Abstract
IntroductionBy participating in the University of the Third Age (U3A), retirees are offered the opportunity for activation and development in the later years of life. However, little is known how certain aspects of healthy aging, such as health-related behavior and subjective health outcomes, differ between U3A students and other older adults not taking part in any form of education. To address this, the aim of the present study was to compare selected aspects of healthy aging in a group of U3A members with older adults not taking part in any form of lifelong learning. The study also establishes relationships between the tested variables and predictors of health behavior. Materials and methods277 older adults (130 U3A members and 147 non-members) aged 60–92 (M = 68.84, SD = 5.32) completed measures of health behavior, self-rated physical health, self-rated sense of own health responsibility and satisfaction with life. ResultsThe U3A attendees presented significantly higher scores for general health behavior and some of its components, and declared higher self-rated health than their peers not affiliated to any educational organization. Self-rated health, responsibility for health and satisfaction with life were positively correlated with general health behavior and most of their categories. but the correlation coefficients differed between both groups. A hierarchical regression model demonstrated the predictive roles of attendance in U3A, sociodemographic and subjective factors in health behavior undertaking. ConclusionsThe study results may help to identify older adults who should be targeted in interventions aimed at supporting healthy aging.
Highlights
By participating in the University of the Third Age (U3A), retirees are offered the opportunity for activation and development in the later years of life
The comparability criteria for the two groups included the assumption that the participants were all at a similar phase of adulthood age with the main difference being their participation in formal lifelong learning: one group attending U3A classes and the other not attending any forms of institutional learning courses
The study findings indicated that, generally, variables like self-rated health, responsibility for health and satisfaction with life were positively correlated with health behavior and most of its categories
Summary
By participating in the University of the Third Age (U3A), retirees are offered the opportunity for activation and development in the later years of life. Many studies to date have identified risk factors for late-age disability, morbidity and premature mortality, recent years have seen increasing attention being paid to the search for factors that ensure healthy aging Identifying this goal requires the research focus to shift to identifying people who are “aging well”. Intrinsic capacity refers to the genotype, health and personal characteristics of the individual, with health characteristics in turn referring to health-related behaviors, traits and skills, physiological changes and risk factors, diseases and changes in homeostasis, and personal characteristics to sociodemographic traits such as ethnicity, educational attainment, gender and wealth Positive relationships between those factors will enhance the individual level of functional ability, providing greater wellbeing, happiness and high quality of life during later stages
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