Factors influencing ways of organising life in old age in the context of social exclusion risk. The case of Poland

Abstract

Strategies of organizing one’s life in old age are a broad topic, involving the material-economic, social and psychological aspects. In its fundamental meaning, it refers primarily to everyday activities such as personal care and getting around, as well as social roles such as interpersonal relationships and relaxation. Although the constraints to the participation in normal ageing are well-known, little research has been devoted to planned old-age life organization strategies employed with the view to alleviating the constraints and counteracting social exclusion of elderly people which may be a consequence of a disruption of social participation. The aim of the present paper is to examine the relationships between socio-demographical variables such as age and sex and preferred old-age organization strategies. The research was conducted by means of a diagnostic survey (face-to-face interviews) with the use of the computer assisted interview questionnaire technique. CAPI interviews (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) were carried out in respondents’ homes on a nationwide random sample of households – 1006 people aged 15 and over. The sampling frame was the PESEL. A six-item original scale was introduced in order to identify the coping strategies in old age. Statistical analysis was performed using the non-parametric tau-Kendall correlation coefficient with the view to assessing the relationship between socio-demographical variables such as age and gender and old-age life organization strategies. The results: Irrespective of the respondent’s age and of their gender, adult Poles definitely preferred old-age life organization strategies consisting in remaining in their own flat and using the natural support system based on a primary network that is bonds with children, the spouse and extended family. Statistical analysis showed a lack of relationship between coping strategies and age and gender. Age and gender do not co-occur with the choice of life organisation strategies in old age.