Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #103517

Hui-Chuan Hsu, PhD, Department of Health Care Administration, Taichung Healthcare and Management University, 500, Lioufeng Road, Wufeng Shiang, Taichung Shien, Taiwan, 886-4-23323456 ext. 1906, gingerhsu@seed.net.tw

Purpose: Successful aging is a culture-sensitive concept and has been little studied in an Eastern society. This study is to explore the concept of successful aging among the Taiwanese elderly. Method: Data was from the “Successful Aging of the Elderly in Taiwan” survey of face-to-face interview in 2004. Samples were drawn from the persons aged 65 or over in an aged county by probability proportional to size sampling (n=585). The successful aging concept was first asked by an opening question, “What components do you think are the essential for an ideal of satisfactory aging life?” The participant was also asked of the 23 items and scored their importance for an aging life. Results: The concepts of successful aging toward the open question was grouped to six categories, including Physical health and Independence, Economic Security, Family and Social Support, Engagement of life, Mental and Spiritual Well-being, and Environment and Social Welfare policy. By the rating of importance among the 23items, the top 5 items were physical health, independence, without chronic diseases, living with family, and receiving emotional care. By factor analysis, Family and Social Support, Engagement and Worthy Life, Autonomy and Participation, and Health were extracted with 51.5% explained variance. Discussion: For the Taiwanese elderly, health and independence are most emphasized, while economic security and family support are usually combined. Engagement with life and well-being are similar to Western values. The elderly also concern about the environment and social policy, indicating their participation or anticipation towards their quality of life.

Learning Objectives:

• To explore the culture sensitive concept of successful aging for the elderly.
• To compare the successful aging concepts from the elderly perspectives and from the experts/literatures.

Keywords: Aging, Quality of Life

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.