresponds to the explanatory power of 69.2%. The factor that was found to have the most influence on successful aging among older Korean adults was self-esteem (β=0.38), followed by self-achievement (β=0.25), interpersonal relationships (β=0.22), and self-efficacy (β=0.21).
Conclusions: This cross-sectional study provides preliminary evidence that self-esteem is a major and primary predictor of successful aging among older Korean adults. In the nursing practice, health professionals can use the results of this study in order to help older Korean adults obtain a positive outlook, promote a sense of self-worth, and achieve a higher degree of adaptability towards aging despite the health problems and personal issues associated with older age by providing intervention programs that advocate successful aging.
Keywords
aging; self concept; self efficacy; relationship; achievement; health
Article Text
The recent rapid-aging-population phenomenon has extended the life expectancy of older adults and extended the amount of time spent in older age. As a result, this has brought a huge increase in the older adult population. However, the number of older adults with a qualitatively higher economic and educational status compared to the older adults in years past has also increased (Sok & Yun, 2011). Accordingly, the previous perspective where older adults were considered subjects experiencing social and psychological decline, withdrawal problems, and concurrent stresses or considered passive recipients of social welfare has been changing into the perspective where they are considered the subjects of an active life, showing an increasing interest in preparing themselves for successful aging (Parker, Bellis, Bishop, & Harper, 2002). Accordingly, when the rapid-aging-population phenomenon first began to emerge, many scholars warned of such an occurrence and mainly reported on issues focusing on the aging crisis and the financial burden of the country brought about by this (Antonucci, 2000; Lin, Yen, & Fetzer, 2008). This trend, however, has been undergoing a change; increasingly focusing on the factors influencing successful aging in order to obtain a healthy and happy life during older age in an aging society (Lee, 2008; Paskulin, Vianna, & Molzahn, 2009).
Successful aging is a concept in which an older adult and the people around them can reach a state of utmost physical, mental, and social satisfaction by demonstrating a positive potential in each of these areas (Rowe & Khan, 1987). To develop independence and productivity during older age, older adults should age successfully. For successful aging, one's physical, mental, and social functions should be maintained appropriately (Garfein & Herzog, 1995), and one should be without any illness or disability (Rowe & Kahn, 1998). In other words, successful aging can be achieved when the mental aspects such as self-esteem (positively accepting and recognizing oneself as a valuable person) (Cho, 2002), self-achievement, and self-efficacy (self-confidence) (Kim & Shin, 2005; Rowe & Khan, 1998); the social aspects such as familial and social relationships (Rowe & Khan, 1998; Strawbridge, Cohen, Shema, & Kaplan, 1996); the physical aspects of physiological; and life satisfaction have been achieved (Wong, 1989).
Preliminary studies associated with successful aging have been conducted, such as a study on the perception of successful aging (Collings, 2001; Paik & Choi, 2005; Sung & Yoo, 2002), a validation study on the theory of successful aging (Crowther, Parker, Achebau, Larimore, & Koenig, 2002; Strawbridge et al., 2002; Sung & Cho, 2006), a study on what older people regard as the requirements for successful aging (Kang, 2003; Kim, Shin, Kang, & Kang, 2004; Park & Yi, 2002; Sung & Yoo, 2002), and a study on the measurement of successful aging (Kim & Shin, 2005). Few studies have been conducted, however, on the influencing factors or conditions/requirements for achieving successful aging (Kang, 2003). Fig. 1 shows the conceptual model employed by this present study. The factors influencing the degree of successful aging among older Korean adults used in this study were selected based on the findings from previous studies. These factors affect successful aging as independent factors among older Korean adults.
In this study, confirming the factors influencing the degree of successful aging among older Korean adults will improve the nursing profession's understanding of variances related to the health and successful aging of older people with a background in Korean culture. Currently all over the world, as the population of older people is increasing, international nurses can use the information from this study as an important reference.
Therefore, in this study, the factors influencing the degree of successful aging were confirmed based on the factors that have been partially identified in the aforementioned preliminary studies and the relationships among the factors were investigated to present basic data for an older adult intervention study. In addition, this study was conducted to obtain data that could serve as a basis for the formulation of a plan to help older adults successfully adapt to the aging process and improve their quality of life.
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